‘Donetsk's walking dead’

A rebel republic tries returning to civilian life. A photo report by Max Avdeev

Eastern Ukraine's fragile ceasefire has been in effect since mid-February. Both sides in the conflict say artillery and other heavy weaponry is slowly being withdrawn from the front line, and the cities now under separatist control are gradually returning to civilian life. Photographer Max Avdeev was in and around Donetsk throughout the war. Now he's a witness to the ceasefire. Meduza presents Avdeev's latest photo report about life during the ceasefire in the capital of the breakaway People's Republic of Donetsk.

Locals in Donetsk look across the road at an apartment building damaged during the shelling of a nearby metallurgical factory.

A residence near a mine in one of Donetsk's most damaged neighborhoods. Locals say this building was hit by the Ukrainian Army's howitzers, while a nearby porch was destroyed by a grad missile misfired by the separatists. This area is located in the conflict's so-called "contact line," so it comes under fire from both sides.

A woman waters plants in Donetsk's Botanical Garden. The facility's operating hours have been cut to 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and many of the staff haven't seen a paycheck in a long time, but they continue to work, with help from the Foundation for Rare Plants.

Donetsk's Oktyabrsky region.

A private boxing club on the edge of the city.

Donetsk's Oktyabrsky region.

What's left of Donetsk's flea market.

A five-story building destroyed by a direct artillery hit. Three of the building's floors are simply gone.

The orchestra performs Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, titled "Leningrad."

Donetsk's Oktyabrsky region.

A family at the Prokofiev Philharmonic in Donetsk.

Books and debris from a private home destroyed by a BM-21 Grad missile.

An equestrian school on the city's outskirts. More than 100 students used to train here. Now the number is barely 30. The school's coach is thankful to militia troops from the nearby base, who help supply feed to the horses.

A private home destroyed by a BM-21 Grad missile. Not even the basement withstood the explosion. In the background stands the town of Kondratevka.

A priest passes through the ruins of his church in the Petrovka region. The building caught fire and burned down, after being hit by a howitzer shell.

Donetsk's Oktyabrsky region.

A family gathers in Makeevka, near Donetsk. Sasha, 15-years-old, fought over the summer in the battle for the Donetsk airport in the separatists' 15th International Brigade. His family is celebrating his older sister's birthday today. The family is thoroughly middle-class, but they actively supported Sasha's decision to fight in the war. Many of them former supporters of the Maidan movement, the people around the table sometimes start speaking Ukrainian. Despite their love for Ukrainian culture, however, Sasha's mother and father say they no longer believe in a united Ukraine.

Some of the locals who still remain in the leveled town of Vuhlehirsk, on Donetsk's outskirts.

Cash services at a shopping mall in Donetsk. Many in the city receive their pensions and benefits on bank cards, none of which currently functions in the Donetsk People's Republic. A commission has been established to address this problem. Its offices transfer individuals' money to their accounts, in exchange for hard cash, charging a small commission.

A bus station in Donetsk destroyed by artillery fire.

A hospital in Gorlovka. Valya, 24-years-old, and Vika, 5-years-old, are from Novogorlovka, a town severely damaged by artillery strikes.

A young man killed by shelling near the DMZ. He and his mother were hit by a missile. She survived and was taken to the hospital earlier.

A shelter near the Zasyadko coal mine.

On the perimeter of Yenakiieve, whence separatists fired their artillery.

A burial at a cemetery in Donetsk.

67-year-old Viktor Garashchenko sits in his bombed out home.

A woman killed in the basement of a house in Logvinova, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the center of Donetsk.

Nameless graves in a cemetery near Donetsk.