A local resident walks past destroyed buildings in the city of Svyatogirsk.
Svyatogirsk, Ukraine:
Burnt armored personnel carriers lie by the side of the road. The shop windows are broken and there is no water.
More than nine months after Russian troops left Svyatogirsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, life is still uncertain for the 900 people living in the former resort town.
Built in pine forests on the Siversky Donets River, the town was once a popular holiday destination, dominated by a white Orthodox Christian monastery overlooking the river.
Volodymyr Rybalkin, now head of the military administration, says he sees a new future for the city, focusing on war tourism.
Dressed in a khaki T-shirt and trousers, he walks past shops and cafes on the main street that have broken facades.
The city’s buildings were “all damaged”, he said, while several dozen were completely destroyed.
Few businesses are open, but life is showing signs of returning.
Retired businessman, 70-year-old Oleksandr, cleans broken glass in his flower shop on the main strip.
“Everything is destroyed,” he says.
“I’m fixing it. My kids have moved, so now I have to work.”
The adjacent mini-market is strewn with broken glass, its roof, windows and walls pierced by shrapnel from the missile blast.
All buildings damaged
Mr Rybalkin was appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after his predecessor reportedly collaborated with the Russian occupation forces holding the city from June to September 2022.
“The area was under constant shelling,” says Mr. Rybalkin, warning against walking on the paved road because of mines in the grassy areas.
Last week, a local woman was killed by an anti-personnel mine on the river bank.
With few resources for a major clean-up, the battle damage is still fresh.
Destroyed military vehicles stand near a former military hospital, and shell fragments and metal fragments lie in the dust.
But Mr Rybalkin estimates the town will be “overrun with tourists” in the next five years.
“But it will be historical and military tourism based on the events that happened here – and it will be after the victory.”
Svyatogirsk has had no central water supply for more than a year due to broken pipes and treatment works.
“It will come back this year” the town chief vowed.
He showed plans to help residents do everything from showering to doing laundry and getting a cooked lunch.
Money for these has come from international aid organizations, in which water is being sent by truck.
sign up for bath
A shipping container is divided into cubicles for showers, a toilet and washing machine, while a log stove heats the water.
People have to sign up in advance and will likely only be able to take the baths every couple of weeks.
“People are happy to come here,” said the attendant, Oksana, a former teaching assistant whose workplace and home were both destroyed.
“I live with my neighbor now,” she says.
“I still have a small shed. I’m now thinking of how to keep it safe.”
“Let’s hope that we will have peace and everything will be restored.”
Nearby, 15-year-old Elvira serves tuna and rice with sliced beetroot and a vegetable salad for lunch at the World Central Kitchen cafeteria, where people can eat in or take home.
“I’ve been here a while: about four months,” she says.
“We have distance learning in Ukraine so after work I go home and do my homework,” she says with a smile, adding that she hopes to train as a hairdresser.
Local children are also taking art classes at a summer day camp organized by Base UA, a Ukrainian NGO.
“You can really see how their development is limited because they haven’t had socialization,” says head of culture Alexandra Chernomashyntseva.
“They can’t move because of all the mines here in the woods.”
painful parting
The story of Svyatogirsk highlights painful divisions within Ukraine.
When Russian troops took control, the current mayor, Volodymyr Bandura, reportedly collaborated with the occupying forces.
He went over with the Russians along with about 200 residents and is now on the run.
“At the moment a criminal case has been opened,” said the current city chief.
“Now we can look into each other’s eyes and laugh.”
However, Mr Rybalkin says he has “no connection” with the leadership of the monastery in his region, known as the Svyatogirsk Lavra.
The monastery is run by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which until recently was under the Moscow Patriarchate and is still considered loyal to Russia.
It is separate from a new, fully independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
The shell holes still remain on the walls of the monastery.
As a fighter jet flies overhead, the caged peacocks start squealing in worry.
Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko has said that steps are being taken to evict the black-robed monks, who will be placed in the same position as Kiev’s Lavra Monastery.
“Pavel Alexandrovich (Kirilenko) told us what would happen next, and our task would be to completely facilitate the task for him,” says Rybalkin.
Asked if the process would be peaceful, he said, “Let’s put it this way: I don’t know, I don’t imagine… When issues arise, we will resolve them.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV Staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)