A ruined house in the village of Vremivka, near Nova Novosilka, the epicentre of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023.

These villages in the Ukrainian steppe, at the intersection of three regions (Donetsk, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia) and a long way from the big cities, have been populated by Greeks displaced from Crimea since the 18th century. They resisted the Russian offensive in 2022 at the cost of being completely destroyed by enemy artillery. Here, in this strategic location that might be the key to liberating the shores of the Sea of Azov, Ukraine is standing its ground today, two years after Russia’s invasion.