For the past week, the inhabitants of Lyman, in eastern Ukraine, have been gradually regaining their bearings after the liberation of the city, at the cost of significant destruction. Everyone sticks together to face the coming winter, a solidarity already in place during the Russian occupation.
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Residents of Lyman are breathing fresh air again in early October, a week after the town was liberated in eastern Ukraine. The Russian occupation forced them to spend most of their time in the cellars of houses, safe from fire. The eastern Ukrainian town fell to Russian forces three months after the invasion began on May 27. It was resumed on October 1.
>> REPORT. “They behaved as if the city was theirs”: in Lyman, taken back from the Russians, the Ukrainians heal the wounds of the war
For its inhabitants, these weeks of deprivation were also marked by significant solidarity. “During the fighting and the bombings, people survived thanks to sharingdescribes Lyudmila, they stuck together, they stayed in Lyman, because they were afraid that their house would be ransacked or robbed. They were afraid of not being able to come back.“
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Staying was not an option for some. Without money or a car, they had no choice but to watch helplessly as the Russians invaded. This is the case of Sergei, a 22-year-old baker: “The hardest thing is that there was nothing left to eat. We helped each other, neighbors. For example, we exchanged bread for meat, sugar for cereals, that’s how we got by.”
“We got together. People brought what they had and shared it with others.”
Alexander, inhabitant of LymanFrance Info
This sense of sharing continues even today, especially with the arrival of winter. Temperatures are starting to drop. Something to worry about those who lost their homes in the bombings. Alexander’s has been gutted and the walls are charred. He was able to find a solution for himself and his family: “At the end of the street, there is a small house, the owner left and she lent it to us. She allowed us to spend the winter there.”
A week after Lyman’s release, residents are still struggling in dire poverty. Humanitarian aid arrives in dribs and drabs and the area remains dangerous: mines and unexploded shells are scattered around the city.