Living in locations on the Line of Contact puts people’s lives at risk due to ongoing fights and shelling
Published: Nov 14, 2017 Reading time: 3 minutes
Living in Krymske, less than one kilometer from the military positions of the parties to the conflict, we are isolated from the entire world. More than half the population of the village has left their relatives. Some have settled in a new place, but some families are still living in this settlement despite the fact that the conflict is still ongoing.There is no normal infrastructure. Services are not essentially available and it is not safe to stay in this village.
The house of Anzhela’s family, where she lives with her husband and son, has been shelled twice since the beginning of the conflict. Without having a place to move or enough money to rent new accommodations, the family still lives in their house. Most of the family savings were spent for the rehabilitation and repairs of the house after damages caused by the shelling.
“I remember the strong shelling started. We were moving around the house in panic trying to find out where to hide. The sound was so strong and the shells were falling one after another on the streets of our village. We were thinking that there was no chance for us to survive that day… It was so tense. We ran away to our friend’s place as they have better shelter in the basement. Thank God we survived… And it was one day before my birthday, which is the 21st of January,” recalls Anzhela. The military activities are still ongoing and affecting the life of people living along the contact line.
There is no normal road in or out of Krymske. Instead, there is only unpaved road, which cannot be used in when it rains heavily or during winter time when it is freezing. It makes the life of the remaining population more complicated. Since there is no public transportation, theresidents rely heavily on the neighbors that own cars. In case of an emergency, the access to the village is limited. Anzhela and her husband suffered from this issue acutely when Anzhela’s husband, Aleksandr, was wounded during one of the shelling.
“A loud sound… explosion of a mine… I just realized that I’m on the ground, something is wrong with my leg, it hurts a lot, I can’t stand the pain… There is a lot of blood around me and I can’t move my leg. My wife is crying aloud asking for help,” said Aleksandr. People’s freedom of movement as well as access to basic services including health facilities is limited.
“I called my friend who has a car when my husband was wounded asking for the support with transportation as there is no chance to call the ambulance, there is simply no way for it to reach our location while fighting. With our friend’s help, we managed to go to the militaries positions of which are located in our village. They transported Aleksandr to the hospital in another location. In the hospital, my husband received medical assistance. He received two surgeries, but it costed us a lot and we ran out of all our savings,” remembered Anzhela.
Anzhela and Aleksandr: living on the line
People in these isolated locations on a daily basis face issues of access to social payments, employment, health services as well as other basic services and their lives are imposed under higher risk due to the ongoing military conflict.
“All the people who still live in our village help and support each other a lot. It is also good that international organizations are providing assistance in our location. However, the only thing we really need is peace and normal life. We want the same life as before the conflict; we don’t want to leave our house and our native place,” told Anzhela.
Anzhela’s family was supported by Action Against Hunger in the framework of ACCESS consortium (People in Need, Action Contre La Faim, Médecins du Monde, and ACTED in partnership with IMPACT Initiatives) project and funded by the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO). Her family received Multi-Purpose Cash assistance to cover basic needs in food, hygiene as well as utilities payment, medications and other costs.
