BAKHMUT, Ukraine –
As fighting with Russia rages in Ukraine’s east, residents in the city of
Bakhmut are forced to take refuge in bunkers.
At home, there is no electricity, water and gas. Outside, armoured vehicles and
ambulances ply the streets. Loud explosions are heard across the city.
Volunteers serve food, medicine, and drinking
water to the people, mostly the elderly, amid the sound of gunfire.
A few daring civilians step out to get wood
to light a fire to cook food.
Valeriy Ivanov, 54, who is hiding in the
basement of his apartment along with his neighbours, told Anadolu Agency they
are waiting for the explosions to stop.
The clashes have considerably intensified
recently, he said.
We stayed in the basement from the beginning
of the war in February to the summer months, he added.
They moved back to their houses after the
situation calmed down a bit.
“(But) the new stage of the war has begun. It is worse for civilians,” he said.
In the absence of running water, the people
in the basement use water from the pipes of the building’s heating system to
wash dishes and do the laundry.
He said anyone and everyone who could leave
the city has left. Only the sick, elderly and poor have been left behind, he
added.
Olga, 51, is cooking food on a bonfire
outside her house.
She told Anadolu Agency that she is the only
caregiver for her elderly mother and disabled sister.
“There is constant shelling. When the shelling begins, the house trembles. The
situation is terrible! We try to hide, but don’t know where to go,” said Olga’s
85-year-old mother Maria.
Russia launched its war in Ukraine on
February 24.
More than 6,300 civilians have since been
killed and over 9,700 injured, according to UN estimates which fears the actual
figures could be higher. AA
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