TOP STORIES
- Coronavirus
- World
- Germany
  - Berlin Wall
- Business
  - Founders Valley
- Science
- Environment
  - Global Ideas
  - Living Planet
- Culture
  - Film
  - Books
  - Music
  - Arts
  - Digital Culture
  - Lifestyle
  - Travel
  - BTHVN2020
- Sports
SPECIAL
Media Center
TV
- Schedule and Reception
- TV Programs
TV programs
- Arts.21
- Art.See.Asia
- Business
- Check-in
- Close up
- Conflict Zone
- Covid-19 Special
- DocFilm
- DW News
- Reporter
- REV
- Shift
- Sports Life
- The Day
- The 77 Percent
- Tomorrow Today
- To the Point
- World Stories
RADIO
LEARN GERMAN
German Courses
German XXL
Community D
Teaching German

Europe

Ukraine: Living on the front lines

Under nightly mortar fire, thousands of elderly and impoverished civilians continue living on and between the front lines in East Ukraine’s ‘gray zone.’ Diego Cupolo reports from Donetsk.

Caught in the crossfire

Every evening, the shelling begins around sunset. The front lines near Donetsk see nightly mortar and machine gun fire as the conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists’ rages on. Caught in the crossfire are many elderly civilians who are too impoverished to go elsewhere. Ivan Polansky, above, surveys the damage on his home in Zhovanka.
‘Waiting for a shell’

Residents of Zhovanka in the so-called ‘gray zone,’ a thin strip of land separating warring militaries, line up to see a visiting doctor. Medics hold pop-up clinics in the town once a week. "Each day, you are waiting for the shell to land on your house and you never know when it’s going to come," said local resident Ludmila Studerikove.
Without electricity and heating

Zhovanka was once home to 1,000 people, but the number has dwindled to about 200 since the war began in mid-2014. It has been three months since residents have had electricity and gas. "Sometimes I’m so scared that I lay in bed at night and just shake,” Studerikove said. “My husband stays by my side and holds my hand."
Nowhere else to go

Olexander Voroshkov, program coordinator for the regional charity SOS Kramatorsk, said residents continue to live in half-destroyed homes with leaky roofs, even through the winters, because rent in nearby Ukrainian cities has skyrocketed since the beginning of the conflict. "Rents in Kramatorsk are now similar to those in Kiev, but the salaries are much lower than in Kiev," Voroshkov said.
Reliance on humanitarian aid

Women line up to receive medicine and multivitamins in Zhovanka. Food and humanitarian supplies are delivered to the town by charity organizations, as crossing checkpoints sometimes requires people to wait more than a day in line. "We had everything; we had fresh air, nature. It was very nice here. Now we just have the cold," said local resident Vera Sharovarova.
Adapting to DNR frontlines

Vera Anoshyna, left, speaks with neighbors in Spartak, a town in what is now the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). Anoshyna said she has done her best to adapt to the conflict. "If you don’t have water, you find it," she said. "If you don’t have electricity, you find a solution. But you never know where the next bomb will land."
Six broken ribs

Svetlana Zavadenko stands before her home in Spartak. She was injured when the walls collapsed after several mortars exploded in her yard. Neighbors had to dig Zavadenko out of the rubble and she was sent to the hospital with six broken ribs and a ruptured liver. She smokes “Minsk” brand cigarettes and laughs when asked what she thinks about the war.
'We lost hope'

Zavadenko recovered from her injuries and lives alone with several pets. Spartak has not had electricity, gas, or water services since 2014, so she uses a grill to cook her food. For firewood, she goes to an abandoned furniture factory nearby and collects plywood. "Last winter we thought [the war] would finish, but now, honestly, we lost hope," she said.
Possibility of a drawdown

Damage from shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk. Despite past failures in deescalating the war, a new ceasefire may be in sight after an October peace summit in Berlin, where Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to end hostilities in eastern Ukraine and would withdraw troops from the region.
'We lost too many soldiers to stop now'

Even if both sides agree on a ceasefire, they will face opposition from their militaries, who claim their sacrifices were too heavy to simply put down their weapons. "We lost too many soldiers to stop now," said Vladimir Parkhamovich, colonel of the 81st Airmobile Brigade in the Ukrainian military. "If they give us an order [to stop] we’ll consider them traitors."

Caught in the crossfire

Every evening, the shelling begins around sunset. The front lines near Donetsk see nightly mortar and machine gun fire as the conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists’ rages on. Caught in the crossfire are many elderly civilians who are too impoverished to go elsewhere. Ivan Polansky, above, surveys the damage on his home in Zhovanka.
‘Waiting for a shell’

Residents of Zhovanka in the so-called ‘gray zone,’ a thin strip of land separating warring militaries, line up to see a visiting doctor. Medics hold pop-up clinics in the town once a week. "Each day, you are waiting for the shell to land on your house and you never know when it’s going to come," said local resident Ludmila Studerikove.
Without electricity and heating

Zhovanka was once home to 1,000 people, but the number has dwindled to about 200 since the war began in mid-2014. It has been three months since residents have had electricity and gas. "Sometimes I’m so scared that I lay in bed at night and just shake,” Studerikove said. “My husband stays by my side and holds my hand."
Nowhere else to go

Olexander Voroshkov, program coordinator for the regional charity SOS Kramatorsk, said residents continue to live in half-destroyed homes with leaky roofs, even through the winters, because rent in nearby Ukrainian cities has skyrocketed since the beginning of the conflict. "Rents in Kramatorsk are now similar to those in Kiev, but the salaries are much lower than in Kiev," Voroshkov said.
Reliance on humanitarian aid

Women line up to receive medicine and multivitamins in Zhovanka. Food and humanitarian supplies are delivered to the town by charity organizations, as crossing checkpoints sometimes requires people to wait more than a day in line. "We had everything; we had fresh air, nature. It was very nice here. Now we just have the cold," said local resident Vera Sharovarova.
Adapting to DNR frontlines

Vera Anoshyna, left, speaks with neighbors in Spartak, a town in what is now the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). Anoshyna said she has done her best to adapt to the conflict. "If you don’t have water, you find it," she said. "If you don’t have electricity, you find a solution. But you never know where the next bomb will land."
Six broken ribs

Svetlana Zavadenko stands before her home in Spartak. She was injured when the walls collapsed after several mortars exploded in her yard. Neighbors had to dig Zavadenko out of the rubble and she was sent to the hospital with six broken ribs and a ruptured liver. She smokes “Minsk” brand cigarettes and laughs when asked what she thinks about the war.
'We lost hope'

Zavadenko recovered from her injuries and lives alone with several pets. Spartak has not had electricity, gas, or water services since 2014, so she uses a grill to cook her food. For firewood, she goes to an abandoned furniture factory nearby and collects plywood. "Last winter we thought [the war] would finish, but now, honestly, we lost hope," she said.
Possibility of a drawdown

Damage from shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk. Despite past failures in deescalating the war, a new ceasefire may be in sight after an October peace summit in Berlin, where Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to end hostilities in eastern Ukraine and would withdraw troops from the region.
'We lost too many soldiers to stop now'

Even if both sides agree on a ceasefire, they will face opposition from their militaries, who claim their sacrifices were too heavy to simply put down their weapons. "We lost too many soldiers to stop now," said Vladimir Parkhamovich, colonel of the 81st Airmobile Brigade in the Ukrainian military. "If they give us an order [to stop] we’ll consider them traitors."

More in the Media Center

Comedian Anton Tymoshenko tries to lift spirits in Ukraine as war rages on in the country. He turned a bomb shelter into a comedy club to raise money for Ukrainian army. War in Ukraine: Stand-up comedy in a bomb shelter
© Rebecca Ritters

Laughter against the odds: Stand-up comedy in Kyiv 26.06.2022

A woman reacts as she stands near a building ruined in a Russian air raid in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukraine war: Russia strikes Lysychansk 17.06.2022

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russians left their homeland.

Russians opposing the war find freedom in Georgia 10.06.2022

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and German journalist Alexander Osang react as they arrive on stage for the Merkel's first public interview since stepping down, at the Berliner Ensemble theatre in Berlin on June 7, 2022. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

Angela Merkel speaks on Ukraine, defends dealings with Putin 08.06.2022

Read also

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Snake Island in the Black Sea Thursday, May 12, 2022. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Ukraine: Russia pulls back forces from Snake Island — as it happened 30.06.2022

Russia claimed the move was a "goodwill gesture" to allow the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. Meanwhile, fighting intensified in Lysychansk, in the Donbas region. DW has the latest.

Ukrainian servicemen sit in a bus after they were evacuated from the besieged Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant, near a remand prison in Olyonivka, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. More than 260 fighters, some severely wounded, were pulled from a steel plant on Monday that is the last redoubt of Ukrainian fighters in the city and transported to two towns controlled by separatists, officials on both sides said. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

144 Ukrainian soldiers return home in prisoner swap — as it happened 29.06.2022

In the largest prisoner exchange since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, 144 Ukrainian soldiers were exchanged for an equal number of Russian and separatist fighters. DW has the latest.

A woman walks past fragments of a missile in front of the shopping and entertainment center in the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odessa on May 10, 2022, destroyed after Russian missiles strike late on May 9, 2022. (Photo by Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP)

Ukraine reports fatal Russian missile strikes in Odesa region — live updates 01.07.2022

At least 19 people were killed in Russian missile strikes in the southern region of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said. DW has the latest.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters work to take away debris at a shopping center burned after a rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukraine: G7 leaders slam 'brutal' Russian strike on mall — as it happened 28.06.2022

The leaders of the G7 condemned the attack on a crowded shopping center in central Ukraine, saying it could constitute a possible "war crime."

Date 06.11.2016
Number of pictures 10
Author Diego Cupolo
Related Subjects Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Ukraine, Donetsk, Russia, Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Keywords Ukraine, Russia, Conflict, Donetsk, Petro Poroshenko
Send us your feedback.
Print Print this page
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2SAuo

Visit the new DW website

SPECIAL

TV programs

German Courses

German XXL

Community D

Teaching German

Europe

Ukraine: Living on the front lines

Caught in the crossfire

‘Waiting for a shell’

Without electricity and heating

Nowhere else to go

Reliance on humanitarian aid

Adapting to DNR frontlines

Six broken ribs

'We lost hope'

Possibility of a drawdown

'We lost too many soldiers to stop now'