Wandering among the many ruins, Svitlana Zavaly was desperately trying to find something that may very well be salvaged from the rubble of her dwelling destroyed by a Russian bomb in northeastern Ukraine.
“We’ve received nothing left,” stated the 67-year-old resident of the village of Velyka Pysarivka which lies simply 5 kilometres (three miles) from the Russian border.
For about 10 days in March, Russian bombs, shells and rockets rained down on the village and others alongside the frontier, in obvious retribution for incursions into Russia by pro-Ukraine Russian fighters.
“We had every part. And instantly, this occurred. It’s factor we had left two days earlier,” stated Zavaly.
She and her husband had returned only for the day. They’re residing quickly in Okhtyrka, a city about 40km (24.8 miles) west of Velyka Pysarivka, the place they have been evacuated, like many different residents of the bombed areas.
Nearly all of the buildings within the centre of Velyka Pysarivka, which had a inhabitants of 4,000 earlier than the conflict, have been destroyed in waves of Russian strikes.
The preventing flared up on March 12 when Russia claimed to have repelled incursions from Ukraine in two border areas.
Not removed from Velyka Pysarivka, teams of pro-Ukraine Russian volunteer fighters against Russian President Vladimir Putin carried out cross-border raids, with the clashes lasting a couple of days.
Native authorities in Velyka Pysarivka and surrounding villages recorded 567 strikes, together with 200 from highly effective aerial bombs, over a fortnight. A minimum of six individuals have been killed and a dozen wounded.
“We left on the [March 14] … from hell. We have been being bombed, planes have been flying,” stated Valentina, a 67-year-old resident, who was additionally evacuated to Okhtyrka.
Oleksiy Moroz, 38, stated he knew that when the pro-Ukraine fighters launched their assaults throughout the border “there could be a boomerang impact”.
His spouse Yulia Drokina, 33, described the continuous air strikes that began on March 13. They left the following day “below intense bombardment … it was now not doable to remain”.