Residents of Ukrainian Kherson remain despite the war
2023.02.23 02:40
Residents of Ukrainian Kherson remain despite the war
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – Three months ago, when Vladyslav Antoniuk went back to his hometown of Kherson, the day that Ukrainian troops rolled back in and jubilant residents waved blue and yellow flags in the main square to celebrate, he felt euphoric.
The biggest victory of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the second half of last year was the capture of the only regional capital Russia had seized during its invasion. This raised hopes across the nation and brought displaced residents back home.
However, three months later, the grim reality has set in that Ukraine’s advances have stopped. The Russian army, which moved across the Dnipro River and retreated, is still bombarding the city every day with artillery.
The leaders of the region have encouraged many residents to return for a second time.
Not 46-year-old Antoniuk, who claims to be going nowhere: It is my town. “Everyone lends a hand in their own unique way,” he said.
Vasyl Nezgoda, however, isn’t so sure. A Russian Grad rocket hit the roof of his apartment building two weeks ago. He moved into the home of a friend and is currently staying in the city.
“However, if the circumstance worsens, I will leave.”
During the eight-month period, many residents endured a brutal Russian occupation. Hundreds of disappearances and allegations of detainees being physically or sexually abused by former occupiers are under investigation by Ukrainian authorities.
However, the high hopes that normalcy would result from the city’s return to Ukrainian control have not been realized. The central square is now deserted. Six people were killed and a dozen were injured when Russian shells struck a bus stop in the city center on Wednesday.
Only about 50,000 of the 279,000 people who lived there before the war are still there, and officials are now telling the rest to leave as long as the city is still within range of Russia’s guns across the river.
“It is better for people to leave until we have a distance of 30-40 kilometers to the enemy, to save their lives and health,” Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration—a position comparable to governor under martial law—stated.
He spoke to Reuters outside of the elegant administration building in Kherson, where nearby blasts had broken the glass of several windows. He stated that his administration evacuates the city on a voluntary basis approximately one hundred people each day via trains and buses.
Many do not travel far. Other Ukrainian-held areas further from the front line in the Kherson region, also known as Ukraine’s fruit basket, are seeing an increase in population while Kherson city’s population is declining.
Prokudin, 39, has only been in charge since February 7, when President Volodymyr Zelenskiy let go a number of public servants on the grounds that he needed to address internal issues. The National Police department in the Kherson region was previously led by Prokudin.
It will be difficult for him to persuade some skeptics to leave.
Ihor Vlasenko, 60, who works for a heating company, said, “We will stand here.” I have no intention of leaving.”
