TIME is running out for residents in a Ukrainian ghost town facing the fury of Russia’s onslaught.
Nadiezhda and husband Yurii live in a cellar and cook in the yard where they buried a neighbour killed by a blitz.
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They have no power, gas, or running water.
Their block of flats has a ten-metre hole on its front torn by shells.
But they are determined to stay.
And they barely flinch amid the howl of incoming rounds, which started on the war’s second day.
Around 100,000 people have fled Lysychansk, the zombie twin city of Severodonetsk.
Between 10,000 to 20,000 remain.
It is only duty and despair that keeps them there.
Nadiezhda, 61, and Yurii are among the last six residents in a five-storey Soviet block that used to be home to 100.
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They live on handouts from volunteers who run the gauntlet of Russian artillery surrounding the city on three sides.
Residents charge their phones on their soldiers’ generators, but only to use them as torches as there is no mobile signal in the city.
All shops are shut.
All working cars are gone.
Only the mangled wrecks of blasted vehicles litter the empty streets.
Some vehicles, stripped of windows and wheels, have been dragged into makeshift roadblocks.
But the checkpoints are mostly unmanned because there are so few residents left.
Three bridges that linked Lysychansk to Severodonetsk have all been destroyed.
“We are almost totally cut off. This is nearly as bad as Mariupol,” Nadiezhda said, referring to the siege of the southern port with left up to 20,000 dead.
Near her home, the ruins of the city’s Palace of Culture smouldered.
In a garden square, the tails of two Russian rockets poked out of the ground.
Nadiezhdah added: “My parents met in this square. I’ve lived here all my life. My heart bleeds but where can I go?”
Brussels boost to hope of EU state
THE European Commission yesterday backed Ukraine’s bid for EU candidate status.
The war-torn nation could now be added to the countries vying for membership as early as next week.
All 27 EU leaders must agree to the candidacy.
France, Germany and Italy’s leaders gave their support on a trip to Kyiv on Thursday.
Yesterday the European Commission gave formal backing to the bid.
Chief Ursula von der Leyen wore a jacket in Ukraine’s colours and said: “We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us for the European dream.”
Ukraine’s President Zelensky welcomed the decision as a “first step on the EU membership path that will certainly bring our victory closer”.
He thanked Ms von der Leyen for the Commission’s “historic decision” and said he expected a positive result at the June 23-24 summit.
Russia accused the West of manipulating Ukraine with promises of integration.
Those left behind are mostly the poor and lonely.
The Sun watched hunched old ladies pulling trolleys over glass shards as artillery thundered around.
Some don’t seem to care if they live in Ukraine or Russia.
Some want Putin to win.
Police chief Oleh Hryhorov said around 35 people were recently arrested for collaborating with Russian forces.
For those who do want to leave, the only way out is with the police or humanitarian convoys.
Hryhorov added: “Even if they have a car, there is no petrol for sale.”
About 30 to 40 people brave the road each day.
Eight-months pregnant Karina, her husband, mum and sister paid someone £400 to drive them to safety only for them to disappear with their money.
The family eventually left with the help of Christian charity, Word Of Life.
Volunteer Jerry O’Reilly shrugged off the risks by saying: “I grew up in Belfast. If this is the day God assigned me, then I don’t mind if it’s going to happen.”
At least four people were killed and seven others injured in airstrikes after they left.
Nadiezda gave us her son’s mobile number and said: “Please tell him we are still alive. We will survive. I’m an optimist. But only God knows how it will end.”
Russian missiles supplieris blitzed
VLADIMIR Putin suffered another naval embarrassment as a Russian boat carrying air defence systems to Snake Island was destroyed by the Ukrainian navy yesterday.
It said the Vasily Bekh was being used to transport ammunition, weapons and personnel to the island, which is vital for protecting sea lanes out of key port Odessa.
Snake Island, 20 miles off the coast, was where Ukrainian defenders famously responded to demands to surrender by saying: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”
The message was broadcast on ship-to-shore radios and became an instant rallying cry of the resistance.
That warship, the 12,490-ton missile cruiser Moskva, was then sunk on April 14.
It was said to have been hit by a pair of Ukrainian-made Neptune cruise missiles, with heavy loss of life.
It was believed scores more may have perished when the Vasily Bekh was struck in the Black Sea yesterday.
Moscow has refused to confirm the incident.
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