A million people have fled their homes in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine as a result of the civil war. Communities near the front line are all but abandoned, and only a few elderly people still live in numerous ghost towns. The government in Kiev has stopped paying their pensions, and help from the new authorities is intermittent. Houses are reduced to rubble, there are many streets where no one walks and blocks of flats are full of bullet holes. Even the football fields are bombing targets. Among the buildings destroyed is a pharmacy, so there is no medicine for doctors to give to people who are ill or injured. Patrols are being carried out by the Lugansk People’s Army, but the front line is constantly shifting so tomorrow it could be the enemy on patrol. Both sides say there are no heavy weapons here, but some armored vehicles and artillery pieces can be seen between the houses. As foreign volunteers arrive on both sides, civilians are paying the highest price. TeleSUR’s special correspondent reports from the Donbass region.
