The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, in the Donbass, is covered with thick white smoke, visible for several kilometers, while trying to resist the strong offensive pressure from the Russian forces.
In this city, which for several months has been near the front line, a block of five-storey apartment buildings came under attack during the early hours of Thursday.
In the morning, flames were still visible in the neighborhood, as firefighters were searching for bodies amid burning debris.
“I heard a sound like thunder. There were a lot of broken windows,” said a 78-year-old man, who asked not to be named, who lives in the damaged building.
I no longer have windows or doors. Everything is ruined. There are people under the rubble. And I’m alive,” he surprises, explaining that the front door was locked and that the firefighters should rescue him.
Asked about the frequency of such attacks, Valery, 62, who refused to reveal his surname, confirmed that they occur every day, and often at night, and attributed them exclusively to Russian forces.
But in Bakhmut not everyone is sure of Valery.
“Obviously it comes from the Ukrainians,” confirms one of the city’s residents, indicating the direction in which the artillery positions led by Kyiv are located.
In the Donbass region, some residents still support the Moscow government.
According to the Ukrainian presidency, in the Donetsk region – one of the two provinces that make up the Donbass – Russian attacks have hit Bakhmut in the past 24 hours, but also several other locations, including Turitsk, Mykolaivka, Avdiivka, Krasnogorivka, Mirnograd and Chasev. May.
In the center of Bakhmut, some passers-by head to the only store still open to buy bread, food boxes or electric batteries.
The merchant set a table at the entrance to sell his products, as the shop is plunged into darkness due to lack of electricity.
The townspeople seem oblivious to the whistling of bullets as they pass, or the deafening explosions nearby.
In the absence of running water, people fill cans at the fountains.
Deprived of electricity, they use generators to recharge their cell phones, taking advantage of the fact that the phone network is still working in some places.
Valentin Zagodailo, 77, sells milk in front of the store, sitting on a bench.
The former Soviet Army special forces officer, who says he fought in Cuba and Vietnam, has 35 cows on his farm in a nearby village, from where he travels daily to sell milk in Bakhmut.
“The task of the Ukrainian authorities is to destroy the city, so that there are no more residents,” says Zagodaelo, although he admits that he would prefer to remove the Russians from the area.
Near another seat, an old lady was crying and groaning loudly, while bombs were falling close to the center.
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