Wasteland warriors: The long, cruel summer on Ukraine’s eastern front | Anthony Galloway, geraghtyk
Lidia Bezaltysha doesn’t bother going to the bunker of her apartment building anymore. She says if a missile doesn’t kill her, hunger will.
By the time the Russians capture these cities, there will be nothing left. Smoke billows from the ruins of the city across the river. All around us are bombed-out cars and buildings. Yuri Shyrokov, who endured weeks under attack by the Russians just across the river in Sievierodonetsk, doesn’t agree. “There were no Ukrainian police left, only the military,” he says, as Russians encircled the city and levelled homes. “Chaotic shelling took place all the time. They completely blocked the district by artillery fire.”“There’s no humanitarian aid at all. According to our information, they now evacuate people to Starobilsk - which means to the territory occupied by Russians.”
They call the main road out of Lysychansk the “road of life”, but right now it is too dangerous to use. This is because it is a key supply route between the two big eastern regions, Luhansk and Donetsk. If the Russians seize this route they can strike out at the rest of the region and take the entire Donbas.Just 30 kilometres down another road is the city of Siversk. Many homes have been abandoned after weeks of constant shelling.
Elena Voitenko, 59, says there are only four people left in her building. She has no sympathy for the Russians or the separatists. Svistunova lives in one of the apartments across the hall, but it’s a better view of the city from here. She has been living in the building since it was built in 1965, but she doesn’t know where to go now. With no electricity or heating, she knows she can’t stay here in winter.The brutality of this war is starting to take its toll on Ukrainian soldiers, who say they desperately need more heavy artillery and long-range missiles from Western nations.
Ukrainian soldiers such as Roman have so far held the back the Russian advance further south in the Donbas.Further south in the towns of Pisky and Krasnohorivka, the Russians are trying to capture a key road to the strategic junction town of Pokrovsk. Through winding trenches, we are taken by Ukrainian troops to a frontline position. Russians and separatists are stationed only a few hundred metres away.
It is impossible to understand Russia’s invasion without going back to 2014, when the world let Putin annex Crimea and invade the Donbas with the help of Moscow-backed separatists. Ukrainian forces here have been locked in an eight-year war with Russians and the separatists.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 121 of the invasionZelenskiy welcomes approval of Ukraine’s application to join EU as ‘historic moment’ while battle for two key cities in eastern Ukraine edges towards ‘fearsome climax’
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 121 of the invasionZelenskiy welcomes approval of Ukraine’s application to join EU as ‘historic moment’ while battle for two key cities in eastern Ukraine edges towards ‘fearsome climax’
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskiy hails EU decision; Russian forces encircle troops in Lysychansk, Kyiv officials say – live newsVolodymyr Zelenskiy says ‘Ukraine’s future is in the EU;’ all of eastern city of Lysychansk within reach of Russian fire, Luhansk governor says
Read more »
Vienna reclaims title of the world’s most livable cityAannual rankings return Austria’s capital to first place, as former title-holder Auckland tumbles to 34th and Ukraine war sees eastern cities slump
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 120 of the invasionRussian forces edge closer to seizing the last pocket of resistance in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk; footage shows drone crashing into oil refinery inside Russia’s borders
Read more »
Vienna reclaims title of the world’s most liveable cityAnnual rankings return Austria’s capital to first place, as former title-holder Auckland tumbles to 34th and Ukraine war sees eastern cities slump
Read more »