LYMAN: In Lyman, a once-thriving town in eastern Ukraine left devastated after a tumultuous history of occupation and conflict, the remaining residents brace themselves for a harsh winter. Despite Ukrainian forces reclaiming the town from Russian occupation, the struggle for basic amenities persists.
With scarce electricity and gas, 63-year-old Hennadiy Batsak reflects on the challenges faced while huddled around a simple wood-burning stove in his Soviet-era apartment.
The town, mere kilometers away from the front line and marred by a decade-long conflict, grapples with rebuilding amid ongoing fighting.
Mayor Oleksandr Zhuravlyov laments the town’s inability to reconstruct amidst the nearby turmoil, leaving residents bundled up in coats and reliant on their stoves for warmth. Once home to nearly 20,000 people, Lyman now hosts fewer than 5,400, with nearly 90% of its infrastructure reduced to rubble after successive conflicts and occupations.
Most of those who stayed or came back are predominantly older individuals who express no inclination to depart from the place they’ve called home for much of their lives. For many, the steep rents in other regions of Ukraine serve as a compelling reason for their return. ‘I was born here.
This land is my homeland,’ asserted 78-year-old Volodymyr Tkachenko, pointing to the ground. Others live elsewhere,’ he added, motioning towards the distance with a piece of bread. ‘That’s their homeland. But I’ve been here since 1945, and I’m still here today.
Tkachenko returned after spending the previous winter in the comparatively safer city of Dnipro, located further away from the conflict’s front lines. In his home, the sole source of warmth comes from a basic metal stove, where he carefully feeds logs provided by humanitarian volunteers, stacked along Lyman’s main road
