SLOVIANSK, Ukraine –
A group of young off-duty Ukrainian soldiers gathered at a military distribution center to enjoy a rare respite from the fighting that has once again engulfed their fractured home in eastern Ukraine.
As they shared jokes and a pizza, artillery blasts could be heard a few miles away, a reminder of the impending battle that threatens to unfold here in the city of Slovyansk, which was occupied by Russian fighters in 2014.
“Everyone knows there will be a big battle in Slovyansk,” said one of the soldiers, whose name could not be identified for security reasons.
Now, eight years after their city was last occupied, the war has returned. Slovyansk could become the next major target in Moscow’s campaign to seize the Donbas region, Ukraine’s predominantly Russian-speaking industrial heartland.
Russia’s Defense Minister said Russian armed forces and a separatist militia captured the city of Lysychansk on Sunday and now control the entire Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine. Slovyansk, located 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the west in Donetsk province, was subjected to rocket attacks on Sunday that killed an unspecified number of people, Mayor Vadym Lyakh said.
Another soldier previously interviewed by The Associated Press, a 23-year-old accountant who joined when the invasion began, said Ukrainian forces simply don’t have the weapons to fight the oncoming Russian army’s superior arsenal.
“We know what’s coming” he said with a sad smile.
These soldiers were still in their teens when pro-Russian separatists captured and held the city for three months. The brief 2014 occupation terrified Slovyansk, where dozens of officials and journalists were taken hostage and several murders took place.
Fierce fighting and shelling ensued as the Ukrainian army besieged the city to recapture it.
“Actually, the war never left Slovyansk. It didn’t leave people’s heads,” said Tetiana Khimion, a 43-year-old dance choreographer who converted a fishing shop into a center for local military units.
“On the one hand, it’s easier for us because we know what it’s like. On the other hand, it’s harder for us because we’ve been living like this for eight years in a suspended condition.”
Slovyansk is a city of divided loyalties. With a large population of retirees, it’s not uncommon to hear older residents express sympathy for Russia or nostalgia for their Soviet past. There is also distrust in the Ukrainian army and government.
After a recent bombing of his apartment block, a resident named Sergei said he believed the attack was launched by Ukraine.
“I’m not pro-Russian, I’m not pro-Ukrainian. I’m somewhere in between,” he said. “Both the Russians and the Ukrainians kill civilians, everyone should understand that.”
On Thursday, a group of elderly residents could not hide their frustration after a bomb blast ripped open their roofs and shattered their windows.
Ukraine “says they are protecting us, but what kind of protection is this?” asked a man, who did not provide his name.
“They kneel before that Biden, let him die!” her neighbor Tatyana exclaimed, referring to US President Joe Biden.
After 2014, Khimion said, it became easier to know “who’s who” in Slovyansk. “Now you can easily see: these people are for Ukraine and these people are for Russia.”
She said not enough was done after 2014 to punish people who collaborated with Russian proxies to prevent a repeat of the situation.
“That’s why we can’t negotiate, we have to win. Otherwise, it will be a never-ending process. It will keep repeating itself,” she said.
The mayor of Slovyansk reflects the new trajectory of the city. Following the example of Ukraine’s wartime leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, he has decorated his office with Ukrainian flags, anti-Russian symbols, portraits of national poets, even a biography of Winston Churchill.
But before 2014, Lyakh was part of a political party seeking closer ties with Russia. She said that although pro-Moscow sentiment in the city has faded, in part due to the horrors witnessed in 2014, there are still “people waiting for the return of Russian troops.”
As the front line draws closer, the attacks on the city intensify. Three quarters of the pre-war population have fled, but the mayor said there are still too many residents in Slovyansk, including many children. He encouraged them to evacuate while he spends his days coordinating humanitarian aid and bolstering the city’s defenses.
Lyakh said that she cannot allow herself to relax, even for a few minutes.
“Emotionally it is difficult. You see how people die and get hurt. But, nevertheless, I understand that this is my job and that no one but me and the people around me can do it.”
Increasingly, Lyakh is among the first responders at the scene of bombings. Associated Press reporters following the mayor recently witnessed what authorities described as a cluster bomb attack on a residential area. One person died and several more were injured.
The mayor says bombings now occur at least four or five times a day, and the use of cluster bombs has increased in the last week. Although he remains optimistic that the Ukrainian forces can hold off the enemy, he also has a clear view of his options.
“No one wants to be captured. When there is imminent danger of enemy troops entering the city, I will have to leave,” he said.
One morning last week, Lyakh visited an apartment building that was bombed overnight. Most windows were blown out, doors were flung wide open, and a power line was cut.
The same building was bombed in 2014, leaving a huge hole in the sixth floor, and many residents suffered broken bones.
Andrey, a 37-year-old factory worker who has lived in the building for 20 years, recalled the bombing and the occupation. He said the separatist forces “did and took what they wanted.”
People in his circle have different opinions about Russia.
“Those who have suffered understand what this ‘Russia world’ means: It means broken houses, stolen cars and violence,” he explains. “There are those who miss the Soviet Union, who think that we are all one people, and do not accept what they see with their own eyes.”
In the eight years since the separatists withdrew, he said, life in Slovyansk had improved markedly.
The statue of Vladimir Lenin that once stood in the central square has been removed. Water and power supplies were renewed. New parks, plazas, and medical facilities were built.
“Civilization was given back to us,” Andrey said.
At a military distribution center where they go to relax, the young soldiers talk wistfully about their lives before the invasion.
“I had a great car, a good job. I was able to travel abroad three times a year,” said the former accountant, who plans to stay in Slovyansk with the others to defend the city. “How can we let someone come and take our lives?”
Khimion’s husband is on the front lines and she put their teenage daughter on a train to Switzerland as soon as the invasion began.
“I have been deprived of everything: a home, a husband, a child, what should I do now?” she asks. “We are doing everything we can to stop (the offensive), to keep it to a minimum… But to be afraid is to leave this place.”
At the entrance to the city, a monument bearing the name of Slovyansk is riddled with bullet holes from 2014. It has been painted over several times. She now wears the national colors of Ukraine and a local artist has painted red flowers around each piercing.
Residents of Slovyansk are wondering, some with hope, many with fear, if the sign will soon be repainted in the red, white and blue colors of the Russian flag.
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Valerii Rezik contributed to this story.
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