On the 81st day of the “special operation”, as the Kremlin calls it, Russian forces continue to try to advance in the Donbass. Saturday, May 14 morning, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense identified thirty bombings in 24 hours in the Lugansk region. Our special correspondent was able to obtain very rare access to this area, the most closed republic of pro-Russian Donbass, accompanied by pro-Russian forces.
With our special correspondent in Popasna, Anissa El Jabri
The very first thing you notice is the very high intensity of the battle unfolding: Massive reinforcements from the Russian army and pro-Russians have been going on for at least several days, locals report.
On all the main roads, the wide roads or the sodden and rutted muddy paths in the countryside, the constant traffic continues: in a few hours, one can count hundreds of vehicles, including tanks with whole clusters of soldiers, trucks tarpaulins and numerous medium-range guns. Because the Russian and pro-Russian forces primarily use artillery.
About ten kilometers as the crow flies from the front linethe deafening noise of the fighting is perpetual.
In Popasna, a strategic lock taken a few days ago, there is almost nothing left. After a very long siege supported by the air force and its corollary, this city, originally of 20,000 inhabitants, on the administrative border of the Republic of Lugansk, is now a ghost townwith massive destruction.
Civilians try to cultivate their land despite the fighting
While very few soldiers wearing white ribbons – white is reserved for those working in the rear, especially distributing humanitarian aid – are visible, soldiers operating in Popasna most often have a red cloth around them. of a leg or an arm. It is for those on the front lines.
In Popasna, destroyed by artillery fire, a fortress town that has become a ghost town, there remain a few rare civilians who hardly dare to come out of the cellars: We still go out very little on the street, we just walk in the yard from time to time says a 40-year-old tractor driver.
His hair already completely white, he nevertheless ventured into his garden a little further: It’s a bit of a wreck. But hey, for me we can still plant until the end of May. Everyone does what they want. Some do it quickly, others are in no rush. »
A few steps away, its neighbor retired from the railways and its carefully maintained square meters. ” This is my daughter’s garden, this is my gardenshe makes the visit in a Russian mixed with Ukrainian. I get up in the morning at 4:30 a.m. and go and pull the weeds while it’s still quiet. I do this very quickly, and I go home. There I have green sorrel, here are potatoes, tomato plantations, onions… We will be ready for winter, we will survive on our own vegetables and we will not buy anything. We’ll get through this, one way or another. »
She talks about her garden and the shaking of her hands and the tears stop, for a brief moment: the haunting image of the missile that fell in her house and that of her mother’s grave in the yard are less present.
With the inhabitants of Popasna, in the Donbass, who are trying to survive despite the fighting
Russian and pro-Russian forces are now fighting for their next objective: Slaviansk and Kramatorsk.
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