The network showed the realities of Pokrovsk, which is being destroyed by Russia

The network showed the realities of Pokrovsk, which is being destroyed by Russia

In the frontline city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, residents leave their shelters only to cover broken windows, clean up debris, or feed stray animals. Russian shelling of the city with artillery, aerial bombs, and kamikaze drones is continuous, and the ground regularly trembles from explosions.

This was reported with horrific photos published on Instagram by Odesa photojournalists Vlad and Kostyantyn Liberov. They document the war crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine almost daily and have become the "eyes of the war" in global media.

"The city, unrecognizable in these photos, is the city of ’Shchedryk’, Pokrovsk. The Russian army is roughly three kilometers away. This means the now familiar scenario: daily artillery shelling, FPV drones, and GABs destroying the city and draining the life from it," the post reads.

The photographers noted they were in Pokrovsk with a friend, Denys Khrystov, a well-known Ukrainian TV presenter and volunteer who has been evacuating Ukrainians from frontline cities since the beginning of the full-scale war.

The footage was taken in the Lazurnyi neighborhood, which suffers the most from Russian shelling. A few hours before the Liberovs and the volunteer arrived, it was harshly shelled by multiple rocket launcher systems.

"Broken glass crunches underfoot, a bloodied cat, killed by a fragment, lies on the ground. Locals emerge from basements only to cover broken windows with plywood, clean up debris, and feed stray animals. The hum of artillery in the background goes silent for not a single second, and sometimes the ground trembles underfoot," the Liberovs write.

They added that "Hollander," as Khrystov is called, evacuated several families from Pokrovsk that day. However, there was also an evacuation story that did not come to pass. When the photojournalists and volunteer arrived at the address of one of the requests, there was no one left to evacuate from the house.

"We knock on the door for a long time, but no one answers. The apartment door is open, so we cautiously enter, calling for the owner. No one is there. In the middle of the room, a scene sears itself into the heart: a neatly set table with a white cloth, empty dishes in the center adorned by a New Year’s garland, and a small Christmas tree behind. A thought flashes in my mind, one I immediately push away: Could this be our last Christmas in Pokrovsk?" the authors conclude.