Report

Ukraine: in Kramatorsk in the Donbass, these Ukrainians who decided to stay

Audio 01:12

A deserted street in Kramatorsk.

© RFI/Marie Normand

Text by: RFI Follow

5 mins

The towns and villages of Donbass have emptied as the Russian offensive approaches, which would be imminent.

In Kramatorsk, 70% of the population would have left the place, to join the West.

But some have chosen to stay at home, despite the bombardments, shortages and fighting that are approaching.

They are generally elderly, poor or without a loved one who would be able to welcome them to a safe place.

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With our special envoys back from Donbass,

Maxim, 16, walks along the road with his arms full of water bottles.

His city, Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, is one of the next, if not the next target for Russian forces.

He says he decided to stay.

Why leave?

We don't know how long it will last.

In western Ukraine, there are no jobs, no money to live on.

The other option is to stay in Kramatorsk and hope things get better.

Lena too, stores everything she can.

She admits to only eating porridge lately.

Some services, such as the eight bus lines, continue to operate normally.

“ 

 ”, assures Valentin, one of the 24 drivers in the city.

He just has to lead his passengers to the nearest shelter when the sirens sound.

Go ?

He never considered it either.

Here is my cemetery, and there is my home.

Where should I go?

To keep one's house, to remain faithful to the place where one's loved ones are buried, to wait for the return of peace, the return of a normal life.

Whatever flag will fly in a few days over the public buildings of Kramatorsk.

►Read also: In the Donbass, the village of Svyatohirsk extremely divided over the war

day to day survival

About 70% of the population have fled, according to local authorities.

Especially since the attack on the central station, which killed fifty people a week ago.

Among the others, some say they have nowhere to go, or simply do not want to end up in a refugee camp, in an unknown country.

Marina, too, stayed.

For his pets.

But she is worried about the military vehicles that pass under her windows: " 

 ," she confides.

Those who are there are mostly elderly people who can no longer, or no longer want to, move around.

They lack everything.

In addition to the problem of drinking water, deliveries are no longer guaranteed, and there is no longer a place to buy food.

We saw only one grocery store open, for a city which, however, would still house at least 30,000 souls.

Kramatorsk station targeted by a strike last week in full evacuation of civilians.

She killed fifty people.

© RFI/Marie Normand

Same thing for drugs, since all pharmacies have closed.

And if the post office remains open, it no longer delivers mail.

Above all, it no longer delivers pensions;

it's too dangerous, and anyway the postal workers are running out of gas.

Many elderly people find themselves without resources.

►Also listen: After the flight from Ukraine, the difficulty of rebuilding a life elsewhere

He will defend his city

These people stay at home, waiting, almost like a fatality.

They observe the ballet of military vehicles, which now outnumber passers-by in the streets.

We sometimes see an evacuation bus, here and there.

Everyone they meet, whether soldiers or the civilian population, says they are preparing for the onslaught of Russian forces, which is supposed to happen any moment in this part of Donbass.

In 48 hours this week, the industrial district of the city was again hit by two cruise missile strikes.

Dmytro, 31, is a platoon commander.

He intends to defend his city, as in 2014 during the first battles of Donbass against pro-Russian separatists.

In 2014, they failed to take control of the city.

We pushed them back.

But in 2014, they weren't the same people.

There, a regular army entered Ukrainian territory.

There are people here who help them.

We have to find them, these people.

I don't understand how people from Kramatorsk can help the Russians.

Some support Ukraine, and others believe that if Russian forces arrive in our city, everything will be fine.

But if they think that, they have to pack their bags and go far away from here

Dmytro, soldier in Kramatorsk

Marie NormandJulien Boileau

Palpable tension

The industrial complex targeted Thursday afternoon, April 15, manufactured navigation instruments.

The explosion was heard across much of Kramatorsk.

The sirens reasoned almost all day, explained a resident crossed in town.

No more striking heard since then, but the tension remains palpable.

This is also the case in other towns and villages in the Donetsk region that we were able to visit.

In Bakhmut, for example, the fighting was very close, about twenty kilometers to the east.

Here too, the population is stocking up for the days to come.

Slaviansk is also targeted by bombardments.

The sirens have been ringing there day and night for a month and a half.

A large half of the city was evacuated.

But despite the difficulties of food, medicine, gasoline, and the fights that are approaching, Olga will not leave either.

Team fight at the #Slaviansk hospital to obtain thyroid medication delivered by an NGO.

“Nothing has been planned for those who have not evacuated me”, regrets Enrique Menendes, its founder.

All pharmacies have closed here.

#Ukraine @RFI pic.twitter.com/Fth7WNmAAH

— Marie Normand (@normandmarie) April 15, 2022

Olga, a resident of Slaviansk, in the heart of Donetsk Oblast, in the Donbass, explains why she wants to stay in the region too.

Where are we going, tell me?

What else awaits us?

An apartment, a house?

I was born here, my parents are buried here.

I am already 70 years old.

Where will I go, who is waiting for me?

I would leave, if I could return to my current living conditions in Slaviansk.

My children have already left.

I have an apartment here, but I don't know if I will still have one when the Russians arrive.

Politicians must succeed in getting along.

They have always managed to sign peace agreements.

Why can't we get there today?

I do not understand.

Are we dumber today?

Are our hearts harder?

Why this war, I do not understand.

We know that here we are in the sights.

We are 20 or 30 kilometers from the front.

And there are already the bombings, with their share of victims and destruction.

We know it's very dangerous to stay.

But this is my land, this is where I live

Olga wants to stay in Slaviansk

Marie NormandJulien Boileau

© RFI

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