APPROACHING THE ONE YEAR MARK, TALKING TO UKRAINIANS WHO ARE LIVING THE WAKING NIGHTMARE OF PUTIN'S WAR EVERY DAY AND NIGHT. RESIDENTS WHO TRIED TO SLEEP, DESPITE THE FREQUENT BLASTS ON THE FRONTLINE TOWNS OF EASTERN UKRAINE. CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT MATT GUTMAN SPENT TWO WEEKS TRAVELING TO THE SIEGED COMMUNITIES. THE SCARS OF WAR MIGHT LOOK THE SAME EVERYWHERE, EVERY TOWN AND THEIR PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFERENT STORY. >> CLIMBING UP TO THE TRAIN AND INTO THE NARROW PASSAGE OF THE SLEEPER CAR IN THE BLITZED CITY OF KHERSON, WE WERE GREETED WITH SMILES. >> THERE WERE 96 OF THEM IN THIS CAR, HEADED TO SAFETY. >> ONCE A THRIVING CITY, KHERSON IS NOT REALLY A PLACE FOR KIDS, SINCE THE MAN WHO HELPED LIBERATE THIS PLACE. >> THERE IS ARTILLERY CONSTANTLY, WOULD YOU SAY THAT IT IS SAFE FOR THE PEOPLE? >> NO. IT'S VERY DANGEROUS. >> EARLIER THIS MONTH, WE SPENT TWO WEEKS DRIVING 700 MILES ALONG THE FRONT LINES, FROM KHERSON IN THE SOUTH TO THE BAKHMUT AREA IN THE EAST, AND TO IZIUM IN THE NORTH. FINDING ONCE THRIVING TOWN'S STILL HELD BY UKRAINE, WITHOUT FIRMLY IN THE GRIP OF PUTIN'S WAR THIS AREA, TURNING INTO A FIREBALL. THE REST OF MISSILE, OBLITERATING THIS APARTMENT BLOCK ON SATURDAY EVENING. AND IN THE EAST, WESTERN OFFICIALS SAY THAT THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE THERE IS TURNING OUT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CASUALTIES. THIS DRONE VIDEO, SHOWING A WALL LEFT STANDING. SMOLDERING APARTMENT BLOCKS, IT HAS BEEN THE BLOODIEST BATTLE OF THE WAR. IT'S ESTIMATED THAT MORE PEOPLE HAVE DIED WOUNDED IN BAKHMUT THAN EVER LIVED THERE. AS NIGHT FELL ON THE GUNS THUNDERING IN THE DISTANCE, WE SAW HIM. THE BOY WITH THE BRIGHT EYES, CARRYING THAT BOX. HIS NAME IS BROGDON. HIS DOG, SNIFFING AROUND HIM AND HIS FRIENDS, AND IN HIS ARMS, -- >> DOES IT SCARE YOU? >> NO. >> TWO BOMBS ARE SHELLS EVERY HIT HERE? >> YES. >> HE OFFERS TO SHOW US WHERE HE LIVES. >> YOU ARE OUTSIDE IN THE STREET WHEN THE SHELL HIT HERE? HE SAID THAT HE DUSTED HIMSELF OFF, PICKED UP THE GLASS FROM HIS HAIR, AND WENT HOME. DRIVING THROUGH THESE TOWNS, WE SEE SOVIET-ERA CARS STUCK TIGHT WITH SOLDIERS MOVING TO THE FRONT LINES. THE NEED FOR TANKS AND JUST GENERAL MILITARY VEHICLES IS UNDERSTANDABLE. IN THE NEARBY TOWN OF -- ON MUDDY ROADS, ANOTHER GHOST TOWN. WE MEET THE MAYOR, SERGEI, WHO OFFERS TO TAKE US TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. BUT FIRST, THE BODY ARMOR. >> THANK YOU. >> WE DRIVE A FEW MINUTES ACROSS TOWN, GOING INTO THE AREA OF IDENTICAL SOVIET AREA APARTMENTS. >> THIS IS THE AREA WHERE THE MAYOR LIVES, THESE BUILDINGS. HE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE BECAUSE IT IS NO LONGER SAFE, AND HE CAN HEAR THE CONSTANT INCOMING AND OUTGOING OF THESE SHELLS. YOU CAN HEAR THE CONSTANT FLOODING ON THE OUTSIDE, GREETING THE MATRIARCH HERE. >> WE'RE HERE 24 HOURS A DAY. HAS IT GOTTEN WORSE? >> CUT BEYOND THE WALLS THE AIR SMOKY AND STILL, DESPITE THE LEFTOVER CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS, THE MOOD IS GRIM. AS WE TALK IN THE CORNER, WE SEE THE GRANDMOTHER'S EYES WELL UP. >> I'M SO SORRY. >> SHE SAYS SHE HAS LIVED MOST OF HER LIFE IN THIS TOWN. FACTORIES HAVE OPENED AND CLOSED, BUT SHE HAS STAYED. [SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH] >> THE CONSTANT SHELLING, THE CONSTANT BANKS, ARE YOU ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT? DO YOU LIVE IN FEAR? [SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH] >> BESIDE HER, THAT LITTLE GIR, CLUTCHING HER FLASHLIGHT. >> WHAT IS YOUR NAME? >> TASHA. >> WHAT DO YOU MISS FROM BEFORE THE BOMBS? I MISS DAYCARE AND MY FRIENDS, SHE SAYS. THEY'RE ALL VERY ISOLATED. FURTHER WEST IN IZIUM, THE FIGHTING ENDED MONTHS AGO. THE WAR STILL LINGERS. OUT THERE IN THE STREETS AN ELDERLY A WOMAN APPROACHED US. HER NAME IS KAMALA. HER GERMAN SHEPHERD, DAN. SHE WANTED TO SHOW US HER HOME AND WHAT IS LEFT OF HER LIFE HERE. IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE THAT THIS IS LIVABLE, THAT YOU CAN TELL THAT SOMEBODY DID FOR A LONG TIME. SHE SAYS THAT HAD SHE BEEN IN THIS ROOM WHEN THE CEILING CAVED IN, SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN KILLED. WHAT IS UNMISTAKABLE IS HOW COLD IT IS IN HERE. IT IS ACTUALLY COLDER THAN IT IS OUTSIDE. SHE SHOWED US WHERE UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS TOOK UP POSITIONS IN THE APARTMENTS NEXT DOOR. >> SHE SAYS THAT THIS IS WHERE UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS WERE HUNKERED DOWN, AND YOU CAN SEE THE ENERGY DRINKS ON THE FLOOR, AND ALSO THE EFFORT TO TRY TO BLOCK THE BLOWN OUT WINDOWS, EVEN USING A CHAIR BACK AND AN IRONING BOARD. >> WHY DID SHE STAY HERE? SHE SPEAKS WITH THE STUBBORN INTENSITY OF THE LONELY. >> SHE ADMITS THAT IT IS NOT MUCH OF A LIFE. THE TOWN SEEMED TO LOOK THE SAME, BUT THE STORIES ARE DIFFERENT. OGDEN SHOWS US HIS APARTMENT. WE CLIMBED THE STAIRS, HE RUNS AHEAD AND WARNS HIS MOM OF THE UNINVITED GUESTS. >> HELLO. SHE SAYS THAT SHE TRIES TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR HER SON, AND EXPLAINS WHY THEY STAY. THE SHORT ANSWER IS DUTY AND FAMILY. THE WAR HAS ALSO TAUGHT HER SON ANOTHER SKILL, PERHAPS UNIQUE TO 12-YEAR-OLDS IN THE WAR ZONE. >> YOUR REALITY IS THAT YOU'VE BECOME AN EXPERT IN THE SOUND OF ARTILLERY AND EXPLOSIONS? [SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH] A FEW DAYS AGO, SHELLING AGAIN. TWO CHILDREN WOUNDED. BIDEN TELLING US THAT HE WAS OKAY, AND EVEN VIDEO FROM THE SCENE, JUST A FEW HUNDRED YARDS FROM HIS APARTMENT. BACK IN KHERSON, THE KIDS ON THE TRAIN, I ASKED THEM WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE IN THE WEST. IT'S GOING TO BE, NORMAL BUT BEFORE THE WAR. IT WAS TIME TO GO. LAST CALL. THEY WAVED AND SNAPPED PICTURES THROUGH THE SMUDGED WINDOWS, AND THE TRAIN ROLLS OUT TOWARDS THE SETTING SUN. WESTWARD. FOR THESE