Echoes of Donbass - documentary project by Timofey Melnikov

We continue to share the documentary projects of the finalists of the competition within the framework of grant support from the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. Timofey Melnikov visited Donetsk region to work on the documentary project “Echoes of Donbass”.

In November 2023, I went on a business trip to Donetsk region. The main point of the route was the city of Minernyk of Donetsk region. At the time of the trip, it was located 12 kilometers from the front line and 25 kilometers from occupied Donetsk. Before the war, more than 10,000 inhabitants lived here, and now there are only a few. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the city has been under constant shelling. Most people have left the city, and those who remain are forced to survive.

The purpose of the trip itself is a humanitarian mission to support the remaining residents. Volunteer groups constantly travel to the region to bring food, water, hygiene products and heating to help the local population. The city itself has been without electricity, heating, water and mobile communications for several days, weeks and months. It can be reached by the main Dnipro-Donetsk highway, which is the main transport hub for the whole country, where fighting is taking place in the east.

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The road from the Dnieper to the destination takes about 3 hours, more than 250 kilometers. Volunteers cover this distance every day, back and forth. They travel in fully loaded cars to provide residents with everything they need. Without humanitarian aid, life in this region is impossible, and there are no grocery stores in the frontline towns.

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Coal is the heart of Donbas. The whole region is covered with coal mines. The coal industry generates profits for both local residents and the whole country. After the start of the war in 2014, many mines were occupied by Russia. Now, after the start of a new phase of the war in 2022, the remaining mines have begun to operate in a limited mode. This greatly reduced the income of the local population.

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Throughout the trip I was accompanied by a group of volunteers including Alina, Pavel, Vladimir and Maxim. They work in the charity organization “Children of the New Generation”. Their volunteer missions to Donbas are carried out almost daily in shifts. Without their help, people would not be able to exist here. The volunteers themselves are local residents, after the beginning of the war in the East in 2014, they lived in occupied Donetsk for a year. Subsequently, they moved to the territory controlled by Ukraine. But when the war again entered a hot phase, and the Russian army began to advance, seizing Ukrainian lands, they decided to help their native region.

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The main goal of this trip is to help people prepare for a difficult winter. With the support of HelpDesk Media, not indifferent people raised funds to help residents of Donbas. And volunteers agreed to help organize the delivery of aid. The main problem for local residents is the heat in winter. Despite the large reserves of coal in the Donetsk region, it is now very difficult to buy it here. People do not have enough money for this, and because of the low volumes of coal production, it is not enough for everyone. So the mission was to find coal and deliver it to those who needed it most.

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In this region, there are many tericones - artificial mountains created from the rock that was taken out of the mine. On them, people can find some coal to heat their homes. But now, for military reasons, access to most tericones is closed, it can be dangerous.

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In many areas of Donbas there is a complete lack of water: in some places, like Donetsk itself, since 2014, and in others - recently. There is no water in this part of Donetsk region since mid-2013. After the Russian army bombed the dam of the Karlovsk reservoir, thousands of people are forced to live without water supply. Water is brought here by volunteers and local authorities. It is common - in many courtyards there are public tanks where residents can collect water on their own. People are forced to live like this for months, saving water, hoping that next time the tanks will not empty.

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People are forced to organize their daily lives in conditions of complete lack of water supply. The need to wash, wash dishes or do laundry can be a real test for them. To live a normal life, they first need to go and collect water from mobile tanks. They are forced to do this every time they go outside, fearing that shelling could start at any moment.

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Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine (from February 2022 to November 2023), more than 5,700 air strikes have taken place in the Donetsk region. Each of them poses a significant risk that the result for local residents can be fatal. During the same period, the media and city authorities reported explosions in the region more than 1,100 times. More than 650 artillery attacks were recorded. This is the highest figure in all of Ukraine and the most tragic. Many residents are forced to stay in their homes because they have nowhere else to hide.

In total, the conflict in Donbas has been going on for more than 130 days. But in fact, this region has been living in terrible conditions since 2014. It was from the moment when the Russian army faithfully occupied Donetsk and Luhansk, and subsequently unleashed a bloody war. And then it did it again on a much grander scale in 2022, wiping Mariupol, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and many other major Donbas cities off the face of the earth.

Front-line villages and cities of Donbass are under daily shelling. These places are constantly subjected to rocket, artillery, mortar and drone shelling. Most of the houses are not equipped with bomb shelters and other means of protection. Local residents cannot hide from the shelling of the Russian army. Every day they live in fear that a shell could hit their home. To protect them from shelling, a mobile bomb shelter was installed in the center of Hirnyk village, which protects against shrapnel during shelling.

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Galina lives in the house with her son Ruslan next to the tericon. They have a small farm and several small kittens. It is very cold in their old house and they have to save heat by not opening windows and doors. They do not have money to buy coal, and one bag of coal is enough for a whole month. Sometimes the local district police officer Alexander comes to them and brings humanitarian aid.

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In the photo - Alexander, a guy from Miner. In his youth, he received an industrial injury while working in a mine. Since then, he has lost the ability to walk and moves around in a wheelchair. He now makes a living repairing bicycles, scooters and various tools. Volunteers brought him coal, because an ordinary miner from Donetsk region cannot afford to buy coal for the winter.

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This is Oksana's family, she has a husband and three small children. Their house smells strongly of burning and they are forced to heat it with food packaging, newspapers and drying rags. They live in one room to save on heating. Volunteers regularly visit their family and bring everything they need for life. They cannot evacuate because they do not have relatives in other cities who could accept them.

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This is Paraskovia, a pensioner from Miner. Lately, she hardly gets out of bed. A few years ago, she was seriously injured and has not been able to move since. She lives with her older sister. Together, they support each other to survive in difficult conditions.

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Every day Donbas is under constant shelling from the Russian occupation forces. Thousands of people are suffering: many of them wounded or killed, their homes destroyed. Many people were forced to leave their homes and evacuate to safer regions. And the remaining ones survive in the conditions of a bloody war to complete destruction. Since February 2022, thousands of homes have been destroyed and their residents will no longer be able to return to their homes.

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During the full-scale war in Ukraine, many citizens united for a common goal - victory in the war. In the photo - a cafe on the border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, where everyone who helps the country in a difficult moment is fed for free. Soldiers, doctors, volunteers, journalists and many others can eat for free before a difficult trip to Donbas. Cafe owners are ready to help for free, doing everything in their power. And all volunteers are ready to help the cafe owners themselves so that they can continue to work for a common goal. The military leaves here their battle flags, artifacts and chevrons for remembrance.

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Timofey Melnikov- Ukrainian documentary filmmaker. For seven years of his career, he devoted most of his time to journalism, namely reportage photography. Since February 24, 2022, he has been engaged in military documentary, chronicling the war in Odessa.

The program is implemented with the support of the International Press Institute.