The war turns more and more villages in the Donetsk region into "ghosts". The people who remained in them are forced to go for food waist-deep in icy water. The three hundred and eightieth day of the war. Photos - Meduza

Every day since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Meduza’s editors have selected key shots taken during the previous day of the war. These pictures contain scenes of cruelty, violence and death, but most of them are not placed under a special plate, which the editors usually hide such images with. In this series of materials, we try to document the war as it is.

Crossing the destroyed bridge in the village of Bogorodichnoye

Bogorodichnoye is a village in the Donetsk region, which is located seven kilometers from the city of Svyatogorsk, on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, about 800 people lived in Bogorodichnoye. In the spring of 2022, fierce battles took place on the territory of the village, in the summer the Russian army occupied locality. September 11 Ukrainian military freed him during the counteroffensive. By data channel FreeDOM, now there is not a single surviving building left in Bogorodichne, during the shelling damaged including the local church. Mother of God called “ghost village” – almost all local residents left it before the occupation, but a few people remained in their homes.

Residents of the village of Bogorodichnoye cross the Seversky Donets on a destroyed bridge

Ihor Tkachov / AFP / Scanpix / LETA

locals forced regularly get through the destroyed bridge to Svyatogorsk – the city is located seven kilometers from the village; where you can buy food and receive humanitarian aid

You have to cross the river waist-deep in water

Anatoly Stepanova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA

Shell craters in the village of Dolina

The village of Dolyna is located in the Slavyansky district of the Donetsk region, not far from the border with Kharkov. Until February 2022, about 550 people lived in the Valley. In the summer of 2022, Russian troops reached outskirts of the settlement, but could not occupy it. As a result of the shelling of the Russian army in the Valley destroyed almost all houses, most residents left village in March.

The consequences of fighting in the spring and summer of 2022

Ihor Tkachov / AFP / Scanpix / LETA

The funeral of Dmitry Kotsyubaylo in Kyiv

Dmitry Kotsyubaylo (call sign Da Vinci) is a 27-year-old Ukrainian soldier who in 2021 received title of Hero of Ukraine. Kotsyubailo participated in the events on the Maidan in 2014, fought in the ranks of the Right Sector for eight years and commanded an assault unit with the informal name Da Vinci Wolves. He died in early March near Bakhmut. March 10 in Kyiv passed farewell ceremony with Kotsubaylo. It was visited by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence Kirill Budanov and Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin.

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov and relatives of Dmitry Kotsyubaylo during a memorial service in Kyiv

Vladyslav Musiienko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA

Shelling of Konstantinovka and wounded local residents

Po data prosecutor’s office of the Donetsk region, on March 10, Russian forces shelled the city of Konstantinovka from the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and the Uragan multiple launch rocket system. As a result, eight people were injured, 14 houses and nine cars were damaged or completely destroyed. Konstantinovka is located about 80 kilometers north of Donetsk and 35 kilometers south of Kramatorsk, the capture of which remains one of the main strategic goals of the Russian Armed Forces in the Donbass. The Russian army regularly bombards the city.

A paramedic helps a man injured by Russian shelling to reach an ambulance