Whether in Chasiv Yar or Siversk, living conditions are the same: chaotic. In these tirelessly bombarded villages, where there are often only the elderly left, mutual aid and patience are essential.
The echo of the nearby battles. In a village a few kilometers from Bakhmout, a village of which there is not much left. Bombarded for months by the Russian army, the inhabitants of Chasiv Yar are now rare. At 89, Olga is one of them: “I lived through two wars here. First in 1941 and 1942 against the Nazis, and now this one. Only God knows what will happen. At my age, that’s all I can say.” In recent weeks, the situation has gotten even worse for residents. Mutual aid and resourcefulness are essential for survival.
A retired couple lives in the basement of their building
30 kilometers away, in Siversk, the conditions are the same. Oleksandr and Lioudmila, his wife, have been living in the basement of their building for ten months. Before the war, they lived on their retirement, being two former workers. After 40 years of marriage, today’s promiscuity sometimes makes them nervous, but they have promised never to leave each other again.