Ukraine residents chop wood to 'survive' winter

In the eastern Ukrainian town of Siversk, Valery drives a chainsaw through a tree trunk, like many others in the war-ravaged region stocking up for a cold winter.

"We try to survive thanks to wood," says the 39-year-old, who stayed behind to look after his mother after his wife and children fled to the capital.

"A basement (to hide from Russian strikes), a stove and wood-that's all we have," he says, not giving his surname.

Russian forces who invaded Ukraine in February pounded the district with missiles and rockets this summer, and unsuccessfully tried several times to capture it.

Though the town has so far held out, its heights and eastern flank have been disfigured by the strikes, and deep craters have been etched in the earth.

In one square, buildings including a school has been severely damaged.

Only a handful of the town's pre-war 12,000 residents remain today, battling life without gas or electricity.

"There's nothing else to do, so we chop down the trees as much as possible. There are lots here, so it should be enough" for the winter, Valery says.

The front line lies in a semi-circle, some 10 to 15 kilometres (6 to 9 miles) to the east of the town.

The constant to and fro of artillery fire between Ukrainian and Russian forces resounds throughout near-abandoned town.

"The only way to get through it is to drink wine before sleeping," Valery says. "I'm stressed, it's difficult to cope." Alla, a 68-year-old doctor who also stayed behind, says she helps distribute humanitarian aid from the local authorities and church when it arrives.

"There are also volunteers who bring in food for the animals" left behind to roam the town, she says.

The physician says the fighting has destroyed her flat and one of her two houses in Siversk.