"If the school is preserved, the village will also live"
Peace and quiet for the first time in 11 years — this is the main impression of Alexandrovka and neighboring Maryinka. Both villages are located on the western outskirts of Donetsk, and for many years they were on opposite sides of the front, separated by a checkpoint. Both settlements are littered with unexploded shells — literally you can't take a step. Marinka lies in ruins, there is not a single civilian (and there are no military personnel left after moving forward). Alexandrovka, where more than 1.3 thousand out of 1.6 thousand yards were seriously damaged, is rising from the ashes, people are returning here, although there is still a lot to be done.
The ghost village
For many years, Alexandrovka remained a kind of ghost village located on the outskirts of the world, where it was almost impossible to enter - a three—kilometer road led there, which was continuously shelled (I happened to come under mortar fire on it in 2022).
The head of Alexandrovka Konstantin Chaly at the administration building, pierced by shells
The last time I was in Alexandrovka was a year and a half ago. At that time, the ground was naturally buzzing with explosions, the administration building was abandoned (the leadership moved to the Petrovsky district of Donetsk), tanks thundered through the broken streets, the school, along with the only bomb shelter in the entire village, was pierced through by HIMARS missiles, and a handful of remaining civilians hid in their huts.
And suddenly — silence. It's so unusual that you keep your head pressed into your shoulders all the time and expect something. But nothing happens. Only the saws are humming, and the bees are buzzing.
Books from the destroyed school
I am going to Alexandrovka together with the head of the settlement Konstantin Chaly, we have known each other for five years. Until 2014, he was in charge of production in Donetsk, then he fought as a militia member in Alexandrovka, after which he was put in charge of it. Communicating with Chaly, I feel that over the years he has been terribly tired of the Alexandrovka that once fell on his head, and from the military operations, and from the disorder, and from the appeals of people who come to him in an endless stream with questions: "Where to live?", "How to repair?", "Who will help?" Now they have added visitors with a Maryinsky residence permit.
The housing issue
"People are slowly returning, the population of Alexandrovka is already more than 1.6 thousand people," says Konstantin Chaly, as we drive along the three—kilometer stretch of road that has finally become safe. — The front line has been pushed back 40 km, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces no longer need to shoot here or send UAVs. Moreover, we no longer have any military personnel. The last heavy shelling was in the fall of 2024, when a civilian was killed.
According to the head, the power supply has been restored by 90%. The road was paved. Bus No. 99 has been launched. The water supply has not yet been fixed — for this it is necessary to clear the area along the water pipeline, the sappers have not yet reached here, and there are not enough of them. Mobile communications are barely catching on, but in the coming weeks it is planned to install a cell tower.
Many victims of the fire received compensation for lost property (furniture, stove, boiler) — 100 thousand rubles. But the situation with payments for damaged housing is still unclear. According to the decree of the government of the DPR No. 61-1, if a person has suffered more than 50% of the housing stock, compensation of 45 thousand rubles per 1 sq. m. is due. But, as both Chaly and the residents themselves say, this money is not enough for a full-fledged repair, much less for the purchase of something new. Especially considering the prices for construction work and queues for crews (six months in advance).
Ads in a recent frontline settlement
It is noteworthy that if a special commission is still assessing housing damage in Alexandrovka, then in neighboring Maryinka (it was assigned to the Alexandrovka administration) it is not. The residents of the newly incorporated settlement who found themselves in Donetsk, forced to live in rented apartments, still cannot apply for compensation. The answer for them in the same administration is the same: "There is no information yet. Call me."
The minefield
One of Konstantin Chaly's tasks for today is to bypass the points where requests for the detection of explosives have been received. The first one is right on the road that leads to the village: two unexploded Grad rockets are lying on the ground two meters from the track. The task is to capture them in a photo and send the information to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Shells found in one of the courtyards
The next point is an abandoned house on Gorky Street, where our military was based. Behind the sheds, we find a box containing half a dozen RPG charges. Next is a former club with a broken roof, with zinc cartridges and the same grenade launcher charges piled inside. The one—story administration building has an unexploded "hailstone" sticking out of the floor in the former lawyers' office, and an artillery shell in the next room of the economists. Both did not detonate.
On the shore of a reservoir
Finally, another interesting place is a network of empty dugouts near a local reservoir. The fortifications are ours, they are well made, they are lined with boards from the inside. This line was built in case of an enemy breakthrough to Alexandrovka, but it was not necessary to use it for its intended purpose. We dive underground, and at almost every loophole we find a scattering of F-1 grenades, abandoned zinc cartridges, fuses for shells, and in one place there is even an anti-tank mine with a charge of 7 kg of TNT.
Save the school
At one of the addresses, we visit a lonely 92-year-old grandmother, Nadezhda Dmitrievna. "Child of war," they call them in Alexandrovka: she caught the Great Patriotic War. An old woman is lying on a cot in the summer kitchen, the windows are covered with rags, there is a jar of salted tomatoes on the table, and there is an unbearable heavy smell in the room. Nadezhda Dmitrievna's house was smashed with shards, there were no windows, so we had to move here. She can hardly walk, she only gets out on crutches to the porch. A neighbor helps with the food (for a fee, grandma explains). Until recently, the military helped, but they left.
A lonely resident of Alexandrovka, Nadezhda Dmitrievna
The old lady is from the Smolensk region. After the war, she moved to live with relatives in the Donbass — in this very Alexandrovka. She worked as a milkmaid, was in the forefront, even went to VDNH, and was awarded medals. However, her profession crippled her — her hands were swollen from constant work and her fingers almost did not bend.
— It's quiet now. And it was so hard," whispers the grandmother, who actually lived on the front line for three years and miraculously remained whole. — Although it's difficult now, I'm sick. And all alone.
Yulia Kalinichenko and her two children, 17—year-old Sofia and 9-year-old Kirill, live on another street. They also endured these years, hiding every other day between the walls in their thin house and in the basement.
Sofia and Kirill Kalinichenko are one of the few local schoolchildren.
— Three months of silence, you can go outside and not hide, not run away, — says Sofia. — I have a friend here, Vika. We walk every day. Through the streets. And on the river — two white swans settled there.
Sofia will start 11th grade in September. For several years, the training was conducted online. They promise to make next year full-time. But here's the problem — they say that the school in Alexandrovka may be closed. "The building is destroyed, so it turns out that the school itself is not needed?" both Sofia and her mother Julia ask the question; I heard the same thing today from other Alexandrov residents I met.
— The school will be preserved, and the village will live! — the girl talks like an adult. — The long-awaited silence has come for us. I want us to be reborn now. If they liquidate the school, it will be the end of Alexandrovka, which has been through so much.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
