003JS_EASTERN_UKRAINE
Elena Parshina, a 68-year-old blind woman, stands at the door to her home. Her house was severely damaged during fighting in 2017 between Russian supported separatists and Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka, an industrial city very close to the frontline of the war in eastern Ukraine. Her daughter, whose house has also been destroyed, lives in the self-proclaimed and internationally unrecognized Donetsk Peopleâs Republic, a separatist and Russian supported region of eastern Ukraine. Avdiivka is defended by Ukrainian forces and is located on the outskirts of the separatist held city of Donetsk. During the past five years of war the city and its residence have witnessed attacks of various kinds. Residents regularly hear fighting close by and still fear rocket attacks and shelling of their homes. Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine February 16, 2019