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"underground"

Resident of the village of Staromikhailivka – Lyubov Agoltseva, 76.

The village of Staromykhailivka is located 20 km west of Donetsk.Her house was destroyed by a shell. She has no relatives left and lives alone. Ongoing conflict in Ukraine between separatists and the Ukrainian government army led the country to the full-scale hostilities.This series of photos was taken in Donbass in September of 2015. It depicts the last remaining residents of bombed out villages in the combat zone. During attacks, people hide in the basements of destroyed houses.Mainly, these are older men and women that have been left on their own. Some have decided to stay and fight to the end; others simply have nowhere to go. Many of their relatives have either left or died. As Sergei, a resident of the village of Veseloe, told me: “I never understood what peace was before, or how important it is. You can die at any moment here, but I’m not going anywhere.”