Ten years of war in Avdiivka. Memories of local residents about the city destroyed by Russia

On February 17, 2024, the Ukrainian military withdrew from Avdiivka to prevent encirclement, and the city, or rather its ruins, was captured by Russian troops. The small industrial town, located only ten kilometers from Donetsk, had virtually no intact buildings left.

Novyny Donbasu spoke to residents of Avdiivka who were forced to leave their hometown. We asked them to recall what happened to Avdiivka over the past 10 years. From the first days of active hostilities to when Russian troops recaptured the city. The stories of local residents shed light on their experiences and hopes.

The war for Avdiivka began in 2014

“This is our famous Cossack Mamai mural, and this is our modern warrior, a symbol of our victory. I always show this photo to everyone who asks about Avdiivka and say that this is the real Avdiivka, this is its spirit,” says Tetiana Pereverzieva.

She is sure that she will return to Avdiivka. But she does not know how long the occupation will last. Tetiana wants it to end soon.

“But I am sure I will return. I know what I will do when I return. I want everything to work out so that I can do something concrete to make the city's recovery possible,” she adds.

Tetiana is the head of the People's Museum of Avdiivka's History. She was born and spent her entire life in the city. She has done everything to preserve Avdiivka's history and develop culture and education, despite the turbulent times the city has been going through since 2014.

“The museum has suffered twice in 10 years. In 2015, it was destroyed, and there was a hit to the museum, it was in a different building. We saved what we could save, although there was little to save. And in 2016, we opened in a new building,” says the museum director.

For several months in 2014, Avdiivka was under the control of the pro-Russian “DPR” group. In July 2014, the city returned to the Ukrainian flag but became a frontline town. Occupied Donetsk is nearby, and Avdiivka was regularly shelled.

“Avdiivka and our other occupied villages and towns are the result of 2014. And it all started in late 2013, here on Maidan, when people gathered and tried to disperse them by force and kill them. That's why Avdiivka was like a bone in the occupiers' throat. It was the closest entrance to the city of Donetsk,” explained Serhii Tsehotskyi, an officer of the 59th separate motorized infantry brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk.

Yuliia Svyshcheva, a displaced person from Avdiivka, shared her impressions after the outbreak of hostilities in the suburbs of Donetsk.

“In 2014, when active hostilities began in the city, it was difficult to accept the situation in general. Realizing the first losses and wounds was very difficult. It was incredibly hard,” she says.

Yuliia worked at the Avdiivka Coke Plant for 15 years. Before the war, more than 10% of the townspeople worked at the plant. Avdiivka Coke was one of the largest coke plants in Europe.

“In 2014-2015, there were active hostilities. We were working, we did not leave, and our work is related to social issues at the enterprise, so we could work remotely,” said Yuliia Svyshcheva, an IDP.

A serious escalation of hostilities near Avdiivka occurred in early 2017. Pro-Russian militants continued to try to push Ukrainian forces away from occupied Donetsk and take control of the Donetsk Filtering Station. The area of the industrial zone on the eastern outskirts of Avdiivka was particularly affected.

“People who came to Avdiivka even once often asked: ‘So a shell might hit now, while we are walking down the street?’ We calmly answered that it could happen at any moment. Indeed, there were moments when shells hit unexpectedly and people died. We were living in this war, realizing that the war was here, next door. We had a strong desire to live, not just to exist. That's why we continued to do our job,” said Tetiana Pereverzieva.

The lull before the invasion

By 2018, the intensity of hostilities near Avdiivka had decreased, and the city began to return to life and develop.

“We did not want our city to be associated only with the war. After all, Avdiivka was on everyone's lips, people often felt pity for it and felt uncomfortable. Also, the constant visits of humanitarian missions emphasized the need for change,” says volunteer Oleksii Savkevych.

Oleksii is a volunteer and public figure from Avdiivka. Together with other active residents, he organized Avdiivka FM, the first large-scale arts festival since the beginning of the war in Donbas, in the spring of 2018.

“In short, the thoughts were as follows: Avdiivka was far away from big cities, so young people graduating from school needed to be exposed to other ideas before going to university. We organized a theater festival, and invited poets and musicians to give them experience that would be useful in life,” explains Savkevych.

According to Yuliia Svyshcheva, an IDP, there was a feeling of comfort, the city began to develop. They began to rebuild what had been destroyed. New projects were approved, and funds were invested in the development of the coke plant.

But the relative calm did not last long — in early 2022, residents of Avdiivka began to feel anxious.

“Many journalists from around the world came to Avdiivka. They asked the same questions: ‘Are you ready? Do you feel it?’ We gave interviews to many people, but no one wanted to admit that they were ready for war. We all hoped for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. However, when the war comes to your home, you have a different assessment,” said Tetiana Pereverzieva, head of the Avdiivka People's Museum of History.

After February 24

On February 24, 2022, almost 35 thousand residents of Avdiivka met the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion.

“For me, February 24 began around 5 a.m. My daughter, who was studying in Kharkiv at the time, called and told me: ‘Mom, Kharkiv is being bombed’. I put the phone down and tried to realize: is this a dream? Maybe I was dreaming? It didn't fit in my head. The state of shock, the state of sleep — it seemed as if you were having a terrible dream from which you had to wake up, but you didn't,” Yuliia Svyshcheva recalls.

Tetiana Pereverzieva says that when she left Avdiivka, on February 24, the city was no different from how it was the day before.

“And Kyiv was different. When I came here, it felt different. In Avdiivka, that day was normal: everyone went to work and performed their tasks. I was going to my grandson's birthday, February 25, and planned to return, but I never did, even though I had a return ticket,” says the head of the Avdiivka People's Museum of History.

Local residents recall that in the first days of the full-scale invasion, Avdiivka was not under intense shelling, unlike other cities in Donetsk Oblast. But occupied Donetsk was nearby, and the relative calm was shortlived.

“On February 24, when the full-scale invasion of Russia began, the city was not so actively shelled. Active shelling began, apparently, in early March 2022, when shells from mortars and Grad multiple rocket launchers began to hit the city. Fires broke out in the city. Tensions were rising. Since Avdiivka is only 6 kilometers from Donetsk airport, we thought that the city would not be able to withstand enemy shelling,” said Hennadii Yudin.

He is a police officer from Avdiivka, and now he is evacuating people as part of the White Angels unit. In March, after the whole world saw what Russia was doing in Mariupol, Hennadii decided that he needed to evacuate his family.

“I was afraid that the same thing could happen to Avdiivka as to Mariupol. On March 8, my family gathered at the table and I said that we had to leave. We packed all our things, and in mid-March we left. First, I took my wife and children to Dnipro region, then I took my mother as well,” the policeman shares his experience. “Until June 2022, our police department continued to work in Avdiivka. However, after an enemy shell hit the building of the department, it was decided to move. That's how we ended up in Myrnohrad, where we are still based.”

In mid-March 2022, Yulia Svyshcheva also left Avdiivka after a shell hit her elderly relative's house and she had to be taken out of the city.

“The elderly woman had a serious chronic illness — she had Parkinson's disease. This forced us to look for a safe and warm place for her. Initially, we planned to move to a safe place for four days to provide her with the necessary care. I didn’t even think about the possibility of not coming back. I did not realize that I was leaving for a longer period,” said the IDP from Avdiivka.

Shelling and evacuation

Volunteer Oleksii Savkevych says that in March he took his wife and children out of the city. They went to Berlin, and Oleksii returned to Avdiivka and set up a humanitarian headquarters to help local residents and evacuate them.

“For the past two years, we have been engaged in humanitarian aid. For me, it was important to understand that we were also helping to evacuate someone. We were asked by journalists: maybe if we didn't deliver humanitarian aid, it would force people to leave. My answer was that it could be done, but it's not a given that it would help,” Savkevych says.

Russian troops were gradually approaching Avdiivka. The intensity of the shelling increased. The remaining local residents had the opportunity to evacuate. Hennadii Yudin was one of those who took people out of Avdiivka as part of the White Angels police unit.

“Our work was not only about evacuation. It also included delivering humanitarian aid, food, and bread, as well as removing the wounded, and the bodies of the dead, and recording war crimes. While talking to local residents, we literally begged people to leave the city,” Hennadii Yudin recalls.

“In the summer, we realized that fewer and fewer people were agreeing to evacuate, and those who wanted to already left. Some people would not leave, even if there was shelling nearby. Our car was constantly breaking down. We discussed a different format of humanitarian aid delivery,” Savkevych said.

On October 10, 2023, Russia launched a major assault on Avdiivka. The city was shelled around the clock. It became obvious that the Russian army was ready to wipe Avdiivka off the map to capture it. About 2 thousand people remained in the city.

“The most difficult thing was probably the fact that there were people there. This was a hindrance in any case because we are responsible primarily for civilians. And the second most difficult thing was the shelling with these aerial guided bombs when there was a concentration in one place. There were up to a hundred drops of these bombs per day. This is a great destructive force,” emphasized Serhii Tsehotskyi, an officer of the 59th separate infantry brigade named after Yakov Handziuk.

Volunteer Oleksii Savkevych recalls how over time a person gets used to the sight of destruction: the absence of a part of the entrance or burnt houses on his street initially caused sadness. However, after the first few times, it becomes noticeable that the brain gradually stops reacting actively to such changes, and the person no longer feels the same sadness during subsequent visits to these places.

“We all said we wanted to and would rebuild our city. But when I traveled around the city, I tried to imagine how long it would take to bring it back to a state suitable for the return of residents, children, and the resumption of the plant's work. I always wondered about the plant: is it possible to restore it or not?” Savkevych reflects.

For various reasons, local residents did not want to leave Avdiivka, despite living in basements.

“The natives of Avdiivka, in particular from the part of the city where the city came from, did not leave their land, their homes. They did not leave in 2014. I think that even if you try to relocate them, they will choose to stay on their land,” said Tetiana Pereverzieva, head of the People's Museum of Avdiivka History.

Police officer Hennadii Yudin emphasizes that people agreed to evacuate only when a shell hit the house and Russian shelling resulted in the death or injury of their relatives.

“This is the same factor that happened in 2014. Everyone hoped that we would get through this night, that we would get through this day, that we would wait a week, be patient, and everything would calm down. They did not realize the scale of what was happening. Secondly, I think there are still people who are very attached to their homes, and to the city. Probably, they could not overcome the fact that they could find themselves somewhere else, in another city,” Yuliia Svyshcheva reflects.

Withdrawal of the Armed Forces and the occupation of Avdiivka

Street fighting broke out in the city. In early 2024, the Russian army was able to gradually encircle Avdiivka. Intense fighting lasted for five months.

“On January 18, 2024, Russian troops entered the city. These are the outermost streets on the side of Tsarska Okhota. Those were Chernyshevskoho, Sportyvna, and Soborna streets. There were about 40-60 people left on these streets. I remember how we brought humanitarian aid and bread there the day before. And after January 18, we could not go there. Although people were calling and begging for help, for us to evacuate them, and their close relatives were calling and begging for help. But we could not get there anymore. After that, around January 30, the military called me and said that while clearing Chernyshevskoho Street, they had entered a house where residents of houses on that street were hiding. There were about 15 of them, and they were taken to a safe place,” said police officer Hennadii Yudin.

According to Serhii Tsehotskyi, an officer with the 59th Brigade, Avdiivka was strengthened as a foothold and turned into a fortress over the past 10 years because it was very advantageous tactically.

The city is located at an elevated position, and Ukrainian soldiers took advantage of this. However, a large concentration of Russian troops, precision-guided bombs, and armored vehicles led the Ukrainian Armed Forces command to withdraw to save soldiers' lives.

On February 17, 2024, Ukrainian forces withdrew from Avdiivka to avoid being surrounded. The city, or rather the ruins that remained of it, fell under Russian control.

“The first destruction and scale of a disaster always causes acute pain, which later dulls, but still takes your breath away. It's hard to see something built for decades being destroyed. It's hard, sometimes it takes your breath away, but you watch anyway. This is because you are looking at your native place, you are trying to see a familiar corner. This is the life we have lived, and it is hard to give it up, although it is very, very hard to watch the destruction,” said Yuliia Svyshcheva, an IDP from Avdiivka.

Hennadii Yudin, as a member of the White Angels unit, evacuated more than 2,000 people from Avdiivka to safe places. He continues to evacuate civilians from the frontline areas of Donetsk Oblast.

Yuliia Svyshcheva works at Yuzhkoks in Kamianske. According to her, there are many former employees of Avdiivka Coke now working there.

Tetiana Pereverzieva continues to preserve and pass on the memory of Avdiivka's history.

“There is an element of intangible cultural heritage in Avdiivka — Avdiivka porridge. We take a cauldron and travel to the towns where there are residents of Avdiivka. We invite them to taste this porridge, tell them about Avdiivka, and record some memories. Maybe one day we will publish a book or a video. People are very happy, we have already visited more than 10 communities. These meetings are very warm and have a taste of love for our city,” she says.

Oleksii Savkevych continues to help people and works for an international humanitarian organization. In Kamianske, he organized a music hub similar to the one in Avdiivka.

“One of the people we evacuated from our music space was Roman Kli, who came to conduct the first rock school, which gave impetus to the development of our music hub. Together with the musicians, we are already making the first house concert in our hub, which we have covered with fabric with our own hands,” he said.

Several hundred people remained in Avdiivka after the seizure. Now the Kremlin is issuing them Russian passports, and the occupation authorities say they want to rebuild the city. There is currently no accurate data on how many civilians in Avdiivka have been killed since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

The material was previously published by our partners Novyny Donbasu with the support of Mediamerezha.