Photos: Bread delivery works in war-torn Donbas in Ukraine

With three huge bags wedged under the handlebars of his red and white moped, Oleksandr races through the winding trails of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to deliver bread to the remaining locals.

Almost every day, Russian attacks hit the city of Siversk, some 10 km (6.2 miles) from a front line that has barely moved since last summer.

Oleksandr has just collected the bread at the humanitarian center of the Siversk municipality, which receives about 2,500 loaves twice a week from the cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka.

“We have to drive fast, so that nothing catches us,” says Oleksandr, referring to possible shelling.

Under the spring sun, the 44-year-old drives at top speed until he comes to a dirt road lined with small houses and flowering trees.

He starts the day’s deliveries at his neighbors, right in front of his own house.

Olena Ishakova, 62, leaves her house in a long blue robe with yellow pockets and collars.

“On Tuesdays we receive two loaves of white bread, on Thursdays sweet bread and black bread,” says Ishakova.

Grab the breads wrapped in bags emblazoned with the “World Food Program” logo.

Ishakova’s daughter and granddaughter were evacuated last February to Ukraine’s calmer west, but she stayed behind in Siversk with her husband.

In July and August, Russian forces launched unsuccessful small attacks on the city which they also shelled.

The eastern part of Siversk with its tall buildings was the most damaged, while the western part and its smaller houses were relatively spared.

“We haven’t had electricity on May 5 for a year,” says Ishakova, to the rumble of artillery fire in the background.

“We don’t know who is shooting or from where. We only hear the explosions… I sit in the house, the windows shake, it’s scary, very scary,” she says.

Oleksandr meets Valentyna Zaruba, a 73-year-old woman delivering bread on a neighboring street.

“I’m in charge of my street, and someone else is in charge of theirs, that’s how we work,” Zaruba explains.

Depending on the days, Zaruba delivers the bread with a wheelbarrow, or with his bicycle.

The night before, shelling damaged three houses at the end of the street. An 82-year-old man was injured.

Holding his bike, Zaruba goes to see Lyubov Shcherbak, who is surrounded by a dozen chattering chickens and four roosters.

“How can we live without bread? We don’t have anywhere to bake it” in Siversk, she says.

“I do not know what to think. I hope things get better… I don’t know, ”she says, her gaze lost on the horizon.

Zaruba, standing next to her, says that “she can’t leave an old woman alone. My conscience just won’t let me.”