Ukraine Villages on the Russian border gripped by fear  Focus on Europa - video Dailymotion

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00:01The village of Trevone lies 30 kilometers from the front line in Ukraine's Donbass region.

00:07In an oasis of tranquility in the middle of a crisis zone, Yevhen Leshenko has lived here for eight years.

00:15But the cottage is poorly insulated and cold. After all, this was supposed to be temporary.

00:23The Leshenko's home is elsewhere, in occupied territory.

00:27Yevhen Leshenko was a Protestant pastor.

00:32When pro-Russian separatists appeared, he did not hide his pro-Ukrainian views.

00:38In his sermons, he often said that he would gladly give a free ticket to Russia to anyone who didn't support Ukraine.

00:47You could be shot for saying things like that at the time.

00:52They could take your life, toss you into a basement somewhere. Those were terrible times.

00:59We weren't prepared and could hardly believe what was happening.

01:03The Leshenko's got the warning in time.

01:06They were able to flee and have been living here in Trevone ever since.

01:10The village is situated between Crimea and the occupied Donbass region.

01:18In an area some expect to be the first target of any Russian invasion.

01:23Sometimes you hear the war. When there's fighting, you hear the noise across the sea.

01:35But after what we experienced, there's no escaping the subject of war.

01:40The entire country is at risk of attack. Not just here.

01:43We head towards the front line.

01:51There are checkpoints on every road in the area.

01:56And the closer we get to the demarcation line with the separatist forces, the more frequent they become.

02:02A ceasefire has been in place since 2015.

02:13The front line has not shifted, but the fighting continues.

02:16La Nitnya is one of the last villages on Ukrainian-controlled territory.

02:23Soldiers are everywhere, but life goes on.

02:27Locals have been following the build-up of Russian troops on the border very closely.

02:32The situation is terrifying. We're scared, really scared.

02:38We're not so young anymore.

02:40The Ukrainian military's foremost position is on the outskirts of the village, just in front of the demilitarized zone.

02:53A footbridge leads to no-man's land.

02:57It's off-limits to soldiers and reporters.

03:01But people cross it every day.

03:04The villagers of Starmarovka, which lies right between the two fronts.

03:08Every day, Svetlana, a teacher, crosses over to Ratnitne.

03:15She doesn't want to reveal her real name.

03:18For people here, maintaining good relations with both sides is key to survival.

03:22Her village is often being caught in the crossfire.

03:25I have a job, so I go to school every day.

03:30Living here is hard, dangerous even, very dangerous.

03:34But stopping now and just running away?

03:38No, I can't do that. I just can't.

03:41There aren't any children at the school right now.

03:46But that's not due to the fighting, but because of coronavirus measures.

03:51The children are doing remote learning.

03:54The teachers come to school for its better internet connection.

03:59The school is just 500 meters from the military post.

04:03We go to work every day, and the children normally go to school.

04:12But we never know what's going to happen in five or ten minutes or the next night.

04:18We're always nervous, always scared.

04:22Back in Trevone, Yevhen Leshenko has decided to build a new, bigger and better insulated house.

04:35He wants to live there with his children and grandchildren.

04:39The longer the conflict drags on, the less likely the family will ever go home.

04:52Lots of people can't decide what to do.

04:55But we've decided to build. Life has to go on.

04:59Even though Russian troops might one day stand on his doorstep here, too,

05:03he doesn't believe he'll have to flee again.

05:11It's not 2014 anymore.

05:13People won't just throw their hands in the air and let the attackers walk right in this time.

05:18Today, people here are ready to defend their land.

05:24Eight years into the conflict, the people here have no choice but to live with the situation.

05:33They won't try each other, something else that he said.

05:38But how could he leave here?

05:40It's our fault.

05:42When this moment is the event on a萬ishing the future,

05:51it's been educational.

05:53When it comes to Kyla dispatch, what he said was also육enev componente.

05:56And he was to build it for himself, sometimes when it comes to the subject.

05:59And the giveaway's hour, it's the one that brought up his life out.

Ukraine Villages on the Russian border gripped by fear Focus on Europa

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