Ukraine: How a Frontline Changed Two Towns
This is the account of two Ukrainian towns deeply affected by the ongoing armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It tells about residents who continue to live there despite the challenges of disrupted access to water, electricity, gas, and daily work.
Life in Sukha Kamianka
In the Kharkiv Region, Valentyna Nazaruk sits beside the dry well of her home in Sukha Kamianka — a place whose name translates as “dry river.” The small waterway that once ran through the village now often stands still.
“They constantly block the river with trees and branches, pile up mounds of earth. They have whole lakes along the river. You can’t take them to court.”
She says this half in jest, but the problem of water scarcity is real. The beavers upstream may play a role, yet much greater damage was caused when the frontline passed through her village several times during 2022.
“My nerves are still not OK,”
she admits quietly. “It was the scariest thing.” The aftermath remains visible everywhere.
Everyday Struggle and Survival
Valentyna now lives with irregular access to basic utilities — electricity, water, and gas. Her house, once destroyed, has been rebuilt. To sustain themselves, her daughter keeps bees and sells honey. They maintain a small greenhouse, relying on rainwater for crops.
The village that once counted 80 residents is now home to only four people. Fields around are still dangerous, scattered with unexploded ordnance — silent remnants of conflict.
Author’s Summary
The human cost of war in Ukraine lives on in places like Sukha Kamianka, where only a few remain to rebuild fragile lives among ruins and unexploded remnants.