The vast majority of residents of the village of Mala Tokmachka, located on Ukrainian territory in the Zaporizhia region, have left the city. However, it is still possible to find those just trying to survive due to the Russian invasion in one of the many ghost villages in Ukraine.
Such is the case of Anna, a 25year Army veteran who says she has nowhere else to go.
“I’m a military man. I’ve carried a gun in my belt all my life. Fear or not, we have to endure it,” he told R.
“My husband was also a soldier, but he is paralyzed. Where would you go with a paralytic?” he asks.
With no electricity, water or gas, Anna wonders how the residents have survived the past four months.
When life returns to the capital Kyiv, regions close to the frontline in Donbass leave a trail of memories. Of the 2,500 people who lived in Mala Tokmachka, only 500 remain.
Nobody takes care of the fields, nobody opens the shops, nobody cleans up the destruction in the abandoned buildings. But there are those who survive.
“Farmers cannot harvest their crops. I’m a farmer and it hurts to look at the fields. But what can we do? People are afraid to go to the fields. People don’t even harvest the land next to their houses,” says Mykola Skarupilo, 67 years old.
He too has decided to stay because his mother doesn’t want to leave the region.
“I’ve gotten used to it. If my mother says she doesn’t want to go anywhere, why should her son be afraid to stay? Yes, I was born here and I will die here, but I’m not going anywhere,” he concludes.
The Russian military offensive in Ukraine, launched on February 24, has already killed more than 5,000 civilians, according to the United Nations (UN), which warns the real number is likely to be much higher.
The Russian invasion was generally condemned by the international community, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and tightening economic and political sanctions against Moscow.
Also Read: Three bodies found after Russian attack on a school in Ukraine
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