リゾートに響く戦火の爆音、それでも人の姿　ウクライナ東部

【スラビャンスクＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナ東部スラビャンスクにある湖畔のリゾート。白い砂浜が広がり、澄んだ水をたたえた湖はとても魅力的だが、問題が一つある。響き渡るロケット弾やミサイルの爆音だ。（写真はウクライナ東部スラビャンスクのリゾートを訪れた人たち）
　東部で支配地域拡大を目指すロシア軍とウクライナ軍が激しい戦火を交える前線は、リゾートから約１０キロ。それでも、この地を訪れる人がいる。
　サングラスをかけた短パン姿のコスチャンティンさん（４０）は、「散策して写真を撮るためにやってきた」と話した。泳ぎたいと思っていたが、「寒過ぎる」と残念がる。
　湖の塩分を含んだ水は、関節痛を和らげるとして、かつては人気のリゾートだった。
　近くで響く砲撃音は、米国がウクライナに供与した榴弾（りゅうだん）砲のようだ。ウクライナ軍は２２日、ロシア軍はスラビャンスクへの攻勢を再開するため、組織的な砲撃を行っていると明らかにした。
　スラビャンスクに仲間と一緒に食料調達に行く途中に立ち寄ったダニールさん（３９）は「みんな泳ぎに来ていて、いいね。私たちも白鳥を見に来た」と語った。
　以前は頻繁に訪れていたというコスチャンティンさんは、「今年に入って今回で２回目だ」と話した。地元では、安全なウクライナ西部に避難した市民が置き去りにした犬に餌をやるなどのボランティア作業を砲撃下で行っている。砲撃には慣れていて、怖くはないと語った。後ろでは爆音が響いている。
　もっと怖い目に遭遇したこともあるという。北東部ハルキウ州で２月、バスで避難途中にロシア軍の砲撃に巻き込まれたのだ。「今の状況なら、命の危険はそれほどないと分かる。恐怖を感じる方が怖い。なぜなら、人々が感じている恐怖は現実のものとなるからだ」
　戦争が続く中、東部の前線近くから避難しないと決めた人たちは「とても強引で意固地」になっているという。「神経的なストレスのようなものだと思う」
　このリゾートからスラビャンスクに向かう道には、コンクリートによる障害物が設置され、道沿いには塹壕（ざんごう）が掘られている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/06/28-14:52）

With its white sand, changing cubicles and clear water, the beach at Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine looks tempting. There's just one problem: the nearby bangs of rockets and missiles.
The lakeside resort is close to one of the most active fronts in the war with Russia, to the north of Sloviansk, where Ukrainian troops firing from woods and villages are seeking to halt Moscow's advance.
But that doesn't dissuade some beachgoers.
We just came here to walk around and take some snaps, says Kostyantyn, 40, strolling around wearing wraparound sunglasses and shorts.
We wanted (to swim) but it's too cold, he adds as the sunbaked region has a rare cloudy day.
A beach is a beach, he says, taking pictures of his friend Denys at an outdoor gym.
The nearby arms fire sounds like American howitzers, supplied to Ukrainian troops.
The Russian frontline is only about 10 kilometres (six miles) away and the Ukrainian armed forces said Wednesday that Moscow's troops were carrying out systematic firing in order to resume an offensive on Sloviansk.
The Sloviansk lake resort was once famous for its salty waters, believed to help relieve joint problems.
A sanatorium built on the spot is no longer open, however.
It's pretty, people come to swim. We also come to see the swans, says Daniil, 39, who cycled along the beach with a group of friends on the way to buy food in Sloviansk.
- 'Be happy' -
Daniil says he is a metal worker at the Sloviansk power station in the nearby town of Mykolaivka, which has halted work due to the war.
Orange plastic letters on a beach hut read: Be happy this summer, but the beach loungers have been locked inside. Ice cream stalls and a massage cabin are also closed.
We used to come a lot before the war, Kostyantyn explained. This is just the second time this year.
He says he has been helping out locally: feeding dogs abandoned by their owners, who have left for safer western Ukraine.
I'm not scared because I'm a volunteer and have been under shelling, he says, as loud booms can be heard in the background.
Kostyantyn recalls how he was caught up in a Russian shelling attack on an evacuation bus in Kharkiv region in February.
With what's happening now, you realise that life is not so threatening. People's fear is more of a threat, since what they fear comes true.
As the war draws on, those who opted not to evacuate from the area have become very pushy and hardened, he says.
I think it's more like a form of nerve stress.
There are those who are waiting for Russians to come, interjects his friend Denys.
People think it will be better, that they'll get a Russian pension.
There are also some who already receive benefits from the Moscow-backed separatist regions, adds Kostyantyn.
In 2014, Sloviansk was taken over by Russia-backed separatists and Ukraine only won it back after a lengthy siege.
Now the sleepy green town has no water or gas and an unstable electricity supply due to war damage and difficulties of repairs, its mayor told AFP this week.
Stacks of concrete beams on the road from the beach resort into the city creates a lengthy obstacle course for vehicles and trenches have been built along it.