Made into Lyman today. Here’s what I saw and heard. 
My buddy Ivan left Lyman on February 24th to enlist. Today was the first time he had been back to his home — and he didn’t know if his house was still intact.
Many of his neighbors are Russian sympathizers and he checked the property for mines and booby traps.
His house had been ransacked. TV, all his kitchen appliances, and his hobby drones — all gone. He suspects his neighbors.
The back house and shed, both destroyed by shelling. His home is no longer livable. Ivan is originally from Debaltseve, and this is now the second home he has been forced to abandon.
Much of Lyman has been touched by fighting. The city used to be an important regional rail hub, but the station infrastructure is very heavily damaged and no longer functional.
Buildings aside, shelling destroyed the rails and shredded power lines.
There are also two mass burials sites in Lyman. Local police estimate they contain about 400 bodies.
After all the death and destruction Lyman has seen, Ivan doesn’t think he’ll move back after the war. When I asked where he’d move, he shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Not here.” One bright spot from the day — Ivan found his cat, Thomas, alive and well.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
