From the south side of the same village, Herson’s counterattack has now begun. Soldiers and villagers tell why the liberation of Russian-occupied territories is important.
UKRAINE Serhi has not forgotten the two weeks when the Russians occupied his village on the Kherson front.
He shows the cramped potato cellar where twelve people spent more than two weeks.
– We got out of there when we went to the toilet. Even then they guarded us with assault rifles, Serhi tells about the events of March.
The village is located south of Kryvyi Rih, but its name or location cannot be mentioned. Ukraine’s counterattack also started from this direction the day after ‘s visit.
According to Serhi, the Russian occupiers were paranoid. They were afraid that the villagers would call the Ukrainian soldiers if they were let out of the potato cellar.
– There was a shortage of food because the Russian soldiers looted what they could get their hands on. There was no bread. We mainly tried to prepare some food for the children.
Serhi’s family is one of the few still living in the village. His spouse, daughter and grandchildren live on the farm.
Russia destroyed crops
In the background, the artillery fire of the front can be heard from a few kilometers away. The Russians shoot here too with rocket launchers and artillery.
At the end of March, the Ukrainian defense forces managed to push the Russian troops away from Serhi’s home village. Since then, the front hasn’t moved much, until now the counterattack has started.
Serhi is a farmer like the other villagers. Farming has not been successful because of the Russian invasion.
– We only planted wheat in this vicinity of the house. A few days before the crop was supposed to be harvested, the Russians fired into the field and the wheat burned, Serhi says.
Most of the fields have remained uncultivated. There are ammunition and mines in the fields. Moving there is life-threatening.
– My son and I were in the field when we were fired upon. We hit the ground and crawled for cover.
Going to school impossible
Municipal manager Ludmila Kostiuk there are several villages in the area that were under Russian occupation.
– Life under occupation is constant physical and mental pressure. The occupiers scared people in the evenings. They shot into the air, but also at houses.
During the occupation, electricity, water and other infrastructure did not work. According to Kotsiuk, liberating the occupied territories is the only option.
– We can’t farm because people are afraid to go to the fields. Russia has also set fires and set fire to crops. I don’t know how many years we have regressed because of the Russian invasion, Kostiuk sighs.
Schools are not opened in war zones. There is an effort to organize distance education for the children, but one problem is the lack of laptops.
– It is very dangerous here and it prevents all normal school activities.
Attacks on logistics have paid off
Since the Ukrainian counterattack began on Monday, journalists have not been allowed into the frontline villages or the frontline. A day before the operation, the soldiers commented on the situation to .
Roma is a major, but does not elaborate on his area of responsibility.
According to him, the attacks on Russian weapons depots and maintenance in recent weeks have produced results.
– Logistics is Russia’s weak point. We notice that there is significantly less gunfire than before. The situation on this front is well under our control.
According to Major Romani, there has been significantly more arms aid from the West recently. The United States has supplied ammunition for artillery and rocket launchers in particular.
– The same logic applies to equipment and money. There is never enough of it. However, the situation has improved.
According to Roman, the rigid chain of command of the Russian army creates problems for them.
– The big difference is that our local commanders can make independent decisions. If we see a weak point, we can attack it.
Roman also thanks the locals living in the occupied territories. They help the Ukrainian army, which is a great help.
Arms and other assistance from the international coalition is another pillar.
– Finland has been an example for us, because you prevented the occupation of your country. I am proud that Finns are now coming here and are interested in our defense struggle.
“We will continue until victory”
Slav is at ease. According to his own words, he is a “computer guy” in the defense forces. He monitors the video image shared by the drones on the computer screens and based on that directs the artillery fire to the enemy targets.
– Because I constantly follow the same areas, I can locate the dangers. For example, if I see that a vehicle has not moved for a long time, it has probably been abandoned, says Slav.
– A new vehicle is always interesting, he continues.
– I don’t know about their morals, but I know that they are afraid to move outside. We see them day and night, says Slav.
He is satisfied that Ukraine is getting access to satellite data from the Finnish company ICEYE. ICEYE can deliver images regardless of the weather.
According to Slav, the need for satellite images is huge because the war front is so vast.
– We work seven days a week and continue like this until we win. If the enemy sleeps for an hour longer than me, during that hour I can locate him and give the coordinates to the artillery. That’s what I think, says Slav.
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