A Ukrainian Town on War’s Edge Faces Its Darkest Hour

Machsma is the mayor of Sartana, Ukraine, and he is leading the town’s approximately 10,000 residents through their own darkest hour.

Artillery damage in Sartana, Ukraine. The attack, which comprised 122-mm and 152-mm artillery, lasted for 25 minutes on Oct. 16. Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal

SARTANA, Ukraine—A biography of Winston Churchill sits on Stephan Machsma’s desk.

Machsma is the mayor of Sartana, Ukraine, and he is leading the town’s approximately 10,000 residents through their own darkest hour.

On Sunday night (Oct. 16), starting around 10 p.m., combined Russian-separatist forces shelled Sartana with 122-mm and 152-mm artillery for about 25 minutes. The attack killed three, injured six, and damaged 170 homes. It was the fifth time combined Russian-separatist weapons have struck Sartana, including a Grad rocket attack on Oct. 4, 2014, that hit a funeral procession and killed seven.

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