Living in Opytne - on the Ukrainian frontline

About five million people live in the parts of eastern Ukraine where the Ukrainian army has been fighting pro-Russia separatists for the past two years. Some of these people are living in towns and villages that are close to the no-man’s land between the two sides, or that sit on the Ukrainian frontline.

Opytne resident Lena Lededev through her shrapnel riddled front gate Filip Warwick

One of these villages is Opytne. It lies in Donetsk region, at the edge of the territory controlled by the Ukrainian state, close to the separatists’ line. Filip Warwick visited Opytne to meet the villagers who have been living on the frontline for the last two years.

The words "People live here" scrolled across a building in Opytne. Filip Warwick