Invading forces in Ukraine spent weeks conquering Volnovakha, inflicting damage so severe that the town no longer exists
The town of Volnovakha lies 60 kilometers (almost 40 miles) outside Donetsk. Or rather it used to. On March 11, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that soldiers from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic had “liberated” the town. Ukrainian officials phrased this a bit differently, saying that Volnovakha no longer exists. Before Moscow’s full-scale invasion, more than 20,000 people lived here. Look at it now.
Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS Volnovakha is a strategically vital point on the highway between Donetsk and Mariupol. Fighting for control of the town began on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, February 24, 2022.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA During the battle for Volnovakha, relatively few residents managed to escape the town. The exact number of successful evacuees is unknown.Anadolu Agency / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press The exact number of people killed in fighting since the invasion is also unknown.Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS This is the entrance to the hospital in Volnovakha. As a result of airstrikes and artillery bombardment, the town’s entire civilian infrastructure is now destroyed.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Combatants in pro-Russian militia units patrol Volnovakha’s streets. Behind them, fires fed by broken gas pipes burn.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA On March 3, during the second round of ceasefire talks between Kyiv and Moscow, negotiators agreed to open humanitarian corridors leading out of towns like Volnovakha.Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS On March 5, corridors were supposed to open to allow people to flee Volnovakha and Mariupol.Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS Ukrainian officials planned for an evacuation of Volnovakha that would relocate 15,000 people.Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS But invading troops started shelling the evacuation route. The Ukrainian government accused Russia of shooting at civilians. Moscow blamed “the nationalists” for refusing to allow civilians to leave the town.Eduard Kornienko / Ura.ru / TASS Ukrainian officials stated that several hundred Volnovakha residents nevertheless managed to escape.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA A destroyed church in Volnovakha.Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS A woman in an underground bomb shelter. According to Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Valeriyovych, the people of Volnovakha have been without water or electricity since the first days of March.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Those who remain in the town are now forced to spend almost all the time in underground shelters without heat or power.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETATaisiya Vorontsova / Kommersant By mid-March, Volnovakha became uninhabitable.Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA When the battle for the town was still underway, Volnovakha residents were forced to bury their loved ones immediately outside their homes, unable to risk proper burials at cemeteries. Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA A tank emblazoned with Russia’s pro-invasion “Z” symbol on Volnovakha’s outskirts.
