The last days of Lysychansk: Inside the city being smashed by the Russian military sledgehammer

Life amidst the chaos

There are a remarkable number of residents still inside Lysychansk despite the diminishing odds of holding out against a Russian blockade and the growing possibility the Ukrainian troops may opt for another staged retreat from here.

The authorities estimate there could be as many as 15,000 people still in the city from an original population of about 100,000. The daily Russian onslaught, which is increasing in intensity, has seen it empty out considerably.

But despite no water supplies, no electricity, no mobile or internet signal, people, even families with young children, have still remained behind.

It’s difficult to gauge exact numbers as the city has not been functioning normally for four months. And the hardy holdouts spend long hours sheltering underground in basements.

But we saw many trying to eke out a life amidst the chaos in this war zone. We saw children playing in shelters and parents lining up to get water and food.

Bit by bit, they’ve watched as the Russians battered and bombed neighbouring Severodonetsk, perhaps never quite believing it would fall. But standing firm against a Russian army with such an insatiable appetite for death and destruction means accepting there will be countless killed and injured.  

And Lysychansk is being attacked on two main fronts now with ever diminishing chances of being able to withstand this brutal Russian invasion.

The oil refinery on the city’s western edge is ablaze with multiple fires and continual, rapid shelling. We drive into the dense clouds of smoke and black billowing fumes from the burning oil and it feels what I can only imagine how driving into the heart of Armageddon might be – past tattered and mangled army vehicles and along a road carpeted by shrapnel and chunks of debris.

Inside a bunker hidden in the oil refinery, which we’ve agreed not to reveal, we find soldiers from the 46^th Battalion of the 24^th Brigade. They’re on the move, shifting from this position to another from where they will carry on fighting. 

They’ve come under savage attack and are bitterly disappointed about losing Severodonetsk.

It’s made their role here, defending Lysychansk all the more important and they don’t want to give up an inch of territory. But they follow their orders and tell us anyway that they agree, although everything about them screams reluctance at giving ground. “Yes,” one tells us, “It was the right decision. It’s better to save lives.”

But every bit of their territory being swallowed up by the Russians hurts… and their enemies are making slow but steady progress. The battalion commander tells us: “We are going out but some other units will stay.”

He insists the soldiers aren’t leaving Lysychansk. “We just want to regroup in a better position,” he says.

The lights inside the bunker are stripped down and we leave the shelter as the final one is turned off and the men carry their kit outside to waiting vehicles and speed off.