REPORT

In Kostyantinivka and Avdiivka, Ukrainians have learned to live under bombardment

Audio 01:14

In the city of Avdiivka, north of Donetsk, residents who did not evacuate have become accustomed to the incessant shelling. © Boris Vichith/RFI

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mn

Explosions were heard in the early hours of May 4 in Kiev, Zaporizhia, Odessa and Kramatorsk, Donbass. Russia struck Ukraine again with Iranian-made drones. About twenty kilometers from Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in the east of the country, the city of Kostiantynivka is regularly targeted by Russian fire. Just like on the side of Avdiivka, where the 1,700 inhabitants still present have adapted to this permanent danger.

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With our special envoys in Donbass, Anastasia Becchio and Boris Vichith

In a courtyard of buildings, several dozen people line up to get enough to repair their apartment damaged by a night drone attack on Kostiantynivka. Antonina, a retiree, waits for her daughter to come and help her carry a chipboard panel, wooden cleats, nails and polyethylene film:

« Thank God, we had just gotten up, because our cat was restless. We didn't sleep. It was 2:30 in the morning. We heard a kind of loud buzz, then an explosion and our windows shattered. »

According to official sources, one person was injured in the attack. A two-storey building was ripped open and the windows of the surrounding buildings were blown out. Vladimir Kravchenko walks his two-and-a-half-year-old son. His apartment, across the street, is unharmed. But the concern is still there:

« Our main street leads to Bakhmut and we could be next. We are very worried, we scrutinize the information that comes from there. Already, their artillery is reaching us. The Russians are shooting at us. They annihilated Bakhmut, they reduced it to rubble. I hope our city will not suffer the same fate. »

Vladimir and his wife have a suitcase ready. They decided to move to the countryside if the situation deteriorated further.

Avdiivka, ghost town under fire

Along with the vicinity of Bakhmut, it is one of the hottest spots on the Donbass front: the city of Avdiivka, north of Donetsk, has been plagued for months by intense shelling by the Russian army, which tries, in vain, to surround it. Despite the almost incessant bombing, 1,700 inhabitants still reside in this locality, located less than 3 km from the front, which looks like a ghost town.

Deserted streets, stray dogs and almost no entire buildings: this is the portrait of the city of Avdiivka, where shelling is constant. Tours of the city are done under military escort. To find a little life, you have to go to the basement of a building, arranged to offer a little respite to the inhabitants. Marina, from the charity Unity of People, is in charge: "We are open from 9 a.m. to 18 p.m. People who come here reconnect a little bit with civilization. Here, we feel the war less than in the street.

The echoes of the explosions, however, reach the basement. Not to worry Oleksii, 19, who came to take advantage of the wifi to load movies: "If you worry about each of these explosions, you go crazy. I don't know what's landing right now, but it's a tough thing.

In the next room, the drums of washing machines and the sound of the television mask the explosions. People come to wash their belongings or take a shower in one of the four cabins installed along the wall. There's even a dressing room seat and a large mirror.

Svetlana takes care of the shower and washing machine planning: "We have a water heater and people come to take a shower. There has been no running water in the city for more than a year, gas or electricity. We have nothing left and probably 80% of the buildings are destroyed.

In the middle of the room, a poster calling on people to leave the city and offering them relocation does not seem to interest visitors, immersed in their phones or thoughts. With an expected intensification of military operations on the nearby front, the authorities are beginning to talk about a total evacuation of the city.

Avdiivka, ghost town under fire

Anastasia BecchioBoris Vichith

" READ ALSO – Ukraine: in Siversk, city bombed, in the basement where the inhabitants hide

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