- In March, Lyudmila’s small town of Siversk was heavily shelled.
- It is now back in the firing line as the Russians advance on Lysychansk.
- The town’s last pharmacy has shut and shops have been closed for weeks.
Lyudmila says she can no longer live like this, As she pits cherries outside the basement in eastern Ukraine that has been her home for the last three months,
In March, her small town of Siversk was heavily shelled. It is now back in the firing line as the Russians advance on Lysychansk, the last major city in Ukraine’s Lugansk region of the Donbas.
“Three months ago, they (the Russians) shelled here, now it’s more towards there,” said the 66-year-old between the thud of shells raining down on Lysychansk, with white smoke hanging over the city on the horizon.
“The bombing goes on day and night,” said another woman dragging a cart to fetch water from a fountain.
“We haven’t had electricity or gas for three months,” said Lyudmila as a woman prepared potato pancakes over a fire in a corner of the cellar.
Pointing with a flashlight, the neighbors show AFP their “bedroom”.
“Look, the mattresses are over there in the corner, and we spread them out here on the floor.”
In the dark of the nextdoor basement, a 90-year-old woman leans on a walking frame. She needs medicine, but it’s impossible to find any. The town’s last pharmacy has shut and shops have been closed for weeks.
“Do you have any toilet paper?” a young man passing asked an AFP reporter.
“You have to go far to buy something, and nobody can take us.”
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