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15 km from the front line, the Ukrainian town of Dergachy is regularly bombed by Russia. Despite everything, residents return to the city, determined to live there.
In Ukraine, the city of Kharkiv is still under fire from Russian forces. Saturday May 25, a strike on a DIY hypermarket left 16 dead, according to the latest report. An attack described as despicable by the Ukrainian president. If Ukrainian forces claim to have stopped the offensive launched on May 10 by Russia, the villages north of the city, close to the border, are under constant fire. This is the case in Dergachy, northwest of Kharkiv, about fifteen kilometers from the front line.
At 27, Alexandre Koulik, jeans and black t-shirt, is deputy mayor of Dergachy, in charge of security. 25,000 people spread across seven villages, some along the front line. “Since March, they have been bombing with everything they can: guided bombs, Shahed drones, missiles,” he lists.
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On May 2 and 10, a building – shops on the ground floor and a gym upstairs – was targeted by two guided bombs. Eight children, who were practicing karate, were injured. “There was no military equipment or soldiers here, continues the deputy mayor. It’s obvious that they want to spread terror and panic among civilians, to demoralize them. Emotionally, it’s difficult. But you get used to it, and everything eventually becomes normal.” On the ground floor, Valéry, municipal employee, cleans the rubble. “At the beginning,” he said, “everyone was afraid. But there was no question of leaving the city. People needed help.”
Direction one of the villages of the commune, Prudyanka, 15 km from the border. In 2022, here, it was the front.
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No more stores, no health center, the town hall annex is in ruins, and yet “The residents are coming back. They want to live in their own place. And our duty is to help them.” HAS 78 years old, Lydia, takes small steps, using her cane, in her garden.
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She came back and has just planted potatoes, tomatoes… And too bad if shots are heard in the distance: “You get used to it, she says. In 2022, everything has gone over our heads, so now it’s a joke.”
This former mathematics teacher continues: “I don’t understand what the Russians are thinking, they are killing their own children. This war is so stupid.”