‘Everything is destroyed and there is no work’
Village levelled by hard fighting
Alexander Bespalko and his son lifted parts from a burnt-out Ukrainian armoured personnel carrier in a village ravaged by the past week’s battles. With homes destroyed and livelihoods lost, residents in the village of Hrabske must scrape for a living and at least scrap metal is reliable — with wrecked tanks, cars and APCs everywhere.
“My home was levelled and I need to rebuild it somehow,” Bespalko said Sunday, in between giving instructions to nine-year-old Denis, who was clambering hammer in hand over the metal carcass.
“This heap of junk is scrap that I can make some money from,” he said. “Everything is destroyed and there is no work.”
Hrabske and the nearby strategic town of Ilovaysk have suffered badly from recent clashes as separatist Russian forces relentlessly chip away at areas under government control. Few streets are free of the scars of artillery attacks. More than half the schools across rebel-held areas stayed closed Monday on the traditional first day of school, so Denis was free to continue on scrap collection duty.
Ukrainian forces made notable strides after fighting broke out in April, but that has been almost all reversed in a major recent rebel counteroffensive. Kyiv and Western countries allege Russia has sent in troops and equipment to bolster the pro-Russia rebels, but Moscow firmly denies it and rejects suggestions that it can wield influence over the rebels.
The bitter fight for Ilovaysk and surrounding areas between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatist fighters lasted the best part of a month. On Saturday, the government conceded inevitable defeat as its armed forces were surrounded completely and came under relentless fire.
The rebel force makes no secret of its international character, and includes many Russians along with Spaniards, French and Serbians. In Hrabske, one van carrying rebel fighters was draped with a flag of Russia’s Republic of Chechnya.
When shells began falling on the village, those with nowhere else to flee took refuge in a monastery a couple of kilometres farther down the road.
On Sunday, as rebels consolidated their control in Hrabske and Ilovaysk, residents started returning to inspect what remained of their homes, if anything.
Hrabske was occupied by government troops and became a base for firing shells at Ilovaysk, whose centre lies beyond a railway crossing that served as a dividing line between the warring sides.
While there were already signs of life returning to Hrabske, obtaining basic necessities will be an uphill climb for the foreseeable future. One of the villages’ two shops has been reduced to a scorched shell.
Fragments of Grad rockets, which have played a deadly role in the often erratic shelling duels that are a trademark of this conflict, lay scattered around their apartment courtyard.
Even with the fighting over for now, many homes remain without electricity and water.