As temperatures drop and the ground freezes, the remaining residents of the shattered eastern Ukrainian town of Lyman are grappling with the challenges of preparing for a harsh winter, one year after Russian forces were driven out.
A Year After Liberation, A Devastated Ukrainian Town Braces For A Harsh Winter
Men gather wood for homes that lost heating due to fighting in Lyman, a city in Ukraine's Donetsk region that was liberated over a year ago.
Over 90 percent of the town's infrastructure has been destroyed, making life for its inhabitants increasingly difficult as temperatures drop.
"There is no gas, the electricity comes and goes," said 63-year-old Hennadiy Batsak, sitting in his kitchen near the small wood-burning stove that is now his only source of heating.
Locals installed the stoves to help survive the bitter winter after fighting in the area destroyed the gas, heat, and water supply to the city.
A pair of local men use plastic sheets to cover a window damaged during fighting in Lyman, which now lies some 15 kilometers from the front line.
Alyna Platonova, 75, survives by heating her home with wood she collects along Lyman's main roads. Volunteers leave the firewood for locals to gather.
Viktor Ivanovich, 35, tries to warm himself in his damaged apartment that had its windows blown out during fighting the previous winter.
A pipe emits smoke from the wood-burning stove in Viktor Ivanovich's apartment. He is one of the few people who remain in the damaged building.
Valentyna Anatolevna and Tetyana Mikhailovna wait to pick up wood to heat their homes outside Lyman's courthouse. Most of the city's residents have not returned after fleeing the war.
A large piece of a rocket hangs in a tree next to a building that was destroyed in an air strike.
A volunteer delivers groceries to an elderly woman on one of Lyman's ice-covered streets.
Most of the city's 20,000 residents fled after Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Only about one-quarter of the population remains.
"I am here since 1945, and I'm still here today," said Volodymyr Tkachenko, 78, while feeding stray cats.
Many of those who remain in Lyman say they have no desire to leave the place where some of them have lived all their lives. Some also said that the rents in other parts of Ukraine were too expensive, which is why they returned.