In recent years, things has been getting quieter and quieter here, and priorities have long since changed. The costs also outweigh the remaining benefits. That’s why it’s now time to call it a day: The Ostblog will go offline on 17 February 2026.
The journeys and experiences documented here over almost two decades will remain forever in my memories (and partly also in the Internet Archive). It was great!
Andrey (74) has been living alone in his flat in Kramatorsk for many years. The only family connection he still has is his daughter, who lives in Moscow. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made it impossible for her to visit him. In the meantime, Kramatorsk has suffered from frequent…
Valery and Olga are from Bakhmut. The couple’s flat is less than 3km away from Patrice Lumumba Avenue, where the day before, Russian Wagner mercenaries had launched an attack to enter Bakhmut, which was stopped by Ukrainian resistance. Their flat was particularly exposed to the front line, and they suffered…
Arka and Dub were queuing up for the “best hotdog in Kramatorsk”. The place is a popular hangout spot for Ukrainian soldiers taking a break from duty at the frontlines around 20km away. Both are from Zakarpatia, the extreme West of Ukraine and had no problem communicating in Russian with…
These are Alexandr and Svetlana with her granddaughter Sofia in the centre of their home city Kriviy Rih in Eastern Ukraine. The largely Russian-speaking city is a major iron ore mining hub and the hometown of President Zelensky. During Soviet times, Alexandr was stationed in Kaliningrad in a nuclear rocket…
