As Russian missiles destroy the city of Avdiivka, Hanna is desperate to escape. However, her mother refuses to leave.
“I can’t leave her,” Hanna tells us over the phone. “She says she wants to sleep in her own bed. She is 71 years old and suffers from leg problems. If she is left alone, she cannot go get water or firewood for heating.”
Precariously entrenched in a fifth-floor apartment, living under near-constant aerial bombardment, they are among the last remaining residents of Avdiivka.
This strategically important and fiercely contested city is right on the battle line in eastern Ukraine.
Most of the people have fled. There have been skirmishes here since 2014, but since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, the population has shrunk. from 30,000 inhabitants to just over 1,000.
Russia launched a major offensive against the city earlier this month, and fighting has intensified in recent days.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation as “particularly tough.”
“Everywhere the windows and doors are broken,” Hanna says. “With the attacks that occur daily, it is difficult to fix them because they break again every day.”
The city is sometimes described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia and its allied forces since 2014.
Taking Avdiivka – which is nearby – would allow Russian troops to push back the fighting front, and this would make it more difficult for Ukrainian forces to retake the territory.
Invincibility Points
Venturing out to the last remaining store in town means putting the destiny of your life in your own hands, says Hanna.
“There are no places you can hide if there is an attack… if you hear a whistle, you don’t have enough time to hide somewhere safe.”
The store has since been destroyed.
Avdiivka residents are now even more dependent on a center known as “Invincibility Point”. These help points built by the government and distributed throughout the country, were designed to provide food, heat, electricity and shelter.
And, for some in Avdíivka, Invincibility Point is now home.
Maryna, a nurse in her 40s, volunteers at the center and moved there after the doors and windows of her home were destroyed in an attack.
But even in the relative safety of the basement, she says she doesn’t get much sleep.
“Missiles fly every night. Every day and every night. Too many. “We all feel afraid.” His son, who is now an adult, has fled Avdiivka. She hopes to do the same soon.
A city that “no longer exists”
Getting people out of the city is complicated and dangerous. A special police unit, known as the White Angels, leads the evacuations. They often have great difficulty persuading people that they should leave.
Hennadiy Yudin, a member of the unit, says he managed to get 50 people out and to safety in the last week.
But the situation in the area has deteriorated significantly.
“There are constant attacks in the city and nearby towns. They launch them from artillery, multiple rocket launchers or from airplanes… They attack the city and the towns, the houses where people live.”
As Maryna prepares to evacuate, she remembers what Avdíivka was like before the war.
“There was a park, a boulevard. There were a lot of stores. We planted trees. Was very beautiful. “We had a cultural center, many festivals and celebrations.”
She hopes to return one day. But, sheltered in the devastation of her hometown, she fears there is nothing to return to.
“Avdíivka no longer exists.”
Additional reporting by Hanna Tsyba, Anastasiia Levchenko and Scarlett Barter.
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