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BAKHMUT, Ukraine - Since the counteroffensive that Ukraine launched to liberate Bakhmut from Russian forces is progressing slowly, local villagers living in the war-battered region suffer from uncertainty and are at risk of crossfire.
One of the villages in the Bakhmut region which has seen much damage due to the fight to liberate Bakhmut is Alexandro-Shultino, where 6,000 individuals used to live before the Russian takeover.
Now, there are only six people, and one of them, 35-year-old Andrey Larichev, is unwilling to leave the village he calls home.
"Humanitarian organizations give us food. We have some gardens where we raise ducks and chickens. We struggle to make a living," Andrey Larichev, a villager from Alexandro-Shultino village said. "This region comes under regular bombing, but we hide ourselves. This is how we live since we have nowhere to go."
Another village that is also under the control of the Ukrainian army is Santurinovka, in the district of Konstantinovka. Just like Alexandro-Shultino, only a handful of people remain in the village.
Stefa is an 81-year-old woman. She decries the government's lack of plan and aid to those who are stranded in regions that are situated on the edges of the war.
"I had a son. He was a very good man. He was not smoking or drinking. They [the Ukrainian army] referred him to Chernobyl. I lost him. I have no one to look after me. What am I supposed to do now?" Stefa lamented.
In addition to villages, big towns also suffer from the terrible security situation and instability as a whole.
Of 67,000, only 20,000 remain in the city of Kostyantynivka.
"No progress could be seen here. There are no products for domestic use. There are not even small-sized businesses. There are only shops where we could sell some stuff," Anton Davydov, a shop owner in Konstantinovka said.
Half of the Donetsk region is under the control of the Russian forces.
One of the villages in the Bakhmut region which has seen much damage due to the fight to liberate Bakhmut is Alexandro-Shultino, where 6,000 individuals used to live before the Russian takeover.
Now, there are only six people, and one of them, 35-year-old Andrey Larichev, is unwilling to leave the village he calls home.
"Humanitarian organizations give us food. We have some gardens where we raise ducks and chickens. We struggle to make a living," Andrey Larichev, a villager from Alexandro-Shultino village said. "This region comes under regular bombing, but we hide ourselves. This is how we live since we have nowhere to go."
Another village that is also under the control of the Ukrainian army is Santurinovka, in the district of Konstantinovka. Just like Alexandro-Shultino, only a handful of people remain in the village.
Stefa is an 81-year-old woman. She decries the government's lack of plan and aid to those who are stranded in regions that are situated on the edges of the war.
"I had a son. He was a very good man. He was not smoking or drinking. They [the Ukrainian army] referred him to Chernobyl. I lost him. I have no one to look after me. What am I supposed to do now?" Stefa lamented.
In addition to villages, big towns also suffer from the terrible security situation and instability as a whole.
Of 67,000, only 20,000 remain in the city of Kostyantynivka.
"No progress could be seen here. There are no products for domestic use. There are not even small-sized businesses. There are only shops where we could sell some stuff," Anton Davydov, a shop owner in Konstantinovka said.
Half of the Donetsk region is under the control of the Russian forces.
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