STORY: Oleksandr, a 52-year-old local resident said he came to sell stuffed toys to get money for water and bread.

Sitting at his improvised trading booth, Andrii, said that he is not planning to evacuate the city.

“It’s my nesting place. I’m fine here as well. At my age where can I go.” Andrii told Reuters.

63-year-old Serhii was worried that Kramatorsk may face the same fate as Izium and Mariupol.

“Everywhere where Russians have been, there is just burned land” added Serhii.

Fierce fighting in the eastern Donetsk region continues, and hundreds of thousands of people are still living in combat zones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered the mandatory evacuation of citizens in the area, which Russia seeks to control completely.