Slideshow: civilians caught in battle for eastern Ukraine struggle to survive

· June 1, 2015

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Team in Ukraine released a report Monday saying 6,500 hundred people have been killed in the conflict zone since mid-April, some 16,000 wound. Despite the Minsk peace agreements signed more than three months ago, the report also says serious human rights violations are ongoing in the region including arbitrary and illegal detentions, torture, ill-treatment, human trafficking and the lack of justice and accountability. According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, his office has received reports of summary executions by both armed separatist groups and Ukrainian troops.

The conflict is taking a deep toll on the millions of civilians in the region. FSRN’s Filip Warwick traveled to both the small village of Sakhanka and to Donetsk to see how people caught in the cross-fire are faring. He brought back these photos, and you can find his audio report here.

Click on any image to launch a slideshow

: One local woman, Tatiana Dimitrevna, confronts the OSCE team in their car. The OSCE is an international contingent. Each team of observers can only have up to 10% Russian observers, e..g a team of 20 will have a maximum of two Russian members. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Tatiana Dimitrevna tells observers the village is tired of the ongoing conflict. An OSCE observer translates while a second OSCE colleague writes notes for evening report. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Unimpressed when the Russian general says its time to leave, Tatiana Dimitrevna tells him to stay in the village for one night to see what it’s like to live their amid the fighting. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: A Russian general (right), staff and a local resident inspect damage caused by mortar strike (with OSCE observer). (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: A Russian general talking to locals in Sakhanka. He says thatt Russian troops are not engaged in conflict and they merely stand as neutral military observers. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Oksana Victorovna is the director of the local school. She stays in the now half-empty village, to keep the school open for the children still there. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: The Sakhanka bus stop, idle since services stopped when the village was hit by mortar strikes. The bus stop is situated next to a separatist checkpoint, which like all front line checkpoints (separatists & Ukrainian) feature trenches. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Pro-Russian separatists patrol a checkpoint near Sakhanka, overlooking a hilly section on the coast of the Azov sea. The area is known for its undulating hills that stretch for miles. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: A road leading to a strategic bridge, blown up in the battle for control of the Donetsk airport. In the far distance an old separatists checkpoint now lies abandoned. When Donetsk airport was under Ukrainian control this was the last separatist checkpoint prior to the no man’s land. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: A Soviet T64 tank lies wedged under the bridge. The bridge was blown up when separatists feared a Ukrainian offensive would reach the city. Dozens of used tank shells and cartridges litter the railway line that runs beneath the overpass. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: The bridge, near Luda’s home. The split section of the bridge that gave way resulted in a gap. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Luda and her pet dachshund Matilda make their way down a spartan hallway to her temporary accommodations, a small flat she shares with two other displaced locals. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Luda’s meager tea table in the flat she now shares with two others displaced by the hostilities. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)

: Luda Krashevskaya worries. Her pension payments are irregular, medication costs are high, and she is largely alone. She hopes for the best, but also is realistic of the uncertain future. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick) 12. Luda Not sure what future holds – hopes for the best but also is realistic of the uncertain future

: Luda’s former home, destroyed in the fighting. The house stood in the northern part of Donetsk. It was there where heavy clashes between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists were the fiercest. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)