As fighting intensifies northwest of Kyiv, Ukraine, volunteer medics are risking their lives to try to rescue the last remaining residents in Irpin. Yousur Al-Hlou and I joined them on the three-mile journey.

A humanitarian corridor that opened on March 9 to evacuate residents from Irpin, Ukraine, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, has come under increasing fire from Russian forces, hampering rescue efforts as many elderly residents who had resisted leaving now try to flee.

“This is the Irpin road of life,” said Serhiy Balashov, a volunteer medic who has driven an ambulance along the route countless times in recent days. “People keep trying to make it through, even though it’s risky.”

The road to Irpin is a strategic entry point for Russian forces trying to advance on Kyiv, the capital. As Ukrainian forces have fought against their ground offensive in recent days, Russian aerial attacks have intensified.