This night we felt the Breath of Russia
Written & Photographed by Pavel Kuljuk
July 7, 2026
Journalist Pavel Kuljuk, who lives in Kramatorsk, shares with The Saint his experiences in the midst of war.
This week, we realized the Russians control our lives more than we imagined. On the night of June 29-30, they took control of our entire neighborhood and destroyed the Ukrainian military base. For the first time, and against our will, we witnessed a military operation. This operation took place less than 10 houses away from us.
"Stay in bed and don't get up," I screamed, ripping off my headphones after a sudden nearby explosion shook the house.
"I'm scared," my wife said as I found myself in bed next to her. The unfinished soundtrack of Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor" was still ringing in my ears.
"Yes. It came close. Another one is coming," I said, covering her head with my hands.
A heavy and sharp fragment found in the garden. It was lying next to the wall on the side of the explosion.
We heard the drone's engine approaching us. Then it began to dive without shutting off its engine. Those seconds seemed like an eternity. Explosion! This time the drone didn't hit us. Something started falling around the house. The noise died down.
In the ensuing silence, the sound of the propellers of a small FPV drone became audible. This drone didn't fly away, but hovered somewhere nearby, invisible in the darkness. So there was no sense of relief. The streets were silent. Contrary to tradition, the soldiers didn't fire at the drone hovering nearby. This was even more depressing than the nearby explosions.
"What's the drone operator waiting for?" I thought. But the answer was already approaching. The sound of the large drone's engine was heard again in the distance. As it approached us, the drone began to dive again without turning off its engine.
Explosion! It seemed like a third explosion in the same spot. A fire was raging nearby. We couldn't see the flames but it was getting lighter outside. The drone's small engine continued to hum obnoxiously somewhere near the house. About 10 minutes later, the drone flew away, still untouched.
Summer shower. The water supply has been out for two days. For bathing, we use water collected in watering cans for watering plants. Luckily, the day before the water supply shut off, we filled all of the watering cans with water.
"What do people write on social media?" I asked Svetlana.
"Residents of ‘Fifth Mountain’ say that our gas station was blown up," she replied.
"Nonsense. The flashes of the explosion and the noise of the explosion came from the direction of our grocery store," I said.
"No. I saw a flash in the other direction," she countered.
Arguing about where a bomb landed is common in a war zone. It's like arguing over who will win a baseball game in peacetime. We indulged in this traditional pastime for a while. While we were arguing, we waited for photos from eyewitnesses on social media. But unlike previous incidents, there were no photos or comments. This means local residents living in nearby houses can't take photos because the area of the attack is surrounded by police and army special forces.
I left the bedroom and closed the windows that had been thrown open by the explosion so that mosquitoes would not fly into the house. Then I opened the doors to the street. It was quiet. A glow was blazing from the direction of the store, hidden by trees and houses.
Basil seedlings in a pot. We'll be planting these seedlings in the garden soon.
"It looks like there was an explosion near the store," I said as I returned to the bedroom.
"I'll go shopping in the morning and take a look," she said.
"No, you're staying home. It might be unsafe there. Let's wait a day for the Ministry of Emergency Situations to check the area," I told her.
"It's strange that the soldiers didn't fire at the drones. Three drones fell in the same spot within 5-7 minutes of each other. And a fourth drone hovered nearby the entire time. It was probably a reconnaissance drone. This drone was filming the shelling and could have pinpointed the location from which the Ukrainian soldiers were firing. Most likely, it was because of this fourth drone that the soldiers didn't fire at the attacking drones, so as not to expose their positions," I said.
"You may be right. But we will never know the truth," Svetlana said.
"Yes. You're right. The authorities won't give out details," I replied.
In the morning, I found a small but heavy piece of shrapnel in the yard. Some branches of the coniferous trees had been cut off. I realized the impacts on the walls were actually shrapnel. The explosion had damaged our roof. Pieces of slate fell into the yard. I took some old plastic and made holes in them with a knife. Using an old electrical cord as rope, I tied the pieces of plastic to the beams in place of the fallen slates. There are many such patches on the roof of our house.
Our slate roof is covered with patches made from old plastic. Luckily, the slate and plastic are almost the same color so the patches are not very visible. The roof looks like new…this is a joke.
By the evening of the next day, the first photos of the night raid appeared on social media. Taking photos from the site of the shelling is not easy. The authorities prohibit taking photographs. They believe that by studying the photos, Russians can draw conclusions about the shelling's results and improve the effectiveness of their combat units. Incidentally, a ban on taking photos of shelling sites also exists in Russia. Apparently, this is indeed sensible. However, in both countries, the population disregards the authorities' rules.
This time, someone especially brave took photos and even video. It showed that one residential building was completely destroyed. Approximately 10 houses were damaged. The drone strike occurred near the nearest store. But fortunately, the store remained open.
The authorities have not reported any civilian casualties. Usually, when civilians are killed, the Ukrainian authorities try their best to publicize it and criticize the Russians. But the authorities never report casualties among Ukrainian soldiers.This creates the impression that the Russians are killing civilians, while Ukrainian soldiers are not killed. This information policy is carried out for propaganda purposes. The Russian authorities are doing the same. People's lives are just a propaganda tool for the government.
However, residents of the war zone have learned to interpret everything correctly. If there were explosions and the authorities reported no civilian casualties, it means the Russians were right on target. Only Ukrainian soldiers were killed. That's how we interpret official reports.
Zucchini sprouted at the end of June. Usually, by this time, there's already the first zucchini harvest. But we planted the vegetables too late this year. We hadn't planned to do any gardening because we were preparing for evacuation. But then we changed our minds and planted more vegetables. We did this because working in the garden helps create a good mood.
Two days later, we went to the store. Our favorite path was littered with the rubble of destroyed houses. There were no people nearby. Apparently, the owners of these houses had left after the attack. In the courtyard of the completely destroyed house, there were a lot of flies.
"Why are there so many flies here?" Svetlana asked in surprise.
"The explosion probably killed some pets or threw food from the refrigerator into the yard," I told her. I don't want to think the reason for the appearance of flies was the uncollected remains of murdered people.
Walking past a destroyed house, I suddenly thought, "The Russians destroyed this Ukrainian military base without any resistance, right in a residential area, overnight. They could probably completely block the roads out of Kramatorsk if they wanted."
I began to feel like I had no control over the situation. I'm trying to find a job and buy a plot of land. But I am not as much of a master of my life as it may seem. We might not be able to leave the city and then fall under Russian control. We are not ready for this. We never prepared for this. We thought there were only two possible outcomes: evacuation or death.But it turns out there's a third option. And maybe even more.
When we went to bed that evening, my wife turned on her phone again and started checking social media. "British intelligence reports that the Russians are preparing to storm Kramatorsk. Vladimir Putin has assembled 200,000 troops for this purpose. The assault is expected to begin in mid-July. The Russians plan to capture Kramatorsk in the fall," she said.
"Oh my God. We have a couple of weeks. Let's see if British intelligence is right," I replied.
There's been no water supply for two days now. But we're not even worried about that. Events are approaching!
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