Inside Ukraine city bombed every day since November - but still some won't leave

23 August 2023 , 19:46

484     0

Aftermath of attack on Kharkiv city (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The pack of stray dogs scatter in terror as artillery fire ­explodes just 300 yards away and booms across the city’s deserted streets.

Two suicide drone strikes then hit, followed by automatic rifle fire from Russian troops dug in a mile away across the Dnieper river in battle-scarred city Kherson. A woman serving coffee in a cafe ushers people inside to shelter from the latest attack. The people here have suffered more than most in Ukraine since Russia invaded 18 months ago today.

Kherson was occupied by Moscow’s forces for eight months during which hundreds were tortured or raped in detention centres. It has been bombed daily since being liberated in November. Children have been abducted from schools and sent to Russia. Vladimir Putin ’s troops also blew up the nearby Kakhovka dam and flooded the city. Taxi driver Ivan Petronka, 68, nearly drowned when flood water swept through his home near the river.

The grandfather says: “It went right up to my mouth. I was panicking trying to get out. I thought I was going to drown but I was pulled to safety. Then we saw mines in the water. It was terrifying thinking we could be blown up any moment. My neighbour’s house was bombed. I had bits of building in my leg. I am sick of war after so long. These Russian devils need to get out of our country. We will win because God is on our side.”

Taxi driver Ivan nearly died in flood

Nurse Andrij Efanov, 19, has carried on going to his hospital even though it in one of the most dangerous areas of the city. He says: “I don’t want to let my patients down. People need help. The Russians have shelled near the hospital. They have shot at a car I was in. It is very scary sometimes but we must all stand together and overcome.”

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

Today’s anniversary is poignant as it is also Ukraine Independence Day, once an annual celebration of the split from the former Soviet Union in 1991. More than 90% of the Kherson’s residents have fled since Putin invaded on February 24 last year. Few venture near the river for fear of Russian snipers just across the water. The main streets are empty and packs of abandoned dogs roam the streets near few markets open.

Accounts of the war’s casualties differ. America claims more than 350,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured. The MoD reckons at least 100,000 of Moscow’s forces have died, while the UN has said more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 15,000 injured.

Gardener Nadia Knyaz

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has launched a new ­offensive to try to repel Russia along the 600-mile front line. Putin’s troops have brutalised Kherson’s population. It is claimed more than half of those arrested were taken to “torture centres”. Salesman Andriy Andrushcenko claims he was tortured with ­electric shocks and beaten by Russian soldiers for daubing ­pro-Ukraine graffiti on walls.

He says: “They put electric wire on my ­genitals and ears. I was terrified they were going to kill me. They knocked my teeth out, beat me unconscious. I could hear the screams of people being tortured in the next rooms. It was horrible. I still have nightmares.” Just days ago a 23-day-old baby and a boy aged 12 were among seven people killed in a shelling of Kherson.

Landscape gardener Nadia Knyaz, 30, says: “They have taken so much from us and so many lives lost. We couldn’t drink the water after the flooding and there’s constant shelling My husband was arrested by the Russians as he used to be in the army. They beat him and threatened to shoot him if he did not tell them where the military were. They put a gun to his head, He thought he was never going to see me again. I was terrified they were going to dump his body by the side of the road. But they eventually let him go.”

Nurse Andrij Efanov

Karina Tereshkova was killed by Putin’s thugs

Around 20,000 Ukrainian ­youngsters are claimed to have been sent to Russia in what UNICEF has described as “the fastest large-scale displacements of children since the Second World War”. Vitaly Vertash, 16, was among them. Russia claimed he was ­evacuated for his own safety. But he says he ended up in a “re-education camp” for Ukrainians where children were abused.

Vitaly adds: “It was horrible. I heard the screams of a young girl as she was raped by camp officials. They beat children with sticks if they thought they were pro-Ukraine. I was terrified. It was the worse time of my life. It was terrified I wouldn’t see my family again.” Vitaly and others kids feared Russian families would adopt them. They were told: “You will be the children of Russia.” But campaigners from Save Ukraine managed to rescue them and Vitaly was finally reunited with his family.

However many remain in Russia. Away from the front line many areas are trying to rebuild. The capital Kyiv is bustling once again with shops and restaurants open. Many Ukrainians are grateful for the support from the UK and 160,000 displaced residents fled to Britain after the ­invasion.

Mum Olena received help from retired Brit Steve

Sushi bar worker Karina Tereshkova, 23, was raped, tortured and shot dead by Putin’s thugs after they massacred people in Bucha north of Kyiv early in the war. Her heartbroken mother Olena Derenko’s home was then damaged by Russian troops as they took it over in fierce fighting. She says: “The Russian animals took my beautiful daughter and made me homeless.”

But Olena is now rebuilding her home with the help of retired British estate agent Steve Gooderson, 64. He has raised £470,000 to house 112 refugees in an array of properties at Ashton-under-Lyne, Gtr Manchester. Some of that cash went to Olena so she could repair her damaged home.

Tiger attacks two people in five days as soldiers called in to hunt down big cat

She says: “I am so grateful to Steve for his help. It is the one shining light in such a dark time. I hate the Russians, they need to be gone from our land.” It is a sentiment echoed all round war-weary Kherson. Sitting in one of the few open cafe with the sounds of bombing in the distance, Nadia sips her coffee. She says: “We will win this war but at what cost. How many more of our children and young men at the front will have to die before then?”

Ukraine