Seven years of active conflict in eastern Ukraine

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https://peopleinneed.pageflow.io/seven-years-living-on-the-frontline-in-eastern-ukraine

Seven years of active conflict in eastern Ukraine

Seven years living on the frontline in eastern Ukraine

Seven years living on the frontline in eastern Ukraine

The conflict in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, has been raging for over seven years.
Today, some 3.4 million people need humanitarian assistance.
More than 3,300 civilians have been killed and 7,000 wounded.
One-third of those in need in Donbas are elderly, which makes the crisis in eastern Ukraine one of the “oldest” humanitarian crises in the world.

Opytne is a small village close to the 427-kilometre frontline which divides what used to be the most densely populated and industrially productive part of eastern Ukraine into government and non-government-controlled areas.

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Welcome to Opytne

Welcome to Opytne

Frequent shelling and landmines continue to impact the well-being of the region’s residents. Eastern Ukraine has one of the highest numbers of landmines in the world. Since 2014, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed or injured by mines and other explosive remnants of war.

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Welcome to Opytne

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Residents

Before the war, Opytne was home to approximately 670 people, most of whom left due to the heavy fighting in the area in 2014 and 2015.

In 2015, only 70 people remained in Opytne, and currently, the town is home to only 37 residents. Most young people have left.
It is mostly the town’s elderly who have stayed behind.

There is no water, electricity, gas, hospital, or public transportation in Opytne. People are isolated from the world, without access to basic services.

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Building

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Meet Olena and her family

Meet Olena and her family

Olena lives in a summer house in Opytne with her husband, children, and mother. The home they lived in before the war was destroyed in the heavy fighting. There is not a single house in the village which has not been touched by the conflict.

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Olena window

Without transportation and isolated by poor weather, Olena’s family, like others in Opytne, is forced to live with the constant stress of the conflict without access to basic services.

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Living room

“This is our home, we don’t want to leave. Even without electricity, water, and gas we learned how to survive, and we support each other. The main thing is that we are at home,” says Olena.

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Gallery

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Road car

There is no road to Opytne, the only connection to the outside world is a dirt track that goes through a mine field. When it rains or snows, it is not possible to access the village. In case of an emergency like fire or accident, firefighters and doctors cannot reach the village.

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The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

People in Opytne are very friendly, and they have supported each other throughout the difficulties of war and isolation. The lack of a proper road, combined with the absence of public transportation, puts all of the residents at risk and makes them particularly vulnerable.

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Masha

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Masha leaving

Last year, one of Opytne’s residents, Mariia, passed away in a fire in her home. Without access to electricity, she used a kerosene lamp to light her house. The night her house caught fire, the road to Opytne was muddy, and the firefighters could not reach the village.

“I still have the feeling that Mariia will come by in her yellow jacket. If only we could turn back time,” says Olena.

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Field

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A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

Olena and her son live in a two-story apartment building in Opytne. Before the war, the building’s 24 flats were full of people. Now, only Olena and her son remain.

“East or west, but home is best,” says Olena. “For me, Opytne is the best place, this is my home and I don’t want to leave it.”

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Residents2

She still hopes that people will come back to the village, and that it will regain its vibrancy.

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People in Need delivers drinking water to Opytne’s residents twice per month as part of the ACCESS Consortium project with financial support from European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid.

The ACCESS project is implemented by a group of international and national organizations: People in Need, Médicos del Mundo, ACTED in partnership with IMPACT Initiatives, Right to Protection and HelpAge and provides multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance to the conflict-affected populations of Donetsk and Luhansk oblast on the both sides of the contact line in eastern Ukraine.

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Olena in her neighbors’ house
“We have very good relationships with our neighbors.
When the neighbors fled due to active fighting they asked me to take care about their house. It was very difficult to let them know when their house was damaged”.

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Olena in front of her house
“We have built a new big house for our big family and hoped to live there happily together. We never thought that the war will come to our region and our house will be destroyed”.

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Olena’s greenhouse
“When I’m doing gardening, I forgot about the problems,
issues and difficulties. It helps me to relax”, says Olena

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Nina, Olena’s mother, in their summer house
“Without water in the village we learnt quite fast how to save water. And only now, lacking water, we fully understand the value of it and that we need to use it rationally”, says Nina.

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Dmytro in the summer house
“We were living all together for several years in our summerhouse as the main house was damaged in a shelling. Now we have partially rehabilitated the main house and can stay in it”, shares Olena, Dmytro’s mother.

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Olena in her greenhouse
“We are cultivating the vegetables in the greenhouses as before the war. Now it is much more complicated as we don’t have water, but anyway we grow enough to feed ourselves and prepare canned vegetables for the winter period”.

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Overview

Chapter 1 Seven years of active conflict in eastern Ukraine

Seven years living on the frontline in eastern Ukraine

Chapter 2 Welcome to Opytne

Welcome to Opytne

Welcome to Opytne

Residents

Building

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

Meet Olena and her family

360 Video

Olena window

Living room

Gallery

View

Road car

Chapter 4 The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

360 Video

Masha

Masha leaving

Field

Chapter 5 A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

360 Video

Residents2

Chapter 6

Mirror

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Seven years living on the frontline in eastern Ukraine

Chapter 1 Seven years of active conflict in eastern Ukraine

Seven years living on the frontline in eastern Ukraine
Welcome to Opytne

Chapter 2 Welcome to Opytne

Welcome to Opytne
Welcome to Opytne

Chapter 2 Welcome to Opytne

Welcome to Opytne
Residents

Chapter 2 Welcome to Opytne

Residents
Building

Chapter 2 Welcome to Opytne

Building
Meet Olena and her family

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

Meet Olena and her family
360 Video

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

360 Video
Olena window

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

Olena window
Living room

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

Living room
View

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

View
Road car

Chapter 3 Meet Olena and her family

Road car
The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

Chapter 4 The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services
360 Video

Chapter 4 The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

360 Video
Masha

Chapter 4 The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

Masha
Masha leaving

Chapter 4 The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

Masha leaving
Field

Chapter 4 The daily reality in Opytne: the strong spirit of the residents despite the lack of services

Field
A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

Chapter 5 A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena
360 Video

Chapter 5 A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

360 Video
Residents2

Chapter 5 A walk through Opytne with another resident named Olena

Residents2
Mirror

Chapter 6

Mirror
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1

This story This page

Imprint

Global linksPrivacy notice