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Transcript/ScriptUkraine Lyman Survivors – Movchan
HEAD: How Residents of Formerly Occupied Town of Lyman Survive the Winter of 2023
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 02/14/2023 at 11am
BYLINE: Yaroslava Movchan
DATELINE: Lyman, Ukraine
CAMERA: Arthur Shagalin
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Kenochs;
VIDEO FROM: VOA
TYPE: TVPKG
TRT: 3:14
VIDEO APPROVER'S INITIALS: KE
UPDATE: ))
((INTRO)):
[[The town of Lyman in the Donetsk region was occupied by Russian forces between May and October 2022. It has been severely damaged, and those locals who have not left are doing what they can to get through the winter. Yaroslava Movchan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.]]
((NARRATION))
It’s the middle of the day, yet downtown Lyman in the Donetsk region of Ukraine is deserted. There is hardly a single building here undamaged by the Russian forces that occupied the city from May to October 2022. Windows are shattered, roofs are full of holes. There are hardly any cars on the streets.
People do live here, they just don’t walk around much, venturing out to get groceries or aid from volunteers.
Local resident Tetiana used to work at a local railway junction.
((Tetiana, Lyman Resident)) ((in Russian))
“Our town is a town of railway workers. // Almost everyone worked there, I did, too – I worked at a railway hospital.
We worked, the town developed, people got apartments from the state – everything was fine.”
((NARRATION))
In the eight years since Russia occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, Lyman residents have gotten used to living near the front lines. But the relatively calm life ended for locals on April 25, 2022, when the first bombs fell in the city, Tetiana recalls.
((Tetiana, Lyman Resident)) ((in Russia))
“A bomb fell behind the building at 8:30 in the morning.And another one at 3:30 pm, there’s still a hole there, a child died then. So, after that we were shelled every other day, sometimes every day. One time it went on for 17 hours straight. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”
((NARRATION))
Russian forces entered Lyman in May. But by October, Ukrainian forces had liberated the city. The end of the occupation has not ended the hardship. Locals still must live in basements. They keep food supplies here as well.
((Tetiana, Lyman Resident)) ((in Russian))
“We have grains here — everything we get through humanitarian aid, some canned foods, pasta, cereal, flour, and some spices here up top …”
((NARRATION))
Locals set up beds here as well — they brought what they could from their apartments.
((Zoya, Lyman Resident)) ((in Russian))
“I brought what I could. A plate, a cup, a spoon, a pot. Our apartment building roof was shelled, rainwater got in, messed up the electricity, so we can’t stay there. So, we’re here…”
((NARRATION))
They keep warm thanks to little improvised stoves; they cook on them, too. Firewood is lined up along the basement walls, some collected by residents themselves, some distributed by local authorities.
((Tetiana, Lyman Resident)) ((in Russian))
“It’s good they bring us some, because it’s dangerous to go into the woods these days…”
((NARRATION))
Why they stay is unclear to many of the people who left. Some locals came back to the city, saw the devastation and left again. But the families here say they will stay through the winter and rebuild the town they once had.
((For Yaroslava Movchan in Lyman, Ukraine, Anna Rice, VAO News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Lyman, Ukraine
Embargo DateFebruary 14, 2023 17:27 EST
Byline
((For Yaroslava Movchan in Lyman, Ukraine, Anna Rice, VAO News))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English