San Francisco Frontiers - Orthodox Palm Sunday brings brief respite to Ukraine's Kramatorsk

In the Orthodox Svyato-Pokrovsky church, around 40 people -- mostly women wearing colourful headscarves -- occupy the largely empty pews as the sermon begins.

"It's very hard and scary right now," said a congregant as she arrived at the red-brick church topped with four gleaming domes.

"We must pray for our soldiers to have strength and faith. We need it and they need it," she told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Two young children entered with their mother. Holding branches to commemorate the Christian holiday of Easter, they solemnly lit a candle before leaving.

"Today is a big celebration, Palm Sunday. It would be wrong not to come, especially when it's calm," said Nadia, 30, as her children aged three and four played in the adjoining park.

Nadia refused to be evacuated for fear of travelling alone with her two young offspring and leaving her relatives in Kramatorsk.

"We don't go to the basement each time there's a (bomb) siren. It's too stressful for them (the children)," she said.

"We have our spot in the basement just in case, but we prefer to stay in the house if possible. We dim the lights."

- 'Miracle Market' -

Near the railway station -- closed since shelling on April 8 killed 57 people -- a heavy military vehicle slowly transports an imposing artillery cannon through a junction.

The range of its shells is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) -- roughly the distance separating Kramatorsk from the surrounding frontline.

In a rare continuation of normal life, a handful of ageing trolleybuses ferry passengers around the city centre.

The "Miracle Market" store also remains open -- one of the few supermarkets to do so.

Some aisles are bare, but many customers remain in the alleys in their search for essentials such as bread, meat, vegetables, cheese and tea.

Shop manager Igor Kudriavtsiev is proud to serve those who have stayed in the capital of the Donbas region, after the vast majority of its 150,000 inhabitants fled.

"Our profits aren't as high (as before the war), but we're responsible for those who have stayed -- mostly elderly people who, for one reason or another, weren't able to leave," he said.

Only one of the chain's eight stores in Kramatorsk had to close owing to a lack of staff.

"We have all the products we need. There's no supply problem," Kudriavtsiev insisted.

A shop employee fills empty display boxes with sought-after bags of sweets. "It's what goes the quickest, along with tea," she explained.

- 'Believe in Ukraine' -

Most of the stalls in Kramatorsk's large central market are closed, but dozens of residents can still be seen roaming the streets.

"It's difficult, but we keep working. We have fewer than half of our regular customers," said Yelena, 51.

Running her small clothes stall, she said she would not leave Kramatorsk.

"I have my own house. I worked so hard, I won't move anywhere. My father is 80, I'm not going to leave him," she explained.

"I believe in our men (on the frontline), I believe in Ukraine."

Business has also been tough for Sergiy, a cigarette-puffing fruit and vegetable seller who also refuses to flee his city.

"I've got nowhere to go, even if I wanted to. Of course, it was better without (the war). When it was calm, we worked and lived well," he said.

Sergiy vowed to keep working "as long as I can" even if Russian troops take Kramatorsk.

C.Williams--SFF