Residents return to ruins in Ukraine town

Not a single building in Nikishyne escaped undamaged after months of intense bombardment, which helped shrink the village of 700 to a handful residents as fighting raged in eastern Ukraine.

But since pro-Russian rebels captured in February the strategic city of Debaltseve about 15 kilometres (nine miles) away, the bombardment of Nikishyne has ended and residents are returning to a moonscape of shattered buildings and the daunting task of rebuilding their lives under rebel control.

“It must have been hellish here,” said Yevgeny as he stared at the only standing wall of his home, which was burnt and left pocked by artillery shell shrapnel.

“I found what is left of my refrigerator in the yard of a house two doors down,” the former truck driver added. “It would be easier to get rid of everything and start over again. But there is no money and no work.”

The shells started falling in September, and despite government forces abandoning the village several weeks later, the bombardment continued until mid-February.

A garrison of government troops had spent two months trying to hold the village against the rebel advance, but in the end beat a retreat a couple hundred metres up the road.

The government continued bombarding the village, which was taken over by rebels, as the battle for nearby Debaltseve raged. Since Ukraine forces retreated from the key rail hub, a shaky internationally-negotiated ceasefire has taken hold.