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Russia is offering mortgages in a Ukrainian city it doesn’t control — and keeps bombing

Source: Meduza

Kramatorsk, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, became the regional administrative center after Russian-backed separatists seized the city of Donetsk in 2014. Since the earliest days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, this frontline city has endured near-constant shelling. That hasn’t stopped the state-run company Dom.RF — which oversees Russia’s “family mortgage” program — from listing Kramatorsk, still under Ukrainian control, as a city where Russians can buy second homes at a preferential rate. Meduza shares photographs of the aftermath of Russian strikes on Kramatorsk, taken between February and April 2025.

The aftermath of a Russian strike on Kramatorsk on February 25, 2025. According to local authorities, the attack hit a residential neighborhood. One civilian was killed and 16 others were injured, including four children.
Wojciech Grzedzinski / Anadolu / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press
A crater left by a bomb on March 6, 2025. Russian forces dropped three bombs on Kramatorsk that day. Two people were injured.
Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a Russian attack on March 11, 2025. According to local authorities, Russian kamikaze drones struck Kramatorsk late on March 10, hitting several infrastructure facilities. No casualties were reported.
Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA
The aftermath of shelling in a residential neighborhood on March 20, 2025. Russian forces struck Kramatorsk twice that day, targeting an industrial zone and a residential area. Three people were injured, and several schools and apartment buildings were damaged.
Olena, 54, a resident of Kramatorsk, stands outside her home, which was destroyed in a March 22, 2025, strike. She wasn’t home at the time of the attack. Russian forces carried out three strikes on the city that day — one shell hit an empty house, while the other two landed in open areas. One person sustained minor injuries.
Viktor Fridshon / Global Images Ukraine / Getty Images
The aftermath of a March 22, 2025, strike on Kramatorsk
Jose Colon / Anadolu / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press

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Members of the “Angels of Salvation” evacuation and aid group deliver blankets and wooden boards to homes damaged in the March 22, 2025, attack
Jose Colon / Anadolu / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press
Volunteers from the charity organization East SOS help Kramatorsk residents evacuate. April 1, 2025.
Jose Colon / Anadolu / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press