Yampil. People meet at the village's central shop to get aid
Villager Vladimir has tied a rope around his stomach, the other end is tied around the chimney of his mother-in-law's house. Secured in this way, he is now repairing the roof that was damaged during the recapture of Yampil.
When the Russians conquered the village at the beginning of the war, her house was destroyed: Vera Romowa, 65, had to move in with her sister. After that, she spent six months surviving under the occupation. "There was no time to cut my hair, I didn't give it a second thought," says the pensioner, while neighbor Luda, 65, cuts her bangs.
Aside from the destruction, all the woman has left is a Russian matchbox with the inscription "Saint Petersburg" and a silhouette of an onion dome. Vera Romova doesn't know what will happen next: "The main thing is that the Russians won't come back."
A burned-out tank stands in the forest near the village Zarichne. The area saw heavy combat.
A squad of the 14th National Guard from Lviv excavated positions in the forest behind Yampil. With a decades-old Soviet-style anti-aircraft gun, they try to shoot down drones and Russian planes. Soldier Andrii - who has Cossack haircuts, a strand of hair on top of his otherwise shaved head - says they rotated positions every few days. Even a few kilometers away from the front they are endangered: "40 minutes ago a tank shell flew over our heads, that was close."
The roads are littered with stray munition.
The first clean-up work has taken place in the village of Zarichne. The inventory of the school stands in order in front of the door. The bus stop on the street in front of it has already been repainted: “Ukraine” is now written in large letters above the national colors.
Many people in the liberated areas travel by bicycle. Like here, at the bridge behind Zarichne. The road is littered with debris and shrapnel. An all-terrain vehicle belonging to the Ukrainian military has just sped past the residents. The soldiers try to avoid artillery hits by driving at high speed.
In the village of Torske there are still numerous bodies of Russian soldiers. They were apparently caught retreating. The bodies are already turning blue, the limbs are swollen. Flies circle around. It smells like decay. One of the dead is hanging out of the window of a Ukrainian school bus, which they apparently hijacked while trying to escape. Ukrainian soldiers have taken up positions in the houses next door and are warning SPIEGEL reporters to leave the combat area immediately. Russian drones circled in the air, there was a constant threat of fire.
Driving out from Torske under heavy shelling.
A Mercedes van used by the Russians is destroyed on the road. The Russian "Z" symbol on the bonnet has been lengthened into a swear word by Ukrainian soldiers. Now it says something that roughly means "penis head" in German. Next to the Mercedes Vito are the remains of a Lada, apparently flattened by a tank.
Black smoke billows over a place not far away. The booming of artillery is omnipresent.
Water is in scarce supply. An elderly villager fills water from military tanks into canisters. In many villages, the water supply has been interrupted for weeks. When the man found out that the reporters were from Germany, he said: "My brother lives there, but we haven't been in touch for years."
The painting of Jesus, in Stavky church, damaged by shrapnel.
Former Russian positions. Next to an exploded vehicle are unopened cans of vegetables.
On the hood of their squad car, artillery soldiers from the 66th Brigade plan their next moves after having a late lunch. The canned meat is good, but they really can't recommend the sausages: "Too bland." One of the men is looking at a map of the area on a tablet. They wrote down the coordinates of their targets in a checkered notebook.
The rockets that the "Grad" is loaded with are taken from an abandoned storage house of the Russians. "Look, the marking shows that the shells are brand new, just produced," says the commander. Now the Russian ammunition is used against Russian positions. The barrels of the Ukrainian Grad rocket launcher are already filled with it for the next attack.
Soldiers from another unit search a dirt road with metal detectors where they want to set up a new position. Bitter fighting is raging a few kilometers from here. Russian units, reinforced by freshly mobilized forces, attempt to establish a new line of defence. But the initiative clearly lies with the Ukrainians.
The area is extremely contaminated with mines. The danger will stay for years after the war is over.
Friends Serhii, 57, left, and Ivan, 65, have led their cows to graze in a pasture near their village.
They moved together from western Ukraine to the village of Druzhelubivka in the early 1990s, they say: "We were far away from Chernobyl here, and there was also a lot of land and our own houses." The Russian occupiers had set up gun positions in their village: " When they fired, the houses shook.” They also left many mines. "Ten days ago two cows died in the neighboring village when they stepped on them," says Ivan.
Ukrainian soldiers ride on a troop tank in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region. The military equipment comes partly from old Ukrainian stocks, partly from Western production. In addition, there is a considerable part of captured Russian vehicles, weapons and ammunition.
The recent rapid offensive was heavily relying on mobile attack formations on armoured vehicles like this one.
Two sisters wait in Kupiansk for their husbands to pick them up. It still is dangerous in the town, but today they managed to get bread. Both are exceptionally happy, it is the first time they have bread in a whole month.
Oleh Smal, 28, took over the family business in Pisky-Radkiwsky (Kharkiv region) before the war. The shop had tools and household appliances on offer, among other things. "At the beginning of the year we did the bulk shopping for the whole year," he says while sweeping up broken pieces. "Then the war came." His family had to flee. Russian soldiers broke into the shop, lodged in the back room, and stole almost everything as they retreated.
A Ukrainian artillery hit in front of the house blew up the windows and pierced the side wall. Smal doesn't know what to do next: "At least we were able to get a few devices to safety before we fled. Maybe I can reopen next spring after all.«
In Kupyansk (Kharkiv region) the Russians blew up a bridge over the Oskil River as they retreated, leaving only pedestrians to cross. Volunteers from different countries drive needy people from the villages still under fire to the east side of the bridge. From there they have to continue independently. The dead are still lying here, it stinks of decay.
The body of a horse lies on a destroyed gas station in Rubtsi, Kharkiv region. A reminder that many animals are also dying from the Russian war of aggression – especially in the countryside of eastern Ukraine.
A burned-out Russian people carrier is pulled by a Ukrainian truck near Sloviansk. It is unclear what will happen to the wreck. Many slightly damaged vehicles are repaired by the Ukrainians and used in combat again.
In the town of Shevchenkove, two boys wave Ukrainian national flags on the side of the road and salute the passing cars. Many of the military salute with flashing lights and horns. Some soldiers give the children sweets and chocolate. The adolescents imitate checkpoints that can be seen everywhere in eastern Ukraine. The war defines and changes their life.
