Road by road is the same – shattered buildings and bomb craters. The front line of the Ukrainian city of Sheverodonetsk is a key target for Russian forces. And he is under attack from the first day of this invasion. Russia strikes “hangar full of European / American weapons” – live updates People here survive on leaflets. There is no electricity or running water. Most have left and those who remain leave their basements only when the bombing stops. They are terrified and desperate. Valentina, 82, leads me back into the darkness. This wet and cold place has been home for more than two months. There is no light except a torch to guide her path. I do not know how she finds her feet day by day without stumbling on the uneven ground. As he raises the curtain he is ashamed, later telling me that he does not want to show me where he sleeps because he did not have the opportunity to arrange it. There is a makeshift bed in the corner and some existing ones strewn around. More than 20 people live in this narrow space, but even here there is hope. Lyubana, another underground resident, says she believes Ukrainian forces will win what she sees as a struggle between good and evil. “No, I do not think we have forgotten and I think we have to do our best to survive. I do not feel abandoned – I think everything will go well,” he said. Everything they need to eat is carefully stored in a shopping cart. And you might think that a city would give up on all of this, but the resilience here is staggering. At the Central Police Station, the Ukrainian flag is still waving proudly. This building has been targeted over and over again, but the resistance remains strong. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:35 Battle on the front line of Donbas The Luhansk region police chief, Oleh Hryhorov, takes me to the second floor to see the damage. People want to understand what Russia is doing in their country. Despite being destroyed by an air raid, they are still operational and carrying out what is now primarily a humanitarian mission. “Our job in this area is for the people. We are getting food, medicine and evacuation, this is now the job of the police, the help of the people – it is also a dangerous job,” he said. Read more: Key battlefields in Donbass battle, US tells allies to move “heaven and earth” to send more weapons Everyone in this city is fighting in the face of relentless savagery. As we visit the only hospital operating, the sound of battle is approaching. Inside the doctors do what they can. They treat war wounded and routine emergencies. Follow the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker People do not stop getting sick because there are shots outside. All patients are treated in the corridors, away from windows that have been ejected by shells. This hospital has been attacked more than 20 times. Lyubov Pavlivna is recovering from shrapnel wounds, but she is provocative and has this message for Vladimir Putin. “I want them to die. I want these bastards not even close. They are not only destroying our young people, they are sending their own to die – I wish death to him (Putin) and everyone around him,” he said. But after we left, we received terrible news from the doctors. The hospital had been bombed again. It is another reminder of the violent nature of Russia’s war, in which the innocent are often the victims. And the people here are afraid that this indiscriminate violence will only get worse.
