According to various sources, late-stage talks on the war have largely narrowed to territorial issues. Against that backdrop, Novaya Gazeta Europe special correspondent Dmitry Durnev traveled to his hometown of Kramatorsk, where by some estimates at least 50,000 people remain, to see how the frontline city is living now.
Getting there is increasingly unpredictable: rail routes are disrupted by shelling, passengers may be dropped off early, and transport is gradually shifting to minibuses and private cars. Soldiers say a train to Lozova may arrive, or may not, which means even a trip to Kyiv can turn into an exhausting journey lasting many hours.
Kramatorsk itself gives a mixed impression. Banks, registry offices, municipal buses and trolleybuses are still operating, and street lights stay on until 8:00 p.m. At the same time, markets and residential neighborhoods have been damaged by rockets and glide bombs, and a 1.5-ton bomb recently fell on a central street without exploding.
Bus driver Andriy Freitak, the reporter’s former classmate, said he has already come under attack: shrapnel smashed the rear window of his bus, and in another incident a drone struck nearby. Despite holding a Russian passport obtained after years in Russia, he stayed in the city and continues to work his route.
Kramatorsk has become the last major hub in the region where civilian services and rental housing are still available. People are moving there from Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Lyman and other places where normal life has nearly disappeared. At the same time, many local residents say they have no intention of leaving even under constant bombardment.
“My mother is 90, and I am not going anywhere with her,” one resident told the reporter.
In the view of a senior officer from the 11th Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian forces are still relatively sparing the historic center in hopes of possible political deals, while repeatedly striking industrial zones, outskirts and residential districts. On the night of March 7, a 500-kilogram bomb hit the area near Peace Square again: one person was killed and six were injured, including three children.