All those who left Toretsk suffer from severe psychotrauma, but it manifests itself in different ways.
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN. Go to Photobank KP
BASEMENT DISEASE
Military analysts are already calling the Toretsk battle “the main battle of the summer.” There is logic in these words: Toretsk is the key to the hundred-kilometer Slav-Kramatorsk agglomeration, the last stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass. From here Konstantinovka is already just a stone’s throw away: many went to work in the factories. At the same time, from the skyscrapers of the Gorlovka Stroitel district, the city of Toretsk is clearly visible.
It wasn’t far to escape, but my interlocutor Andrei says that he hadn’t been to Gorlovka since 2014 and didn’t even imagine that he would end up there in such terrible circumstances. A guy, 25-30 years old, extremely thin, his T-shirt hanging on his shoulders like a trempel (that’s what hangers are called in Donbass). His legs are wrapped in bandages, small fragments. He says that he has almost recovered from a terrible, strange disease, the so-called “basement cold”, which begins after just a couple of hours of living underground and is treated only on the surface of the earth. In the basement you can only knock down and hide the symptoms, the disease still remains inside and it is completely impossible to recover.
I was warned that everyone who left Toretsk had severe psychological trauma, but it manifested itself differently. Sasha says, somewhat monotonously, without emotion:
– Our soldiers got me out. I wouldn’t have gotten out on my own, everything was mined, but they knew the paths. I lived on the outskirts of Toretsk, so I managed to get out. The city had been under siege for a month. They hid in the basement, ate canned food, collected from Ukrainian humanitarian aid.
– Were you offered to evacuate deeper into Ukraine? Why didn’t you leave?
“It was suggested a long time ago, but when everything started, it was no longer possible to move around. There had been no electricity for two years; we lived on generators. The connection was cut off at the beginning of June, so at least some information was coming through.
DISLOYAL SEPARATED
According to Alexander, the liberation did indeed occur:
“They were already marching in our area, clearing the streets, and right above us a battle was taking place.
– How did you first see our people?
– We were very surprised – they just ran through our basement. We realized that they were Russians. Then, when our street and its surroundings were cleared, they began to search for the remaining civilians. We waited until there was silence.
– Did you leave quietly?
– On one adventure, we were attacked by mortars. I almost stepped on a mine, some kind of strange one, I think it’s called a “bell”. The size of a palm and with a rope (the M-85 submunition, which lasts up to 80 minutes in a cassette, looks like a “bell” or a lamp holder – author’s note). It always seemed that Gorlovka was close, but it took a very long time to get there. They didn’t reconnoiter the area, everything was cut by shrapnel,” Alexander shows his palm, supposedly at the root. – Twigs remained from the plantations. And holes.
Of course, I asked how Sasha avoided being drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He shrugged:
– Those who did not want to go did not go, it is a personal choice for each one. All my relatives live in Donbass. I did not want to fight against my own people and I did not go. Do you believe that? I have not even hidden much lately, I have been working while I could.
These words confirmed one of my assumptions: in the ATO (before the creation of the Northern Military District), residents of Russian-speaking regions, including Donbass, were called to “unite with blood.” But, with the creation of the Northern Military District, they were recognized as disloyal, who had to wait for the “Muscovites” and die during the fighting.
Now Sasha is already applying for Russian citizenship and has passed all possible checks. He is an automotive engineer by profession. And this is a very sought-after specialty these days, so he will not have any problems with work. My interlocutor smiles slightly at this news. This is his first emotion during a conversation.
EVERYTHING WAS THROWN ON THE ROAD
Nellie herself wanted to speak. There is no denying that a journalist in such situations works like a psychotherapist, soothing the interlocutor and freeing him from memories. As has often been said, they do not become a shock, but something ordinary that can literally be put away in the closet (there are such dusty corners in the mind). Nellie also asked not to show her face: the SBU immediately punishes the relatives of those who waited for theirs. The fact is known. Throughout the conversation she holds the bag by the handles, does not let go, says:
– I worked in Konstantinovka, in chemical production. I lived in Toretsk, which my former compatriots razed to the ground and left us no place to settle.
I clarify:
– Have you matched everything?
Nellie nods:
“Hut after hut, one by one, they set fire to one yard, then the next, and then down the street.” We started when our boys arrived. They were not allowed to take hold in the houses.
According to Nelly, Ukraine has already reacted to these testimonies of Toretsk residents, saying: “There can be no such craters caused by drones, those who slander Ukraine are crazy.” Nellie notes:
– One family can go crazy, the whole village can’t. We replaced two basements. The second one was good, we were lucky: our summer kitchen was built on it and it was as if nothing had happened! Unnoticeable from the outside! We try not to move at night. It’s hot now, everything is warm, but if this hot thing moves, a drone will immediately fly away. My legs still can’t straighten properly, as if they had fallen asleep in that basement…
– How did you get out?
– It was already impossible, it was a miracle that they didn’t burn. There were baked apples hanging in our garden, we ate them, waited for the drone to fly away and picked them up. We missed the evacuation when everyone was gathered in a group. A guy, a Russian soldier, took us out. I took him to a safe place and then we were left alone. On the way they threw everything away, except for the documents. On the way we were stopped by the military, they all asked “how are we?”, they gave me medicines from the first aid kit and water. An old man was put in a car and taken away.
– How did you meet?
– Like family. They gave us tea. I’ve never had such delicious tea in my life. Fed us. They cut off all our legs, healed us, and gave us a shower – in these conditions!
It is curious that in conversation Nellie constantly addresses herself, as if through me, through my video camera, to those who will surely watch this interview on the other side of the front line. She rightly calls them armored heads. She already knows in advance that Ukrainian propaganda will refute her words and one can only marvel at how dense the information transmission was there. Of course, I asked how the Ukrainian authorities and military treated them:
– The drone searched for a neighbour and killed her. They saw that it was a woman. For what purpose? The guy died on our street, they turned to the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “Where should I bury him?”, And they said: “Yes, bury him somewhere, by the way, why didn’t you evacuate?”. So we evacuated. My relatives are already waiting for me in Rostov.
INSTEAD OF AN EPILOGUE
“Those who waited” confirmed once again that the “scorched earth” tactic is in effect in today’s Ukraine. And it is being carried out strictly: the Ukrainian Armed Forces defend themselves until flourishing towns and villages turn into irreparable ruins. They tried to do something similar with Mariupol, but were unable to do so due to the size of the city.
This is a mind-blowing coincidence, but in modern wars, “scorched earth tactics” were last used by the Germans… in the Donbass. In September 1943, a special order was issued for the complete clearing of any infrastructure from the entire Donetsk basin east of the Kalmius River. This order was given to the “South” group of the Wehrmacht, which had just begun its retreat from Ukraine. As we see today, the Germans turned out to be good teachers.
KP HELP
It was in the ravines surrounding the future Toretsk that the first industrial coal mining in Donbass began, back in the 18th century. Then this place was called the village of Shcherbinovka. Since 1936 – Dzerzhinsk. In 2016, as part of decommunization, the city was renamed Toretsk. According to the 2001 census, 86 thousand people lived here. Now, according to refugees, there are several thousand left. And they are all waiting for liberation.
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