At the same time as intense fighting is taking place in several places around Ukraine, everyday life seems to be rolling on as usual in several mountain villages in the western part of the country.
This is the experience of SVT's foreign reporter Elin Jönsson, who traveled from the Slovak border and across the mountain range to Ivano-Frankivsk together with the photographer Niklas Berglund.
- On the way we have passed many beautiful mountain villages and on the surface it looks like everyday life goes on as usual.
Restaurants and shops are open, she says, on site in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Alcohol ban introduced
But if you scratch the surface, you see that the war is constantly present.
Around the villages you see signs urging men to travel to the front and fight and in the restaurants and shops they have removed the alcohol, says Jönsson.
- Because weapons have been distributed to civilians, they have stopped serving alcohol in restaurants and in shops it is no longer sold, she says.
- In addition, many have lost their jobs and in order not to dull their emotions with alcohol, it has been banned, quite simply.