Attempts to bring supplies or leave the city limits end in heavy disaster. Two civilians, a husband and wife, were killed in a drone attack on September 20 while carrying a bag of food they had brought from the neighboring town of Radensk, after they failed to return home before the start of curfew. "Two more civilians were killed last night," Khaliya said before contact with her was cut off.
Only one hospital operates in the city in partial capacity, serving mainly for urgent amputations. Volunteer Ksenia Arkhipova, who maintains a record of casualties in the area, said: "I compile a spreadsheet of all those who died as soon as I find out about it, with their names and dates of birth, I now have about 1,200 people. Sometimes I don't have time to update it, because the list grows by one or two people every day."
Another resident, Tatiana, who lost both her parents in a shooting incident at their home, noted that the occupation authorities forbid the burial of those murdered. "They were shot inside their home. Russian soldiers came there and wanted to take him," she recounted. "They don't allow us to bury the dead if they were killed by a drone, stepped on a mine or were killed in any other way."
Arkhipova noted that due to occupation directives, bodies are allowed to roll in the streets, pile up in morgues without electricity or are eaten by stray dogs. Esther Vratriubova, director of a humanitarian aid organization, explained: "This is a tool of psychological pressure. If you try to bury a body, you will be next in line."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called at the UN General Assembly for international pressure on Russia to allow humanitarian aid to enter. In contrast, the Kremlin admitted that treatment of the area is in critical condition, but blamed the Kyiv administration for the situation.
