Vasily Nikolaevich, a 63-year-old resident of Mariinka, a small town in Ukraine just 20 kilometres away from the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, was in his vegetable garden when he heard the sound of shooting coming from the neighbouring street.
He finished his weeding, walked into the house, and told his wife he’d wager for return fire within 20 minutes.
In Mariinka, locals no longer run into their basements every time they hear shots: here, in what has become the frontline in the fight between pro-Russian separatist rebels and Ukrainian army forces, life goes on.
“It was loud and coming from different weapons from two different directions some 50 metres from my house,” he said, sitting on the edge of his hospital bed.
A few weeks later, Nikolaevich had been standing next to his outdoor shower when there was an explosion right in his garden, just a few feet away, knocking him out. When he came to he was almost deaf, with serious injuries to his leg and head.
His wife tried to call for an ambulance, but the networks were down and the call would not go through.
read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/30/eastern-ukraine-donbass-residents-caught-up-in-war
