Left to die
With nowhere to run, civilians try to survive eastern Ukraine's war
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — After a relatively calm December in war-torn eastern Ukraine, fighting exploded anew in January, as Russian-backed rebels went on the offensive to capture more towns and expand the territory of their fledgling quasi-state.
The conflict between the rebels and Ukrainian government forces has raged for 10 months, killing more than 5,000 people and displacing around 1 million others.
After heavy civilian and military casualties during the recent surge in hostilities, leaders from Kiev and Moscow, as well as the U.S., France and Germany are urging for an immediate cease-fire and solution to bring the violence to an end. But they are struggling to strike a peace deal that will stick and silence each sides' weapons for good.
Nobody has suffered more during the uptick in violence than civilians caught in the crossfire. The town of Debaltseve, a strategic transit hub 45 northeast of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, has been particularly hard hit.
Its buildings have been all but razed to the ground. Several thousands of its 25,000 residents have managed to escape through a precarious corridor to neighboring Artemivsk, but thousands remain there, enduring hellish conditions.
Evgeny Feldman, a photographer for the Russian publication Novaya Gazeta, and I spent this week inside the town, documenting the fighting and the worsening humanitarian situation.
Amid heavy artillery fire, a man waits with his dog and three children for a ride out of the besieged eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
Ukrainian troops man a tank on the road leading to Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, where they have engaged in fierce fights with pro-Russian rebels, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
Smoke rises from the eastern Ukrainian steppe near Debaltseve after an artillery strike on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
An armored vehicle manned by government forces sits near the entrance to Debaltseve, which is marked by a city sign in Ukrainian blue and yellow on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
They have been living without electricity, gas and running water for weeks, and food is in short supply.
A Debaltseve resident strolls past a group of Ukrainian soldiers in the center of town on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. The soldiers outnumber residents by about 2 to 1.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
They emerge only briefly from basements to cook food on an open flame, puff on cigarettes and find out when the next evacuation buses will arrive.
A woman takes cover from artillery fire in the entrance of an apartment building in Debaltseve on Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
Smoke rises from a rocket crater near the railway tracks in Debaltseve, an important transport hub, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
The blue and yellow Ukrainian flag flies from a military truck driving through a field near Debaltseve on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A family readies to board a bus that will evacuate them from besieged Debaltseve on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A child screams as his mother cajoles him into boarding the bus that will take them to Artemivsk from Debaltseve on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is wheeled to an ambulance at Artemivsk’s central hospital in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A helicopter transports Ukrainian soldiers wounded in the battle for Debaltseve from a football field in nearby Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A Ukrainian military helicopter pilot reacts before transporting severely wounded government soldiers from Artemivsk to Dnipropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A Debaltseve resident transports his cows, on which his livelihood depends, out of town as missiles rain down from pro-Russian rebel lines on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
A woman and her children, displaced from Debaltseve, settle into temporary housing in nearby Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.
EVGENY FELDMAN, MASHABLE
- Author:Christopher Miller
- Photographer:Evgeny Feldman
- Deputy Managing Editor:Amanda Wills
- Photo Director:Dustin Drankoski
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