The blow was far away. But close enough to frustrate the patrol. “Come back, come back,” said Lt. Col. Sasha Malysh. “They are bombings.” Then the police radio rang. “Beware of all patrols; go to the shelter.” “Pope Condemns ‘Easter of War’ as Kharkov Struck by Heavy Bombing” – Live Updates on Ukraine War Image: The Donbas area was destroyed by Russian bombing Police in Kramatorsk left their headquarters weeks ago. It is a Russian target. And so the drive, at speed, returned to their makeshift base and a makeshift bomb shelter in a location they did not want to reveal. The second impact seemed closer. A loud explosion. It is a daily threat here in this city in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. “It was less than a mile from us,” said Colonel Malysh. It is from the bomb shelter that faces multiple challenges. These officers were the first to respond to the attack on the train station here just a week ago. More than 50 people – mostly women and children – died. But it is more than just Russian shells. They are looking for saboteurs located in this city and are believed to be sending images of possible targets to Russian forces on the other side. After 15 minutes, the net came and we could continue the patrol. Picture: Pokrovsk is now the closest place people can get off the train Colonel Malysh is only 29 years old and is in charge of patrols here and in the neighboring town. We passed an apartment building that was destroyed in one of the attacks. A bomb or a rocket from an airplane, the colonel told us. At least three people were killed. It is questionable that there was not much more. The train station is located in the center of a city that now has only half its population. The rest left. The station was the evacuation point, but not anymore. not from the chaos here. “It was horrible. People were lying down without arms and legs. Everyone was shouting for help. We were trying to tie them up,” one of the colonel’s even younger officers told me. Read also: Young people who lost loved ones and members in a bombing at Kramatorsk train station Image: A map with details of the Russian invasion of Ukraine But there are times to be grateful. We visited a kindergarten that was hit. But the children were not inside at that time. Of course, with each blow to the building, so much damage is probably repairable, but who knows when. Our trip led us north from Kramatorsk. We passed the battle marks over broken vehicles that were towed backwards, fuel tankers heading forward. The town of Slovyansk, 25 minutes north of Kramatorsk, is a symbolic prize for Russia. It was the first part they occupied in the war of 2014. This time it turns out to be more difficult. Most of those who lived here are gone. But some remain. And outside the closed supermarket we met the florists of Sloviansk. Image: Flower sellers in Slovyansk say they will not leave their country “Many left the city,” one told me. “I have nowhere to go. I will not go. This is my land and my country.” A man next to her said: “Russia and Ukraine were brothers. Now they are fighting. I do not understand why. I never thought Putin would do such a thing.” Then, for the fifth time since sunrise, the siren sounded again. He forced our meeting with the mayor to fall into the shelter under the old Soviet administrative headquarters of the city. “I’m worried about what might happen,” Mayor Vadim Lyakh told me. Picture: Vadim Lyakh, mayor of Slovyansk, worries about what might happen next “We are preparing for all the scenarios because we see what happened in Mariupol and other cities. Most of the people who stayed here are elderly or have chronic diseases,” he said. Pokrovsk, 60 miles away, is now the closest place people can get off the train. And there, on stage one, we saw the cruelty of this war. At 4.30pm for the safety of Lviv in the west was a train full of the most vulnerable: people with disabilities and the mentally ill. Some were in wheelchairs. some were carrying blankets. The price of a man’s war.