Stepan Kovalyov, 80, and his brother Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, toast with horilka, a Ukrainian spirit, inside of a cellar where Stepan and his wife live after their house was destroyed during the Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 29, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the brothers have decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
The two houses in what had been no-man's land between Russian and Ukrainian forces are badly damaged by shelling, there is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable.
Yet the Kovalyov brothers - Stepan who is 80 and Volodymyr who is 77 - and their wives have decided to stay in the isolated farming village of Posad-Pokrovske in southern Ukraine to live out their days in the place they know best.
Stepan Kovalyov, 80, and his wife Tetyana, 79, look at trenches located at the back of their house, which was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the couple, along with Stepan's brother Volodymyr and his wife who live nearby, has decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. The couple currently lives inside their cellar, which their late son originally built to use as a food store. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
It will not be easy. The elderly couples survive off meagre state pensions and rely on relatives and volunteers for food.
Stepan and his wife Tetyana, 79, live in a cellar next to their old bungalow, which, like many other buildings in Posad-Pokrovske, was all but flattened in the fighting.
"We are 80, we've worked all our lives, in the same garden and now we're waiting for death," Stepan told Reuters on a visit to the village in late January. "What else can we be waiting for?"
A destroyed Russian tank rusts near the Kovalyov brothers' houses, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, near the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 31, 2023. The two houses in what had been no-man's land between Russian and Ukrainian forces are badly damaged by shelling, there is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the Kovalyov brothers - Stepan who is 80 and Volodymyr who is 77 - and their wives have decided to stay in the isolated farming village of Posad-Pokrovske in southern Ukraine to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Volodymyr and Tetiana, who is 76, sleep in the last room of their house that still has a roof over it.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians face similar challenges as Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two approaches its second year. Many fled towns and villages close to the frontlines when war raged around them, although some, the elderly among them, refused to leave.
Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske, located some 36 km (22 miles) northwest of the city of Kherson, on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.
An unexploded Grad rocket is embedded in a field near the Kovalyov brothers' houses, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. The two houses in what had been no-man's land between Russian and Ukrainian forces are badly damaged by shelling, there is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the Kovalyov brothers - Stepan who is 80 and Volodymyr who is 77 - and their wives have decided to stay in the isolated farming village of Posad-Pokrovske in southern Ukraine to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces.
The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins.
UNDER FIRE
Trenches line the ground behind the house of Stepan Kovalyov, 80, and his wife Tetyana, 79, which was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the couple, along with Stepan's brother Volodymyr and his wife who live nearby, has decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. The couple currently lives inside their cellar, which their late son originally built to use as a food store. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Volodymyr did not leave the village despite the conflict, and Tetiana only left for a few weeks with her grand-daughter early on. They recalled heavy fighting throughout the following months. In October, the house was hit by what they believe was a tank shell. They were inside.
"There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in."
The clashes at that time coincided with a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the area that eventually pushed the Russians back across the Dnipro River in early November, the biggest setback of the war so far for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Stepan Kovalyov, 80, and his wife Tetyana, 79, stand inside their house, which was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 27, 2023. The couple currently lives inside their cellar, which their late son originally built to use as a food store. "We are 80, we've worked all our lives, in the same garden and now we're waiting for death," Stepan said. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
In the next street, Stepan and Tetyana had taken refuge in their cellar when their house was destroyed in fighting in May.
They left Posad-Pokrovske shortly after, visiting occasionally to check on their property and on Volodymyr and Tetiana.
When the couple returned shortly after the counter-offensive was complete and the Russians had been routed, they found their livestock gone, four cows, along with dozens of chickens and pigs. Before the war, they grew barley and vegetables. Now the fields are treacherous with mines and unexploded ordinance.
Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, who only left her village for a few weeks early in the conflict and was in her house in October when it was hit by what she thinks was a tank shell, washes her hands with snow, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 30, 2023. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled of her house being shelled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in." REUTERS/Nacho Doce
The cellar, which their late son Aleksandr built as a food store, has become their home, lit by candles when they are there.
They access it via a small staircase in a garden covered in debris and a thin layer of snow.
Every day is a slog. Volodymyr cycles to nearby shops for food, sometimes supplemented by packages handed out by charities. The couples chop wood for their stoves and collect rain water from the roof in a bucket or from the village well if the generator is working.
Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, who only left her village for a few weeks early in the conflict and was in her house in October when it was hit by what she thinks was a tank shell, sits inside of her damaged house, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled of her house being shelled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in." REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Volodymyr and Tetiana's grown-up grand-daughter Svetlana, who is disabled, helps them tend their one cow and rooster.
Stepan and Volodymyr enjoy the odd glass of horilka, a Ukrainian spirit, together, although the couples keep largely to themselves.
When Reuters showed Stepan and Tetyana a photograph taken of them sitting in their basement that featured on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Instagram account in early January, they were briefly taken aback.
Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, pours himself a glass of horilka, a Ukrainian spirit, in the last room of his house that still has a roof, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Volodymyr and his wife were in their house in October when it was hit by what they think was a tank shell. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the couple, along with Volodymyr's brother Stepan and his wife who live nearby, has decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho Doce UKRAINE VILLAGE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
"Now Putin knows where we are!" quipped Stepan.
($1 = 1.8276 marka)
(Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, holds a bicycle belonging to her husband Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, as he puts on his gloves, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Volodymyr cycles to nearby shops for food, sometimes supplemented by packages handed out by charities. The couples chop wood for their stoves and collect rain water from the roof in a bucket or from the village well if the generator is working. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, looks at a photo of himself and his brother, Stepan Kovalyov, as he lays in bed in the last room of his house that still has a roof over it, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. The photo was taken at a bus station in 1967 after the brothers ended their military service in Simferopol, Crimea. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetyana Kovalyova, 79, whose house was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, feeds her dog in front of the cellar where she and her husband live, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 29, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. REUTERS/Nacho Doce A cat belonging to Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, and his wife Tetiana, 76, and their granddaughter Svetlana, 21, stands on a bucket of water, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Svetlana, who is disabled, helps Volodymyr and Tetiana tend their one cow and rooster. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, who only left her village for a few weeks early in the conflict and was in her house in October when it was hit by what she thinks was a tank shell, carries a lighted candle inside the only room of her house that still has a roof, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 30, 2023. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled of her house being shelled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in." REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetyana Kovalyova, 79, sits on a bed inside a cellar which her late son built as a food store, where she and her husband Stepan, 80, now live after their house was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 27, 2023. When the couple returned to their home shortly after the counter-offensive was complete and the Russians had been routed, they found their livestock gone, four cows, along with dozens of chickens and pigs. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Mouldy bread, mattresses and clothes litter a warehouse where Russian forces were based during their recent occupation, near the Kovalyov brothers' houses, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, near the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, sits next to his brother Stepan, 80, his sister-in-law Tetyana, 79, and Stepan and Tetyana's son Serhii, 56, as they talk inside the cellar that Stepan and his wife live in, following the destruction of their house during the Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 29, 2023. "We are 80, we've worked all our lives, in the same garden and now we're waiting for death," Stepan said. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, who only left her village for a few weeks early in the conflict and was in her house in October when it was hit by what she thinks was a tank shell, holds a rooster behind her damaged house, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled of her house being shelled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in." REUTERS/Nacho Doce Religious iconography is displayed in a destroyed house, once lived in by an Orthodox priest but abandoned during the months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, nearby the cemetery in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce A view shows the house of Stepan Kovalyov, 80, and his wife Tetyana, 79, which was destroyed during the months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 27, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the couple, along with Stepan's brother Volodymyr and his wife who live nearby, has decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. The couple currently lives inside their cellar, which their late son originally built for use as a food store. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, lights a candle next to her husband Volodymyr, 77, and her granddaughter Svetlana, 21, inside the last room of their house that still has a roof, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 30, 2023. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled of her house being shelled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in." REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, his wife Tetiana, 76, and their granddaughter Svetlana, 21, talk in the last room of their house that still has a roof, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Svetlana, who is disabled, helps Volodymyr and Tetiana tend their one cow and rooster. REUTERS/Nacho Doce An abandoned Russian checkpoint blocks a road near the Kovalyov brothers' houses, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, near the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. The two houses in what had been no-man's land between Russian and Ukrainian forces are badly damaged by shelling, there is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the Kovalyov brothers - Stepan who is 80 and Volodymyr who is 77 - and their wives have decided to stay in the isolated farming village of Posad-Pokrovske in southern Ukraine to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, his wife Tetiana, 76, and their granddaughter Svetlana, 21, who lives with the couple, stand at the entrance of their damaged house, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the family, along with Volodymyr’s brother Stepan and his wife who live nearby, has decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov's granddaughter Svetlana, 21, walks with the family's cow in the fields near their house, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Svetlana, who is disabled, helps Volodymyr and Tetiana tend their one cow and rooster. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetiana Kovalyova, 76, who only left her village for a few weeks early in the conflict and was in her house in October when it was hit by what she thinks was a tank shell, carries a bag of firewood for the wood-burning stove, which is used to heat the only room in their house that still has a roof, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 30, 2023. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," Tetiana recalled of her house being shelled. "It was raining and parts of the roof were falling in." REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, who remained in his village throughout the conflict and was in his house in October when it was hit by what he thinks was a tank shell, waits for bread at a food delivery point, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Stepan Kovalyov, 80, walks with a torch next to his wife Tetyana, 79, near the entrance of the cellar where they live, after their house was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 29, 2023. The couple currently lives inside their cellar, which their late son originally built to use as a food store. "We are 80, we've worked all our lives, in the same garden and now we're waiting for death," Stepan said. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Tetyana Kovalyova, 79, whose house was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, opens the door of the basement where she and her husband Stepan, 80, now live, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 25, 2023. There is no central power or heating and the surrounding fields are heavily mined, making them unworkable. Yet the couple, along with Stepan's brother Volodymyr and his wife who live nearby, has decided to stay in the isolated farming village to live out their days in the place they know best. REUTERS/Nacho DoceA sign warning of dangerous landmines stands in front of the damaged house of Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, his wife Tetiana, 76, and their granddaughter Svetlana, 21, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, who remained in his village throughout the conflict and was in his house in October when it was hit by what he thinks was a tank shell, carries a bottle of horilka, a Ukrainian spirit, on his bicycle, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, who remained in his village throughout the conflict and was in his house in October when it was hit by what he thinks was a tank shell, lays in a bed in the last room of his house that still has a roof over it, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 28, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Stepan Kovalyov, 80, puts firewood inside a heater next to his wife Tetyana, 79, who is drinking tea, inside the cellar where they live after their house was destroyed during months of Russian occupation, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 29, 2023. The couple's late son originally built the cellar to use as a food store. "We are 80, we've worked all our lives, in the same garden and now we're waiting for death," Stepan said. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, who remained in his village throughout the conflict and was in his house in October when it was hit by what he thinks was a tank shell, fixes his dog's kennel in front of his damaged house, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Volodymyr Kovalyov, 77, who remained in his village throughout the conflict and was in his house in October when it was hit by what he thinks was a tank shell, walks with his bicycle to a food delivery point, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, northwest of the city of Kherson, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Russian troops reached Posad-Pokrovske on Feb. 25 last year, the day after Russia launched the full-scale invasion it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. It was as far as they were able to push north, and the area around the small settlement became a no-go zone between enemy forces. The ground is now littered with ammunition boxes, bullet casings and burned out Russian tanks. Mines lay scattered, two unexploded missiles protrude from the earth nearby, deep, narrow trenches snake through fields and house after house lays in ruins. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
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