City in the kill zone


A destroyed building in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, on Jan 8, 2026. — Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

THE team carried lists of people who had signalled that they were ready, at last, to evacuate a place so ravaged by Russian bombardment that it had no power, gas, heat or running water and little food or intact shelter.

The rescuers also called up to windows and balconies, shouting “evacuation”, as they tried to convince other stragglers, most of them old and infirm, that their lives here were finished, that they should grab their essentials and leave, too.

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