Dividing life into before and after: What Sviatohirsk was like and what it has become due to the occupation
Author:
Kateryna Vovk
Sviatohirsk is a city in eastern Ukraine between Izium and Sloviansk. It lies on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets River. In the spring of 2022, heavy fighting occurred here, and from June to September 2022, the town was temporarily occupied by Russian troops, resulting in Sviatohirsk being reduced to rubble.
On Independence Day, there are more Ukrainian flags than locals walking the streets. Once a resort for Donetsk residents, the city has become a museum of Russian aggression.
Our journalist, Kateryna Vovk, visited Sviatohirsk and compared the town before the full-scale invasion and after the three-month Russian occupation.
I love Sviatohirsk — the city of strength
A destroyed Russian tank against the backdrop of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin
A blown-up bridge over the Donets River toward Bohorodychne — Sviatohirsk
On May 27, 2021, the "Farewell, ABC book!" holiday was held at the Sviatohirsk General Secondary Education School. In 2022, Russians shelled the school from a tank
"That's it... The Russian world has come," the pizzeria's page read on July 1, 2022
Alpen Hotel in Sviatohirsk
Life in the houses that the Russians took away
