In May, access to Lysychansk and Severodonetsk was the only available road from Bakhmut. It is about 50 kilometres from the block post of Bakhmut city to these interconnected industrial cities, and from there, the road may already be under attack. The closer to Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, the greater the chances of an attack are.

While driving, you pass Siversk on the left, which is also under fire. In the morning, a Grad missile hit the fire station. Hours later, three Uragans rockets fall in one after another. The powerful explosion raises the ground several metres up and scatters it on the street. There is a shopping cart in the middle of the street. It is surprising as a few metres from it, on the other side of the wall, a missile fell and knocked down the wall of the old school building. And the cart was still standing.

Suddenly, a man in a blue jacket runs out, takes the cart and runs away home. He ran off the street, abandoning a cart after the first explosion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had a chance to survive an explosion.

On the right is Popasne, already captured by the Russians, pushing from this direction to cut off the last possibility of communication with besieged cities. Smoke rises on the horizon as if the whole of Łysyczańsk and Severodonetsk are on fire. But it turns out that it is a refinery under fire near the city. Rarely can you find cars outside the military and those who are evacuating here, and more and more often, you can see traces of explosions in the fields next to the road.

From the entrance, Lysyczansk is extinct. You pass a building hit by a shell every dozen to several hundred metres. However, it's quiet here for now, unlike behind the river that separates the cities, in Severodonetsk, from where you can still hear the roar of the explosion.

People can be met very rarely on the street. Although you even see a mother with a stroller or seniors walking around the building with religious pictures or icons, asking God to save their building.

The entrance to Severodonetsk looks more like a battlefield. There are abandoned car wrecks in the streets. Many more buildings are damaged after artillery hits, and you can still hear flying artillery shells and explosions for some time. It is hard to conclude that there is any specific target. Well, apart from maybe the only hospital left, the missiles could just fall anywhere. The Russian troops are getting closer, coming from the side of Rubiżne, which is already occupied.

Although the city is extinct, you can still meet people in blocks of flats. They leave the house to ventilate. It's hard to believe that anyone still lives in this city. The mayor of Bakhmut said there were three types of people staying. People who don't believe the bullet would hit their building. Those who do not have the financial resources to run away and those who wait for the Russians to come.

Regardless of the reasons, most inhabitants hide in the basement after the first hit on the buildings or a near explosion. Some have lived like this since the beginning of the war, in complete darkness or by the light of flashlights.

A week later, the defence line behind Popasne was broken, and the Russian troops cut off the road. The Russians captured Severodonetsk at the end of June and Lysyczansk at the beginning of July.