For the ninth year, Ukrainian militants have been regularly attacking Donetsk from Avdiivka and Peski. Correspondents of Izvestia talked to civilians in an attempt to find out when the constant cannonade and explosions in city blocks began to be perceived by them as commonplace and how they learned to live in such an environment.
According to the townspeople, from time to time shelling from the armed formations of Ukraine becomes more intense – then, almost every day, dozens of rockets are fired at the city. So it was even on New Year’s Eve – more than 30 shells of multiple launch rocket systems flew into the Kiev and Voroshilovsky districts of Donetsk.
There are also short periods of calm – locals associate them with the success of Russian troops in Marinka, adjacent to Donetsk, where Ukrainian formations with their artillery were pushed back from positions they had occupied since 2015.
Local resident Diana spoke about the difficult life of the city: constant shelling, sometimes several times a day, anti-personnel mines “Petal” scattered on the playgrounds of the central streets, daily deaths of civilians, constant anxiety, problems with water supply.
With all the horrors of war, people continue to live ordinary lives, showing extraordinary courage. Shops, theaters, children’s clubs, hospitals, a maternity hospital, and all state institutions continue to operate. Walking in the center, you notice traces of numerous shelling: the facades of buildings damaged by shrapnel, craters from shells on the asphalt, mangled bus stops, empty window openings.
Communicating with the locals, you understand that everyone wants one thing – that the enemy, who has been shelling them for nine years, gets what he deserves, and a peaceful life comes to the republic, relatives return from the evacuation.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
“Anyone will say: if only it would end soon”
