Residents of Lyman, a city in Donetsk Oblast, endure hardship amid ongoing conflict. Russian forces, now intensifying attacks, pose a threat to the City's defence. Basic necessities like water and gas are scarce, prompting many to flee.

Lyman

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Residents of Lyman, a city located in the Donetsk Oblast of Eastern Ukraine, are currently enduring severe hardships due to the ongoing conflict in the region. Russian forces have intensified their attacks against the city, posing significant threats to its defense capabilities and exacerbating the situation for its inhabitants. 

The continual onslaught has led to a scarcity of basic necessities such as water and gas, severely impacting the daily lives of the local population. This dire situation has prompted many residents to flee the city in search of safety and access to essential services.



Eastern Ukraine residents face hardship amid Russian attacks

People still live here. Around 2,000 of them struggling to exist among the destruction. Russian forces captured the town of Liman in May 2022. The Ukrainian army then recaptured the important railway hub with a pre-war population of more than 20,000 around five months later. Russian missile and so-called glide bomb attacks have increased in recent weeks, targeting Ukrainian positions in the surrounding forests, taking advantage of what Ukraine says is its potentially catastrophic lack of weaponry and air defence. With tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid either stuck by arguments in the US Congress or not getting here fast enough from European allies, Western intelligence and the Ukrainian military say Russia is now gaining momentum on the battlefield. Shelling by Russian forces of Liman and the surrounding countryside is causing fires like this in the forests virtually every day. The people still living inside Liman are afraid that Russian forces could push through nearby Ukrainian defensive lines. There's no running water or gas in town. Natalia fled to Dnipro before Russian forces occupied the place she has lived all her life. She returned when the Ukrainian army took back control. Her daughter and granddaughter went to Poland and they don't want to come back. She leads us into her basement. She's had to start sheltering underground again. Of course, I'm very anxious. God willing, it won't happen. We don't need them here. They should go back where they came from, give us back the life we had. Before, it was a beautiful life and we never asked anything from anyone. We had work, we had a railway, we had a town. Look what they have done to us and our life. No one lives here now, most people left, and this is our land. Few people come to the tiny Sunday market. Police check people's IDs hunting for suspected Russian informers. Oleksandr lived here throughout the Russian army's occupation. I don't want to talk about it, he says. I hid here in the shelter for two hours during yesterday's attacks. Vitaly is head of Liman's fire department. He says his men are now more than ever vulnerable to attack as they try to save lives. Sadly, the shelling has recently increased. The enemy has hit civilian infrastructure, residential areas, destroying residential buildings, health facilities, and so civilians suffer. The shelling has caused many fires. We receive up to 10 call-outs in a given 24-hour period. There are many towns near the front line like this one, back in the crosshairs of the Russian army, which Ukraine and its allies say is preparing for a major advance. Charles Stratford, Al Jazeera, Liman.

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Ukraine Invasion