Ukraine's Frontline Bakery Our World

Now on BBC News, it's Our World.

The ball in eastern Ukraine, more

than 10,000 people have died. Now

this has become one of the longest

conflicts in modern European

history.

There is no end in sight to the her

still tears after separatist rebels

backed by Russia took over Ukraine's

Donbass region. Hundreds of families

were split up, stranded on opposite

sides of the border.

With destruction all around, one

familiar smell of peace time. But

life to many here is anything but

normal. I Lucy Ash and I in the town

of Maryinka, were a bakery is

providing hope that missed the

trauma of war. -- among.

Maryinka lies on the Ukrainian side

of the frontline. Before the

conflict, nearly 10,000 people lived

here. There is only half that number

now. Factories and coal mines have

come to a standstill, in a war zone,

jobs are hard to find. But for those

trapped here, daily life must

somehow won. -- go on. I have come

to meet a local pastor who, against

the odds, has started a small

business here.

He converted this old supermarket,

damaged in the fighting, into a

working bakery.

The bakery is Maryinka's first new

business seemed the war began. He

produces fresh bread at affordable

prices. Olga has lived in the town

for 30 years, ever since she and

husband were evacuated from the

Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

This war has separated her on her

children and grandchildren.

Older's home in Maryinka was badly

damaged by shelling. She had her

husband camp out in a home log into

a family which has fled. She pines

for her old life. She was very, very

proud of the house and garden. She

wants to show me pictures.

Her children and grandchildren live

in an area controlled by the

breakaway Donetsk People's Republic

and you need special permission to

go there.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine was

sparked by a demonstrations in Kiev

in the winter of 2013 which ousted

the pro- Moscow President, soon

after the Russian takeover of

Crimea, Russian backed rebels then

seized territory around the eastern

city of Donetsk and declared the

breakaway republics. Maryinka, just

30 kilometres from Donetsk found it

self in a war zone. At the beginning

of the conflict, it was captured by

the DNR forces and retaken by the

Ukrainian army for months later. The

frontline runs north-east of

Maryinka's Centre. Queues across to

the other side could last hours,

even days. This effect the border

has divided families and created

deep reefs between former

neighbours. The divisions here in

Maryinka are really quite

complicated. These labels, up

pro-Russian, pro- Ukrainian, don't

really mean very much. People anyway

are scared to say which side they

actually support and, above all

else, they want what is best for

them and their families. They want

peace to return to the town and the

fighting to stop. Bread is

subsidised to cover costs, the

bakery has to make a small profit.

The pastors started the bakery in

2016. They realise needed physical

as well as spiritual sustenance. Now

he spends his days in Maryinka but

it might he goes home to a town

safely away from the frontline. He

does not hide where his political

sympathies lie. He takes it to meet

his family.

He was once a successful businessman

in Donetsk, now in rebel held

territory. He sought solace in the

church after his daughter died in a

car crash before the war. Today he

dedicates his life to help

They prop in bread from other towns

but it arrived sale and cold so he

got the idea for the bakery. It

opened with the help from foreign

aid, $10,000 camera which has a

large Ukrainian diaspora and flower

from the Czech Republic. -- $10,000

from Canada

from the Czech Republic. -- $10,000

from Canada.

The bakery employs seven people. On

the night's shift, three work flat

out to produce another bread, Barnes

and biscuits for the next day. --

buns. It is just past 11 o'clock and

they are waiting for the bread to

rise by the time I have been here we

have already had gunfire and shells

go. She is telling me it is very

normal and it happens most nights

they are here. Natasha had a job ad

bakery in town if what it was hit by

a Shell. The bakery here is a haven

from the fighting which usually

kicks off at dusk. The women stay

here until morning because it is too

dangerous to travel home at night.

They both live in the so-called red

zone, in a neighbourhood right eye

the frontline. Tanja lives with her

husband and teenage son.

Olga has mixed feeling about the

Ukrainian Army's presence in the

town.

Many here don't know who to believe

and a lack of information deepens

the distrust. Locals mostly watch

Russian TV which has a much stronger

signal than the Ukrainian channels.

We are going to the place where the

Ukrainian Army is positioned just on

the outskirts of Marinka. Apparently

there was in trouble their last

night, quite a lot of shelling, but

it is quiet today. Morale is low

even though these troops only

arrived in the new rotation a few

weeks ago. Many suspect the war is

being driven by profit and

corruption but they don't want to

say that on camera. A singer officer

talks of men in the shadows and

smuggling networks for weapons, coal

and oil. Use of this opportunity to

introduce himself to the soldiers.

The Ukrainian government calls this

area the anti-terrorist operation

zone and seize the land on the other

side of the frontline as occupied

territory. I'm not going to come out

any further onto the roof because

there are snipers in that direction

but you can see how close the town

is, I just heard the church bells,

the bakery and the market just about

four or 500 metres from here this

really is a town the frontline. Life

is hard, especially to the elderly

in Marinka. The International Red

Cross distributes aid such as coal

but poverty and the stress of war

create tensions between neighbours.

Seemed to be I don't know about 40

people queueing up to this

registration to get winter cold. I'm

just going to ask about it.

Upstairs I find Lieutenant

Alexander, a military man now in

charge of Marinka. He is

uncomfortable when I ask him aid is

coming from and charities rather

than the Ukrainian government.

I've come to meet Olya the Baker.

The house was hit and patched up by

volunteers. It is right next to the

checkpoint which separates Ukraine

from no man's land. Beyond this

slack heap is rebel held territory,

but the end. -- the DNR. It has been

no gas or drinking water in Marinka

since the war began. People have

always produced their own food here.

But now it is even more important.

During the worst bombing, Olya went

down to the cellar. Her elderly

father didn't make it and died after

being injured by shattered glass.

being injured by shattered glass.

Tanya who works with Olya at the

bakery lives only a few hours at

four

Almost every house in Tanya's Street

has been bombed or shelled at some

point.

A local teacher is that the bakery

to pick up funds this Monday morning

for the kindergarten.

This building, like most in the

town, was badly damaged and the

children were evacuated.

Now it is open again, although there

are only two classes so far. There

is no canteen here yet to the jam

filled buns are a special treat.

The war in Ukraine has slipped off

the political agenda and it is

really in the news anymore but it is

far from over. It is hard to imagine

a time when these children will be

able to live in peace.

And although the fighting now is not

as bad as it has been, it is -- its

sporadic nature means nobody knows

when or where the next shell will

land.