Nicolas Tonev (special envoy to Donbass) // Photo credit: Narciso Contreras / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP
Two years after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Donbass region is more devastated than ever. Located on the border with Russia, the two armies dispute the region relentlessly. For the inhabitants still present in the area, the prospect of an endless war worries.
On February 24, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation launched his special operation in Ukraine. Two years later, the war between Russian and Ukrainian forces continues. Especially since the blitzkrieg promised by the head of the Kremlin has since turned into a war of position, where each square kilometer is defended at the cost of a significant number of lives. And by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s own admission, the country finds itself in an extremely difficult situation.
This is evidenced by the loss of the town of Avdiïvka, in Donbass. In this region of eastern Ukraine, the war has taken hold for a long time. Here, it imposes its alerts, daily bombings and above all imposes a decor of desolation over hundreds of kilometers with villages totally destroyed. In the cities, bombed and collapsed buildings alternate with buildings that remain habitable. And then the war imposes the green camouflage of soldiers, trucks, transporters, tanks which are absolutely everywhere. The noise is not left out since we can hear the explosions up to forty kilometers from the front.
The prospect of endless war
For the inhabitants still present in the area, economic life and even life, simply, is slowing down and experiencing stress. In the region, a curfew was adopted from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. But the streets empty from 7 p.m.
There is a lot of fatalism mixed with anger at the many military and civilian deaths which, if a missile or a drone falls, can change everything at any moment. And if some still hope for an end to the war in the coming months, with Western, military and diplomatic support illustrated by the arrival of Ursula von der Leyen, many think that this war will last for many more years of suffering.