From: Reuters By Anatolii Stepanov
KOSTIANTYNIVKA, Ukraine, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Hunkered in the basement of his battle-scarred building in eastern Ukraine, 65-year-old Volodymyr rarely emerges as Russian forces press at the doorstep of his city of Kostiantynivka.
“Everything around us has been hit, it all burned up,” he said. “It’s scary, but we’re living on – what can you do?”
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Residents like Volodymyr, who is staying behind to care for his ailing mother-in-law, are struggling to survive in bombed-out, shrapnel-ridden buildings as winter sets in.
Russian troops are bearing down on the city, once a key hub for Ukraine’s eastern forces, in a bid to seize more land with Kyiv under pressure to accept a U.S.-backed peace deal that could involve painful concessions.
With the strategic city of Pokrovsk on the verge of capture, officials and analysts believe Russia will now target the so-called “fortress belt” of remaining Ukrainian-held cities in the east.
Voice of Ukraine 