INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Driving out of the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk Thursday, AFP journalists twice had to jump out of cars and lie on the
ground as Russian forces shelled the city's main supply road.Soon after noon (0900 GMT), an AFP team saw dark smoke rising over the road
ahead.They heard artillery fire and saw flashes of light, while the road was strewn with trees felled by shelling.They twice saw a salvo of
Grad rockets exploding both sides of the key supply road as Moscow's troops intensify their onslaught.Twice, drivers braked swiftly and the
team jumped out and lay in the grass on the roadside, to the sound of hissing and detonation.The three shelling incidents took place on a
stretch of road approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles) long.One journalist suffered a scraped arm and a car windscreen was slightly
damaged.This happened on the road between the towns of Siversk and Bakhmut, now the main route being used to reach the city of Lysychansk,
since a highway has long been under shelling.The road was busy at that time with tanks on transporters, armored personnel carriers, jeeps
increasingly desperate battle for its control, the main police station had locked its doors Thursday after suffering fresh shelling,
following an earlier direct hit on Monday, AFP journalists saw.The entrance steps to the building were scattered with strips of siding from
the destroyed porch and sand from torn sandbags
There was also fresh damage to the building's side wall.The police station had been a hub for locals left in the city to find help to
evacuate or register deaths
It was still functioning Tuesday."People are saying they [police] have all left," said a firefighter called Andriy at the main fire
station.Outside, people were filling plastic bottles with water for household use from a fire engine in the yard."We're here..
We're working," Andriy stressed.Just 17 people left in an evacuation Thursday morning, he said.At the entrance to the city, soldiers were
digging fresh trenches in apparent preparation for any Russian attempt to storm the city.A World War II-era tank painted with a red star had
even been removed from the pedestal war memorial and placed on a central street.A soldier who gave his name as Oleksandr, who was shopping
for food nearby, said he was not clear on the reason."It's incredible: why they did it, I don't know
That's a tank from World War II, a T34-85 tank
It fought for the motherland, for the U.S.S.R
day.Asked if the army was preparing for street fighting, he declined to answer."We are defending our motherland," he said, smiling."I can't
say anything concrete."Liliya Nesterenko, 39, was cycling along a street near the closed police station."They [police] must be in another
not planning to evacuate."I believe in our Ukrainian army, they should cope," she said."They've prepared already."Like other locals, she
said her house had no gas, water or electricity and she and her mother were cooking on a campfire
injured," he said."People were going out to shop and they started shelling."Locals could be seen at a market and walking and cycling along
the streets, some with children.One older woman was walking along wearing a smart jacket, hat and amber necklace."It's necessary," she said
of keeping up appearances."Say hi to France
