In Pictures

Photos: After heavy combat, Ukrainians in east brace for cold

The essential services, running water, electricity, and central heating, have been disrupted — Essential services like running water, electricity and heating have been disrupted across eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. The remaining residents in the town of Lyman install firewood stoves inside their apartments and collect firewood to stay warm. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

“When my firewood is finished, I will lie down and die,” says 70-year-old Nadezhda Vasilievna as she unlocks the wooden door of her one-bedroom house in the eastern Ukrainian village of Lazove. She puts the plastic jerrycans she is carrying on the floor. She keeps her overcoat on. It is almost as cold inside the house as in the street.

Towns and villages in the Donetsk region have seen heavy fighting and shifting front lines in recent months. Residents are now facing a new threat: a bitter winter without heating, electricity and running water. Most houses are empty, but those who have opted to stay make quick repairs to their damaged homes and burn wood in stoves to stay warm.

In the village of Korovyi Yar, only 80 people remain, compared to a pre-war population of 400.

Tatiana and her 10-year-old son are the only remaining occupants of a 40-flat residential building heavily damaged by shelling. She has covered the broken windows of empty flats with plastic, trying to keep her apartment warm. On a small firewood stove, she warms rainwater to wash their clothes.

While the region is famous for its rich forests, collecting firewood poses a serious challenge because mines and unexploded munitions threaten anyone who steps off paved roads. To help people stay warm, the International Committee of the Red Cross delivers quick repair material and dry fuel bricks across the region.

When the trucks arrive in Dibrova village, about two dozen people come to collect the fuel bricks. Among them is Maria Trofimovna, 82, who lives with her husband and son in a garage after their house was destroyed.

“We are alone on our street,” she says as the din of combat can be heard in the distance. “All the neighbours have left. … My son keeps telling me not to worry, that we will rebuild everything.”

Olga Andreevna, 70, a resident of Lazove, had to move out of her house because she is unable to keep it warm. Coming back to check on it, she finds her cat sitting on the porch, waiting to be let in.

“I moved here in the ’80s, and I spent every penny I earned to improve this house,” she said. “How could I have thought my old age would be like this?”

This photo essay is provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

With no electricity, heating or running water, Tariana collects rainwater to wash hers and her son’s clothes — With no electricity, heating or running water, Tariana collects rainwater to wash the clothes of her and her son. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

villager on her way to fetch water. — Nadezhda Vasilievna, 70, fetches water after the war in Ukraine cut off water service in the village of Lazove. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

A wall of memorabilia and personal possessions in a damaged house — “I moved here in the '80s, and I spent every penny I earned to improve this house” says Olga Andreevna, a resident of Lazove. "How could I have thought my old age would be like this?" [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

ICRC trucks deliver dry fuel bricks — Red Cross trucks deliver dry fuel bricks to help residents of Lyman heat their homes after Ukrainian forces recaptured the city in October following months of Russian occupation. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

Ruined tank in front of a church — A destroyed tank sits abandoned in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sviatohirsk. Towns and villages in Donetsk have seen heavy fighting and shifting front lines in the past few months. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

ICRC distributes dry fuel bricks — A man loads dry fuel bricks distributed to the residents of Lyman by the Red Cross. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

Once bustling with tourists who enjoyed its wilderness and spas, Sviatohirsk is now war-battered and nearly empty, and the town's residents are struggling to find ways to survive the winter. [Alyona Synenko/Al Jazeera]

Zinaida Alexandrovna, 75, and Vasiliy Grigorievich, 75, met in high school and have been married for 52 years. They have lived in Sviatohirsk their entire lives. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

Dibrova resident, collecting dry fuel — A Dibrova resident collects dry fuel bricks brought by the Red Cross. Keeping warm this winter is a problem that weighs heavily on most people's minds in the Donetsk region. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

ICRC distributes dry fuel bricks to the residents of Lyman — The Red Cross distributes dry fuel bricks in Lyman after mines and unexploded munitions have made collecting firewood a serious challenge. Many residents have resorted to cutting down fruit trees from their gardens to stay warm. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]

Woman holds her cat in front of her destroyed home — “Every time I come to check on the house, the cat tries to get inside. It doesn’t understand that the house is empty now,” says Olga Andreevna, who had to leave her home in Lazove because she could no longer heat it. [Alyona Synenko/ICRC]