Slavyansk, a ghost town under siege

Dawn had barely broken when shelling began in the rebel bastion of Slavyansk, a ghost town emptied of half its people and besieged by Ukrainian government forces.
For 20 minutes early Wednesday the two sides traded fire, oblivious to the week-long truce ordered by Ukraine's new president and backed by a top leader of the pro-Russian separatists.
Extended rounds of anti-aircraft and heavy machinegun fire echoed through the deserted streets of the rustbelt town -- a day after the downing of an army helicopter threatened to scupper the fragile truce.
"This is the calm before the storm that begins once the ceasefire ends," said a 42-year-old rebel known to his unit as "Oleksandr the Soldier", twice wounded in combat and bearing a large scar on one shoulder.
Slavyansk too bears the scars of weeks of bombardment, with power lines and trolleybus cables strewn across streets littered with giant potholes and burnt-out vehicles.
Service stations have been destroyed and apartment blocks stand with shattered windows and caved-in roofs, their walls peppered with shell fragments.
- Ghost ton -
Home to nearly 120,000 souls, Slavyansk has been turned into a ghost town.
Ukrainian forces have focused their recent strikes on the Semyonovka district, says Oleksandr, destroying a dozen houses in one street.
"My house was hit by a shell and burned to the ground. I have nothing left," said Valery, 49, standing before the remains of his home -- a mound of rubble, shattered crockery and shreds of clothing.
"Almost half the population has left," said the mayor Vladimir Pavlenko, a 52-year-old former border guard.
"Most of the town has been without power or water since June 8 because of the bombing, and most businesses have just shut down."
Food stores and pharmacies are closed across town with the exception of the central bakery, hooked back up to a water and power supply.
Elsewhere tankers ferry water to cut-off neighbourhoods.
Mobile phones work on and off, with users queuing to charge them at one of the rare kiosks with a still-functioning power cable.
Here and there a street lamp still works. Otherwise the city at night is plunged into pitch darkness.
- Food aid -
Behind the city hall, a cafe has been turned into a makeshift soup kitchen.
"I got some pasta, some tea, couscous and some tinned meat," said Olga, a retired schoolteacher. "It's not much, but I survive thanks to my vegetable garden."
"The elderly have not received their pensions for two months," said Mila, a 40-year-old woman serving up free meals to the elderly and women with children, at a canteen run with food donated from Russia and elsewhere in Ukraine.
"A lot of people are without wages because their companies have closed down, and they have run out of food."
Ukrainian government forces claim to have Slavyansk surrounded, but some country lanes travelled by AFP remain free of army checkpoints.
Food aid is reaching the town along these unchecked rural roads, according to several sources, and there is every chance arms and ammunition can reach the rebels the same way.