You're reading: New Republic: ‘We live like rats here’ – life in Ukraine during a supposed ceasefire

Winding through the city of Debaltseve, which sits on a highway between the separatist strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, Evgeny Gorbachev passed buildings pockmarked with shrapnel. He crossed intersections littered with shattered glass. At the eastern end of Communist Street, he noted a row of homes, now charred and roofless. And at 56 Vorovskova Street, he pointed to his house, or rather, to its remains: blackened sheet metal, singed rose bushes, and chipped bricks. "A rocket fell on my home and destroyed everything," Gorbachev said.

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