Nicolas Tonev (special envoy to Donbass) 2:17 p.m., February 24, 2024
In Eastern Ukraine, in Donbass, the war continues unabated.
Russian and Ukrainian forces confront each other with force for every square kilometer.
A few kilometers from the front, in the town of Sloviansk, the population wants only one thing: an end to the conflict and a return to peace.
Two years after the start of the war, it is difficult for residents still living in the Donbass region to maintain morale.
In this area of eastern Ukraine, fighting with the Russian army continues.
Here, war imposes its rhythm and its landscape.
In the region, residents are exhausted.
In front of Sloviansk town hall, dozens of portraits of dead soldiers are on display.
Every day, women and relatives come to bring flowers so as not to forget them, despite the alerts.
The dreamed return of peace
The region lives with the war, with the curfew in place but also the bombs and missiles which still fall in the region.
Everyone now hopes for only one thing: that the conflict ends.
“We want peace, that’s all,” exclaims a retiree at the microphone of Europe 1. “The only thing we expect from the European Union is peace. Peace, nothing but peace ", adds a man.
In the distance, explosions on the front are regularly heard.
Sometimes the city is awakened by a missile that falls in the middle of the night.
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A hellish pace for the inhabitants, who now only dream of one thing: the end of the war and the return of peace.