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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Isobel Koshiw & Ed Ram in Kramatorsk

‘After Bucha, I’m afraid of Russian soldiers’: people in east Ukraine prepare for fresh assault

Residents of Kreminna, five miles from the front line, leave their homes for an armoured bus evacuating them from the town.
Residents of Kreminna, five miles from the front line, leave their homes for an armoured bus evacuating them from the town. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Observer

The city of Kramatorsk feels empty. Only a handful of supermarkets, restaurants and hotels are still open. Windows along the main streets are boarded up. Many residents have moved out of their apartment blocks and into houses in neighbouring villages, where they judge it will be safer.

The few locals walking around behave as if they can’t hear the sirens blaring and appear not to flinch from the occasional thunder of incoming shells.

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