thirsty, under fire, abandoned city – report from Ukraine

This is a war. Russia Although the side calls the military aggression against Ukraine a “special operation”, it does not change anything. Death, destruction, IDPs, violence and s. Reminiscent of a disaster film, this scene is neither a description of the past nor a script for the future. It’s happening now. This moment. In the 22nd year of the XXI century. Europe…

There are such places in that vast Ukraine that, People there consider themselves lucky to be alive tomorrow. Because there is no safe place in those areas. Any day and or ballistic missiles at any time of the day and or can be dropped on cluster bombs. Russia To date, the army has fired on civilian settlements, civilians waiting for evacuation on the railway, and people waiting for help. “Our target is military facilities,” said official Moscow, referring to facilities that have nothing to do with the military and keeps the population under fire. One of such cities is Nikolayev.

This is the second time since the beginning of the conflict that, we are coming to this city. Until February 24, this city, which is not well known to most Azerbaijanis, including the world community, has been in the headlines of leading media outlets for the past two months. We operate under bombardment in every sense of the word. There are people that, They have been living in such conditions for 60 days. At present, their only concern is not war, but a humanitarian catastrophe snowşı-snowthey are Shiites. After a while about it…

Nikolayev from February 24 Russia is one of the main cities that the army wants to occupy. The neighboring city of Kherson is currently under Russian military control. It is extremely important to capture this place to move towards Odessa. Fighting is taking place in certain areas. Although Russian tanks entered the city in early March, all of them were neutralized. The main street of the city and Checkpoints and barriers against heavy machinery have been installed on the avenues. There are those who left the city from the first day of military operations. There are almost no children left in the city. We observe that civilian cars with the words “Children” (“Children” – ed.) Left the city. In addition, buses evacuating the population are visible. Explosions are heard in the city several times a day. An alarm is sounded when necessary that, let people go to shelters to insure themselves against danger.

Sometimes the alarm goes off in everyone’s house and or does not save his life. At 7 am on April 16, one of the missiles fired by the Russian army hit the area where the settlements are located. Although not killed, the buildings were severely damaged and has become uninhabitable.

We were at the scene at that time and we observed the surrounding areas being bombed. It is difficult to determine at first glance where the missiles landed. The station where we stopped was bombed a few hours ago and the embers he created are still burning. We are in a dangerous area. For almost two months, people have been living in this danger. It’s still that, applies to survivors.

The rocket hit the area in the morning, and most of the residents were at home. Those on the first floor managed to get to the basement. Those living upstairs were in trouble; some managed to throw themselves out the door, and some neighbors and evacuated emergency services Residents are already thinking about moving to another place – whose house is completely destroyed, and some do not want to live in this danger anymore. Another says there is no place to go.

We are finishing filming and trying to get away from the area, but the gunfire does not end. CarAn alarm is sounded as you sit down and we retreat to one of the safe points. The excitement ends and we continue on our way. The process is repeated several times a day… Like the sounds of rocket fire.

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The grief of the residents of Nikolayev does not end there. Added to this is the humanitarian catastrophe, as we mentioned earlier. Drink in the city from April 12 and there is a technical water problem. The city’s water supply system was damaged by a rocket. The damaged part is in the area of ​​active fighting, go there and it is virtually impossible to restore the water supply.

Empty water bottles in everyone’s hands in the city and There are cans. Large water trucks stopped at every step, snowlong queues in the window…

Nikolaev City Council deputyı Ramil What Agabeyov told Pressklub.az according toimplemented some measures in a short time to meet the water needs of the population. “Drinking water was brought from Odessa in large trucks and technical water in two water trucks. This work will continue until the problem is resolved. From Odessa deputy to this support of my colleague Alexei Leonova according to Thank you”.

The water problem has paralyzed all restaurants, cafes and other public catering facilities in the city. Currently, the main working objects are markets that, people also get the most water from here. The plight of the population during our days in the city and we felt the need for water.

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Our last stop was on March 7 from the occupation free made Nikolaev International The weather is the port. Russian army Ukraine from the first day of intervention in the territory trustOne of the most targeted objects was here. The weather from the Russian army in the port free The head of the Nikolaev regional administration Vitaly Kim assessed the situation as follows: “The airport is ours. We killed. We are now comfortably located here. True, planes can’t fly now, but weather the port is ours. The point. “

The airport is still considered a strategic object and we were not allowed to film the runway or the planes. That it is in a useless condition according to We could not shoot inside the building, because there is a danger of collapse at any moment. The airport was hit from the Russian-held city of Kherson. The last construction work at the airport was carried out in 2017.

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18 April. Alarm all night and artillery sounds did not subside. The sound of shells hitting the city sometimes comes from the closest distance. That’s it that, The night did not go smoothly. Tensions will likely continue into the afternoon – to determine the location of the rocket landing, dead and To find them if injured, distribute water to the population.

Two groups of people have been evacuated from the city since this morning. Them Europe They will be sent to Poland or another country.

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Our compatriot Nikolayev Anar Rafiyev is the founder of “Ukraine Energy Efficiency and We went with the organization of the Energy Saving Fund. The organization has been involved in charity since the first day of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine; mostly military personnel and to civilians foodhygienic means, medical The supply of equipment, including the donation of Star-Link equipment to the leadership of the cities affected by the attack, the evacuation of the population from dangerous areas, the preparation of road maps for the smooth delivery of aid.