Desperate Conditions For Ukrainians Trapped In Besieged Bakhmut

The strategic city of Bakhmut has been within artillery range of Russian forces since May. While many of its inhabitants fled, some, like wheelchair-bound Rimma Tsykalenko, 65, were unable to do so.

Once home to 70,000 inhabitants, Bakhmut's residents have been struggling without gas, electricity, and water as the sounds of artillery and explosions echo through the shell-scarred ruins. As winter approaches, residents are wondering how they will survive, even if the war spares them.

To get her monthly pension check, Tsykalenko must rely on her neighbors' assistance to cross a shattered bridge, even as artillery fire erupts nearby.

Another trapped resident is Mykola Pylypenko, 66, a former furniture factory worker who was diagnosed with lung cancer five months ago. With his children and grandchildren having fled, he is cared for by his wife, Oleksandra, 67, who tends to his every need.

As Oleksandra caresses her husband's face, a pot collects water that leaks from their roof, damaged by shelling.

"They said to prepare myself. That's it. What else could they say? I go outside and cry so that he doesn't see me," Oleksandra told AFP.

To supplement their diet, Oleksandra picks grapes and walnuts. But she is worried about the lack of basic foodstuffs that they usually depend on to get them through the winter -- potatoes and onions -- and services such as power and running water.

"Firewood. How can I get it? There is no way to get it here. I don't have money to pay for a delivery," Oleksandra said.

On July 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered a forced evacuation of residents in the eastern Donetsk region. Yet many residents refused.

NGOs are still attempting to evacuate those who did not heed Zelenskiy's order. Ivan Solovyankov, 90 (not pictured), a pensioner who lives in this apartment with his cat, was eventually convinced to leave.

A member of an NGO assists Solovyankov as he agrees to evacuate from his apartment.

While some agree to leave, others are still resolute.

"Whatever happens, happens. I go to bed and I sleep. I don't hide in the basement. My neighbor's place was hit by shelling. The guesthouse, the closet, the terrace," said a 66-year-old man named Gennady as he crossed over a destroyed bridge.