Fear And Hope As Battle For Ukraine’s Pokrovsk Looms
Russian forces have neared the outskirts of Pokrovsk, a strategically important transportation and logistics hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Once home to more than 60,000 people before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, only a fraction of this population now remains in the embattled city. Photojournalist Serhiy Nuzhnenko recently visited Pokrovsk with a colleague from RFE/RL's Donbas Realities and talked to some residents who are still living there.
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A woman walks through a suburb of Pokrovsk in early December.
In the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion my colleagues and I had based ourselves in Pokrovsk, where cafes, restaurants, and shopping centers offered a respite from the front lines. Now we are watching it die. Since 2022, I’ve seen many cities overtaken by war. Some fall quickly and disappear from the headlines, others hold on to the bitter end: Syevyerodonetsk, Lysychansk, Soledar, and others familiar only to the military and journalists. Now Pokrovsk is on that list.
In the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion my colleagues and I had based ourselves in Pokrovsk, where cafes, restaurants, and shopping centers offered a respite from the front lines. Now we are watching it die. Since 2022, I’ve seen many cities overtaken by war. Some fall quickly and disappear from the headlines, others hold on to the bitter end: Syevyerodonetsk, Lysychansk, Soledar, and others familiar only to the military and journalists. Now Pokrovsk is on that list.
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A woman rides past a cinema with a banner declaring “Pokrovsk -- the strength of the Cossack clan.”
A curfew is in place in Pokrovsk from three in the afternoon until 11 a.m. the next day. As soon as the curfew is lifted we park our car and walk through the city streets. Only a handful of people are out and about. In the background, artillery can be heard working to the south and east, where Russian forces are advancing from both directions.
A curfew is in place in Pokrovsk from three in the afternoon until 11 a.m. the next day. As soon as the curfew is lifted we park our car and walk through the city streets. Only a handful of people are out and about. In the background, artillery can be heard working to the south and east, where Russian forces are advancing from both directions.
![Many shops here are closed and apparently abandoned. Svitlana Yaroslavovna (pictured) operates one that is still open, selling sweets, milk and sausage. “When it’s quiet, I get nervous. It feels like maybe the military are surrendering us. I hope they don’t,” she confides after making us coffee. “Because [the nearby settlements of] Novohrodivka and Selydove were both surrendered very quickly even though there were fortifications there. I’m not a soldier, but I wish they hadn’t allowed them to fall." ](https://gdb.rferl.org/07682f19-0cca-4699-bb49-de631d02fd62_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Many shops here are closed and apparently abandoned. Svitlana Yaroslavovna (pictured) operates one that is still open, selling sweets, milk and sausage. “When it’s quiet, I get nervous. It feels like maybe the military are surrendering us. I hope they don’t,” she confides after making us coffee. “Because [the nearby settlements of] Novohrodivka and Selydove were both surrendered very quickly even though there were fortifications there. I’m not a soldier, but I wish they hadn’t allowed them to fall."
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"Dragon's teeth" anti-tank obstacles in Pokrovsk.
Suppliers for Yaroslavovna's grocery shop still come every weekday, she tells us, but some drivers are afraid to come into the city center. “We meet them behind the bridge and transfer the products, then drive them in ourselves.”
If Russian troops keep pushing closer, Yaroslavovna says, “I’ll close the shop and flee with the dogs and cats that I’m looking after here. I definitely won’t live here under the Russians, if the front gets any closer. But for now, I’ll be here for as long as I can."
Suppliers for Yaroslavovna's grocery shop still come every weekday, she tells us, but some drivers are afraid to come into the city center. “We meet them behind the bridge and transfer the products, then drive them in ourselves.”
If Russian troops keep pushing closer, Yaroslavovna says, “I’ll close the shop and flee with the dogs and cats that I’m looking after here. I definitely won’t live here under the Russians, if the front gets any closer. But for now, I’ll be here for as long as I can."