
The murky water oh so slowly trickles from the filthy drainpipe into her grimy container — the ticking seconds ramping up the risk that Emilia Budskaya could lose life or limb to Russian artillery strikes torturing her front-line city in eastern Ukraine.
Gaping gashes from deadly shrapnel in the courtyard walls around her testify to the dangers of being outside — exposed and without the body armor that Ukrainian soldiers defending Vuhledar wear when they venture from their bunkers.