Current:Home > NewsUkraine is advancing, but people in front-line villages are still just hoping to survive Russia's war-LoTradeCoin
Ukraine is advancing, but people in front-line villages are still just hoping to survive Russia's war
lotradecoin technical support contact View Date:2024-12-25 12:44:19
Vremivka, Ukraine – Russia's latest overnight airstrikes on Ukraine included a punishing second night of attacks on the key port city of Odesa. Ukrainian officials accused Russia of attacking grain terminals and port infrastructure in the city "to destroy the possibility of shipping Ukrainian grain."
The strikes came just days after Moscow pulled out of an agreement that had enabled grain shipments from both Ukraine and Russia to resume, easing global food prices that had soared due in large part to the war. Ukraine accused Moscow of weaponizing food supplies, playing "hunger games" with the world.
On the front lines of the war, Ukrainian forces continue to slowly claw back Russian-occupied territory, village by village. But the gains are coming at a huge cost in lives and infrastructure.
Driving into the village of Vremivka, in southeast Ukraine's Donetsk region, the destruction lining the road made it hard to imagine anyone surviving the savage violence of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Once home to around 1,300 people, there are now only 15 residents eking out survival in the ruins of Vremivka.
When we showed up and met Victor and Lubya, our team was in full body armor for good reason: Vremivka sits right on one of the most active fault lines in the war — what Ukrainian troops call "the zero line."
The shelling from both sides is relentless, but when we asked Lubya if it bothered her, she said: "No, that's far away. We call this silence."
The couple have lived their whole lives in the village. Lubya, six years younger than her husband at 65, playfully calls Victor "grandpa."
They rode out the worst of the nearly 17-month-long war in a cellar at their property, refusing to leave as they had to look after Lubya's 92-year-old mother and their five dogs.
"We've lived together for 47 years now," Victor told us. "We were born here, we got married here, we had children here."
He said their children, now grown, have offered repeatedly to come and take them away, to somewhere further from the front line, but "there's also shooting going on there," Victor said, "so what's the point of changing one for another?"
Lubya gleefully showed us one of her sunhats, now adorned with scorch marks from shrapnel. She was riding her bike when an incoming mortar sprayed hot fragments of metal into her hat.
Ukrainian forces have and continue to retake territory in this region, but the advance is being measured in feet and yards, not square miles, and even in recaptured neighborhoods, Russian artillery still rains down.
Right on the edge of newly liberated territory, not a building stands untouched. The Ukrainians have managed to force back the Russians' defensive line in Donetsk, but Vladimir Putin's forces keep attacking what's left of Vremivka and other villages like it.
In the next village over, Storozheve, a trail of shot-up, obliterated homes and the bodies of Russian soldiers are testimony to the vicious fight that ended with Ukraine wrestling the enclave back from the occupiers.
Back at Lubya's home, with the windows all shattered, she cut some fresh flowers to place on her mom's grave. She died naturally, Lubya said, but soldiers told them the graveyard was too dangerous for a burial, littered with landmines and under constant attack.
The troops helped the couple dig a grave outside their house instead, and they promised to come back and help move Lubya's mother to the cemetery when the war is over.
But Lubya and Victor know that day isn't coming any time soon, and they have more pressing hopes for the time being.
"I am hoping we will survive," Victor told us. "We are asking God to continue our lives."
- In:
- War
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Vladimir Putin
veryGood! (82)
Related
- SCDF aids police in gaining entry to cluttered Bedok flat, discovers 73
- Cute & Comfortable Summer Shoes That You Can Wear to the Office
- Wiz Khalifa and Girlfriend Aimee Aguilar Welcome First Baby Together
- Steward Health Care announces closure of 2 Massachusetts hospitals
- Through 'The Loss Mother's Stone,' mothers share their grief from losing a child to stillbirth
- Chicago Bears wish Simone Biles good luck at 2024 Paris Olympics
- Billy Joel's Daughters Della, 8, and Remy, 6, Make Rare Public Appearance for Final Residency Show
- How Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s Kids Played a Part in Deadpool
- When is the 'Survivor' Season 47 finale? Here's who's left; how to watch and stream part one
- Pregnant Gypsy Rose Blanchard Unveils Massive New Back Tattoo
Ranking
- Southern California forecast of cool temps, calm winds to help firefighters battle Malibu blaze
- Ukraine’s Olympic athletes competing to uplift country amid war with Russia
- Shaun White and Nina Dobrev’s Romance Takes Gold at The Paris Olympics
- Family sues after teen’s 2022 death at Georgia detention center
- Taxpayers could get $500 'inflation refund' checks under New York proposal: What to know
- More Red Lobsters have closed. Here's the status of every US location
- Man gets 66 years in prison for stabbing two Indianapolis police officers who responded to 911 call
- New Ohio law mandates defibrillators in schools, sports venues after 2023 collapse of Bills’ Hamlin
Recommendation
-
When does 'No Good Deed' come out? How to watch Ray Romano, Lisa Kudrow's new dark comedy
-
A judge is vetoing a Georgia county’s bid to draw its own electoral districts, upholding state power
-
US national parks have a troubling history. A new project aims to do better.
-
Proof That Sandra Bullock's Style Has Always Been Practically Magic
-
'September 5' depicts shocking day when terrorism arrived at the Olympics
-
Taco Bell is celebrating Baja Blast's 20th anniversary with freebies and Stanley Cups
-
AI 'art' is ruining Instagram and hurting artists. This is what needs to change.
-
A 15-year-old sentenced to state facility for youths for role in Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally