Elderly Ukrainian couple left behind in bombed out eastern village

Local residents Kateryna and Dmytro sit on a couch as volunteers of a humanitarian mission visit their house in the settlement of Nevelske, located near the line of separation between the armed forces of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels in the Donetsk region, Ukraine January 28, 2022. After a long life together Kateryna and Dmytro are among few people, who stayed in the deserted village following a destructive artillery attack in November 2021, still live in their house but face difficulties with energy and water supplies. REUTERS/Maksim Levin

NEVELSKE, Ukraine (Reuters) - Elderly couple Kateryna and Dmytro Shklyar are among the last residents of Nevelske, a village near the frontlines in east Ukraine where years of fighting have left them without running water, electricity or neighbours.

Nevelske sits some 25 km (15 miles) from Donetsk, the biggest city in the contested eastern Ukraine region where Russia has backed separatist rebels fighting government troops since 2014. The conflict has killed 15,000 people to date.