Ukraine’s Donetsk cities face destruction as Russia advances

Post by :

Photo:PTI

The war in Ukraine is pressing harder on the Donetsk region, where Russian forces continue to move deeper into Ukrainian-held land. For civilians still trapped in these towns and cities, life has turned into a daily struggle filled with fear, uncertainty, and loss.

The two towns of Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk, only 25 kilometers apart, now show two very different faces of life under war. One is nearly destroyed and empty, while the other still tries to hold on to a sense of normal life, even as danger grows closer every day.

Kostiantynivka – a city left in ruins

Kostiantynivka was once home to around 67,000 people. Today, most of those residents have fled. There is no reliable power, water, or gas. Shelling rains down almost daily. Drones buzz constantly in the skies. The city has become unbearable, forcing the last remaining civilians to leave behind the homes where they were born.

The city now sits dangerously close to the front line. Russian forces surround it on almost three sides, leaving it nearly encircled. For those who stayed, survival became impossible.

One resident, Natalia Ivanova, a woman in her 70s, described how she finally made the painful choice to leave. She had lived in Kostiantynivka all her life, with two apartments—one already destroyed by shelling and the other badly damaged. For months, she stood her ground as shells whistled overhead and buildings collapsed around her.

“I never thought I’d leave,” Ivanova said. “It was my home, my comfort. But one explosion bent my windows so badly that I couldn’t close them anymore. That was the moment I knew I had to go.”

She described drones “like beetles” swarming in the sky, and the sound of shells never stopping. When a blast shook her building, she packed what she could and escaped. She left her entire life behind.

At an evacuation hub, her voice broke as she begged world leaders to stop the war.

“Please, stop it. It’s the poorest people who suffer the most. This war is senseless and stupid. We are dying like animals by the dozens,” she said.

For Ivanova, the destruction of her city is part of a wider tragedy. She had already watched other towns fall: Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Toretsk. Now she fears that Kostiantynivka is destined for the same fate, and that the whole Donetsk region may be lost forever.

Kramatorsk – a city still alive, but fading

In contrast, Kramatorsk, a larger city just 25 kilometers north, still holds onto life. Before the war, it had a population of 147,000. Many have left, but cafes and restaurants remain open, and some parts of the city still look intact. Soldiers dominate the streets, yet people continue with daily routines as best as they can.

For people fleeing from nearby towns, Kramatorsk has become a new home. Olena Voronkova, who once ran a beauty salon and a café in Kostiantynivka, moved here with her family in May. Life in her hometown became impossible after her house was damaged by a rocket strike and strict curfews made it hard to live.

She opened a new café in Kramatorsk, using the mirrors she saved from her old salon. The space looks almost like the one she lost, and it has turned into a small refuge for other displaced families from Kostiantynivka.

“At first, we thought maybe people would return one day,” she said. “But now, we know almost nothing is left. Kostiantynivka is turning into another Bakhmut or Avdiivka. Everything is being destroyed.”

She explained how the mood among displaced people is heavy. Many have lost hope, but at the same time, being together in Kramatorsk gives them comfort. “Everyone shares the same loss, so at least we understand each other,” she said.

Still, she admitted no one knows what the future will bring. “Russia isn’t stopping. That’s where the hopelessness begins. No one knows where to go next. No one has direction anymore.”

Life on borrowed time

Even Kramatorsk, with its open cafes and surviving streets, is not safe. It lies just 21 kilometers from the front line and is bombed regularly. The city, once lively and bustling, now feels empty and silent.

Daria Horlova, 18, remembers a time when the city square would be alive with people at 9 p.m. Now, by that time, a strict curfew keeps the streets deserted. For her, every passing day feels uncertain.

“It’s terrifying when something flies overhead or strikes nearby,” she said. “You want to cry, but there are no emotions left. No strength.”

Horlova studies online, since her university relocated, and works as a nail artist. She dreams of one day opening her own salon, but for now, she feels stuck. She already experienced one evacuation earlier in the war and doesn’t want to face it again.

Instead of thinking too much about the future, she tries to live in the moment. Recently, she asked her boyfriend, a tattoo artist, to give her a large tattoo of a goat skull on her leg—something she had wanted for years.

“I think you just have to do things as soon as you can,” she said. “This tattoo will be a memory of Kramatorsk if I end up leaving.”

A region at risk of being lost

Donetsk was once the industrial heart of Ukraine. Today, it is slowly being reduced to rubble. From Bakhmut to Avdiivka, from Kostiantynivka to Kramatorsk, every city faces the same grim reality—either destroyed, abandoned, or living in constant fear of the next strike.

For civilians, the war has already taken everything: homes, jobs, families, and peace. What remains is survival and the haunting uncertainty of what will come next.

As Russian forces push forward, many Ukrainians fear that the Donetsk region may never recover. And for those who have lost everything, there is one painful question: even if the war ends, will there be anything left to return to?

Ukraine war, Donetsk region, Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk