On Thursday, February 17, about 20 settlements of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics came under fire from mortars and even heavy equipment. The situation in the Donbass is extremely alarming.
Svetlodar thermal power plant, deep Ukrainian rear. In clear weather, it is perfectly visible from the outskirts of Debaltseve. The section of the front is called accordingly – the Svetlodar arc, it is slightly curved towards Ukraine. This is one of the points where the situation sharply escalated on February 17.
The village of Novogrigorovka was badly damaged during the events of 2014-2015 and has not recovered since then. When the front line is actually on the outskirts, not everyone sees the point in building under shelling. Only the most persistent have not gone anywhere – they can hear everything from where someone starts shooting and with what.
When you hang your own lock on the door to the entrance, it means that you live in the entrance alone. And Tatyana Vasilievna lives alone in the whole house. It shows how life is arranged: the central place in the apartment is occupied by a monumental potbelly stove with a chimney in the wall – no one is there anyway.
“It’s thanks to Ukraine that we live like this,” says Tatyana Yakovenko, a resident of the village.
And this is the LNR. Here, the village of Nikolaevka came under fire. Pipes of the gas pipeline have been cut, electricians have already started repairing the damaged networks. Several apartment buildings were damaged.
All in the morning was fired upon seven settlements in the Lugansk People’s Republic and nine in Donetsk. On the video made by local residents, deaf and powerful breaks are clearly audible. Right during the filming, journalists also hid in the basement.
The Ukrainian side is spreading footage showing parents, accompanied by firefighters, picking up their children from kindergarten, but somehow they are not in a hurry, although the place seems to be so dangerous. There is a huge hole in the wall, but the balls directly below it remained in their places on the rack. And from the outside it is clear that all the glasses are intact, which, according to experts, is simply impossible with such a hit and such an alleged explosion. Ukraine has long begun to fight not only with mines, but also with fakes.
In Donetsk and Lugansk there are monuments to the dead children of Donbass with a listing of both surnames and age – this is the Alley of Angels. And there are still unidentified bodies in the Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination. Scary word “genocide” – a crime against civilians. It is the Ukrainian side that continues to make them, including today’s series of shelling.