Kyiv, Ukraine – On the day of her 41st wedding anniversary, Vera Gulyaeva recalled her husband’s life and death. In March, a Russian drone plunged into a bread line in the southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky, killing several people and wounding Serhiy Gulyaev, a retired 63-year-old driver. The town in the Kherson region had already been occupied for more than four years, and its 2,000 remaining residents spent the last two and a half years without electricity, running water, natural gas or healthcare.
The Gulyaevs, who had met at a friends’ wedding in 1985, lived in a small house they had built. They were reluctant to leave even after their children fled to Kyiv-controlled areas. They had an orchid, a vegetable patch, five hens, a water well and a power generator that ran on the overpriced gas they occasionally bought from middlemen.
She tried to get him to a hospital 80km (50 miles) away in the city of Skadovsk but failed as the ambulance ran over a landmine on the road. Days later, a second attempt worked – but Gulyaev died in the hospital. She recovered his remains, had them cremated and returned home with his ashes.
Now, she lives in western Ukraine with her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren while her son fights Russian forces. Gulyaeva left behind all her family photos, friends and neighbours – several of whom have since died. People are starving,” Gulyaeva said of the food shortage stalking the town.
After four decades of teaching in the elementary school she had attended as a child, she still cannot fathom “how people can kill other people”. Some residents survive on what they have farmed, stashed or found in abandoned apartments or houses. Others try to reach the nearest functioning grocery shop in the neighbouring village of Radensk, 20km (12.4 miles) away, to buy food.
A resident who fled the town but remains in contact with some residents told Al Jazeera that people have been killed by Russian drones or landmines. The bodies left out in the open are eaten by feral dogs. On Thursday alone, there were four casualties.
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