As US President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, 35-year-old Oleksandr Bulka hoped for at least a temporary ceasefire to halt Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.

The next morning, Bulka awoke trapped beneath the rubble of his apartment in Bilozerske, Donetsk province, eastern Ukraine. A Russian glide bomb had struck the adjacent building, the shockwave destroying his home.

Bulka dragged himself downstairs and was taken by paramedics to a hospital in Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian stronghold Russia seeks to control.

A memorial to fallen Ukrainian soldiers called "Heroes' Avenue" in Slovyansk, Donbass, eastern Ukraine. Photo: WP

A memorial to fallen Ukrainian soldiers called "Heroes' Avenue" in Slovyansk, Donbass, eastern Ukraine. Photo: WP

Moscow is intensifying airstrikes in eastern Ukraine, demonstrating its resolve to control the territory, whether through military force or negotiation, even as Kyiv fiercely resists.

Ukrainian morale was somewhat boosted by the 18/8 summit in Washington, where President Trump warmly welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders, signaling openness to the security guarantees Kyiv seeks.

President Trump said he is "arranging" a direct meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin, though Russia hasn't fully embraced the idea and significant differences remain over Moscow's territorial demands. The Kremlin may also feel threatened by recent discussions of "NATO-style" security guarantees for Ukraine.

The Russian airstrike on Bilozerske followed Putin's proposal to Trump that he would end the war if Ukraine ceded the entire eastern Donbass region, including Kramatorsk, Bilozerske, and other cities.

Moscow gained some ground in a surprise attack last week, but Kyiv subsequently halted the advance, easing fears of a complete Ukrainian collapse on the eastern front.

Ukraine views accepting full Russian control of Donbass as tantamount to surrender, setting the stage for future attacks on the rest of the country. The Ukrainian military remains firmly entrenched in the region and prepared to fight. New trenches have been dug, barbed wire lines sunflower fields, and Ukrainian soldiers are installing huge nets across main roads to deter Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

While most Ukrainians yearn for an agreement to end the war, the idea of Kyiv voluntarily ceding territory to Russia remains unacceptable to many, especially communities in Donbass.

Ukraine’s fierce resistance in Donetsk is the reason behind Russia's territorial concession proposal. However, public anger in Ukraine over Putin's proposal reinforces Zelensky’s position that such a solution is politically impossible.

In the hospital bed next to Bulka, Oleksandr Petrenko, a business owner in Bilozerske, recounted how a Russian UAV struck his car that morning as he and his father tried to evacuate equipment from their electronics store. This is the second time he has been injured in the conflict. In 2022, Petrenko was shot in the leg, and the scar remains.

"Why should we leave?", he asked, blood seeping through the bandage on his head. "So many of my friends have died."

In the same room lies 44-year-old Yura Zubkov, a Ukrainian soldier from Kramatorsk, injured while fighting in nearby Chasov Yar, which Russian forces recently captured after over a year of intense fighting. "You want me to give my home to someone else?", he said. "I was born here. I live here. I will fight for this place."

"Mr. Trump needs to understand that this would be like giving up California and asking all US forces to withdraw," Zubkov said.

Outside in the hall, 61-year-old Lyuda Sanzharevska wept as she recounted how she was attacked while trying to escape her village on 11/8. She was seriously injured, and her daughter-in-law, 34-year-old Natasha, was killed. Her son and 8-year-old grandson are still trapped in the village due to constant Russian shelling.

Hundreds of civilians like them are fleeing the area daily, fearing they will be killed in airstrikes before negotiations truly begin. But the roads are now swarming with Russian UAVs, and every journey risks death.

A mother and her three daughters wait to be evacuated north of Dobropillya on 17/8. Photo: WP

A mother and her three daughters wait to be evacuated north of Dobropillya on 17/8. Photo: WP

Edward Storyk, 33, who fled the besieged city of Bakhmut, now works evacuating civilians from other front-line towns and villages facing a similar fate. "These meetings won't lead to anything. They are all empty words," he said of the meetings between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky. "I accept the reality that I have completely lost my home. I am homeless."

Even as increasing numbers evacuate front-line villages, seeking refuge further west, residents of cities like Kramatorsk and Slovyansk refuse to leave. Since 2022, many thought these cities would quickly fall to Russia, but Ukrainian forces have held them, giving Kyiv hope of maintaining a foothold in the region.

Locals know Russia cannot advance easily. They have witnessed Russia's heavy losses over months of urban warfare with Ukrainian forces. Now, residents believe their presence is also an act of resistance, preventing Russia from expanding its control over Ukrainian territory.

In Slovyansk, briefly held by Russian-backed separatists in 2014, families and soldiers gathered around a small lake on 17/8 to escape the summer heat.

28-year-old Yulia came with her 4-year-old daughter Milana and mother-in-law Larisa. The family evacuated Slovyansk at the start of the conflict but returned a year later when it seemed less likely Russia would take the city. Milana is accustomed to the sound of gunfire. That morning, she visited the grave of her grandfather, killed on the Zaporizhzhia front last year.

Larisa said ceding her husband's homeland would be a disgrace to him. "Donbass is Ukraine. I don't want to trade anything," she emphasized.

Nearby, 60-year-old Iryna Novakova sat on a bench, watching goats graze along the sidewalk. Suddenly, a fighter jet roared overhead, shattering the quiet. The goats scattered, but she looked up without concern. The plane was Ukrainian.

"Who would give Donbass to Russia?", she chuckled. "No one. We don't need Russians here. We need Slovyansk to belong to Ukraine."

But as people in eastern Ukrainian cities try to maintain normal life, the situation along the front lines grows more difficult.

On 18/8, crowds of evacuees gathered under trees north of Dobropillya, hiding from Russian UAVs while waiting for buses to take them away from the front. Some wept, others stood stunned, still reeling from a night of relentless Russian shelling. They stood among hastily packed bags, containing their entire lives.

"They came to take our lives, our homes, our jobs," miner Olga Makeeva said of the Russian military. She believes Russia wants to control Donbass to thwart Ukraine's westward leanings and seize its natural resources, including the coal mine where she has worked for 13 years.

"I want peace, but I won't accept it if it means giving our homeland to Russia," Makeeva said.

"I don't want them to have Donbass," her daughter Anastasia added.

In Novodonetske, 37-year-old Serhii Nakhalenko, his wife Natalia, 41, and their three children boarded a white evacuation bus. They left almost everything behind, even their apartment keys.

Map of the Donbass region. Graphic: Telegraph

Map of the Donbass region. Graphic: Telegraph

Serhii worked for years in the coal mine but quit last week when they decided to leave to save their children.

"We want everything to end. We want our home. We want to sleep in our own beds," Natalia said. "I am 41 years old and have no place to call home. I have nothing left to give my children."

"I've lost everything," Serhii added. "I have nothing left to say or advise anyone about the fate of Donbass. My father is buried here, so is my mother. We hoped for the best, but I don't think we'll have a chance to return. Now, we can only rely on ourselves."

He embraced his youngest son, stroking the blond hair on his forehead, and wept silently.

Vu Hoang (Washington Post, AFP, Reuters)