At Donetsk International Airport the bombed out buildings and burned out vehicles stand as mute reminders of eight months of pitched battles that took place here between government forces and armed rebels.
Just a few years earlier in 2013, the airport celebrated its 80th anniversary. Built during the Soviet times and renovated to host the 2012 European soccer championship, it was gleaming and alive with activity.
26 Feb 2015 . DONETSK, Ukraine. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
The airport, named after Donetsk-born Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, has become a powerful symbol of a conflict that has killed 6000 people and turned parts of east Ukraine into ruins.
Flights stopped operating from here last spring, when the fighting began. There is still some activity, with a few separatists patrolling the destroyed airport.
3 Mar 2015 . DONETSK, Ukraine. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
The hand of a dead fighter lies buried in rubble at a terminal littered with bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.
The airport became a charnel house during eight months of intense fighting, the most fiercely contested spot in east Ukraine.
Kiev's troops held out here through months-long siege that saw both sides fire barrages of artillery and heavy rockets. They were finally forced out in a rebel advance in January.
“There are lots of dead bodies under the rubble here. They are just buried there. We offered them to surrender three times, but they refused,” said an unidentified rebel.
3 Mar 2015 . DONETSK, Ukraine. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
The conflict has forced hundreds of thousands of east Ukrainians to flee their homes. But for people still staying in the largely-destroyed residential areas near the airport, the sound of shelling isn’t very far.
Despite a shaky ceasefire deal, both Kiev and the rebels still accuse each other of breaking the truce on an almost daily basis.