Households in the assessed Hromadas face significant demographic and economic vulnerabilities and limited employment opportunities placing severe strain on economically active members exacerbating financial distress and reliance on social benefits or humanitarian aid Disability and chronic illness are widespread with 35% of households reporting a member with a disability and up to 65% reporting at least one member with a chronic illness Conflict-related injuries and limited access to healthcare in areas like Vysokopillia and Velyka Oleksandrivka further compound health vulnerabilities Households with multiple risk factors—such as elderly dependents and chronic illness—face the greatest financial and social exclusion The prevalence of precarious employment in Muzykivka and Velyka Oleksandrivka combined with the decline of stable industrial jobs in Novohrodivka and Hrodivka underscores the urgent need for expanded livelihood support programs and stronger social safety nets will be essential to reducing financial distress and preventing negative coping mechanisms in high-risk Hromadas such as Borova Households across the assessed Hromadas face severe economic instability and precarious income sources limiting financial resilience Nearly half of all households have no working members agricultural seasonality and informal work further restrict income stability The influx of IDPs has intensified job competition reducing access to stable employment opportunities Pensions are the primary income source for many households where elderly populations and limited employment options drive f inancial dependency and Muzykivka reporting the highest debt burdens Market access disparities further exacerbate economic challenges particularly in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv Oblasts where long travel distances and high transport costs limit access to affordable goods and Kurylivka further restrict economic participation while limited access to functional banking services in multiple Hromadas complicates cash-based assistance programs and social benefit distributions interventions should focus on expanding employment programs and livelihood support particularly in IDP-hosting and high-unemployment areas increasing cash assistance and targeted financial aid to reduce dependency on debt accumulation for basic needs and improving market accessibility and financial infrastructure ensuring functional banking services and cash transfer mechanisms in underserved Hromadas Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, reported this on Telegram the enemy shelled the village of Oleksandrivka in the Zolochiv district Doctors are fighting for her life," he wrote He urged residents of the region not to ignore air raid alerts Earlier reports said that Russian shelling had injured a civilian in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 The Voice of the Progressive Movement since 1996 a Ukrainian village in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine located just 200 meters from the Russian border was razed to the ground by guided aerial bombs in March 2024 Shevchenkove and Bratenytsia belong to a county that has lately faced fierce Russian military retaliation The attack came after a Russian Volunteer Unit defending Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression initiated an incursion into Russian Federation territory the Russian military pummeled the border villages with guided aerial bombs and artillery All five villages lie in the “gray zone,” a two-kilometer area along the front line is unable to assess the full scale of the damage due to security concerns the villages endure massive diverse attacks but lately the worst threat comes from drones a Russian village walking distance across the border from Lukashivka Drone attacks intensified following the Ukrainian military’s entry into the Kursk region of the Russian Federation Up to 30 drones now fly over the area each day Although Ukrainian military forces employ electronic warfare (EW) systems to jam signals and thwart drone attacks on civilians and infrastructure many drones still manage to penetrate these defenses and reach their targets FPV (first-person view) drones are targeting farms and private homes grenades and incendiary mixtures in bottles that shatter and ignite the surroundings Their primary objective is to set houses on fire whose own house and yard in Oleksandrivka were destroyed by a drone fire during an artillery shelling in the last week of August The adjacent pine forest also suffered significant damage from the resulting blaze two undetonated aerial bombs remain on the ground in Oleksandrivka “Nothing is left of my home,” said Oleksandr another village continuously under drone attacks A drone dropped explosives on an outbuilding and the roof of the house “People still don’t want to leave their homes,” said Oleksandr had to relocate to the nearby village of Velyka Pysarivka “Our Oleksandrivka is no more,” Anatoly said “It was erased from the face of the Earth in March 2024 The Russians used multi-launch rocket systems (MLRS) “Russian FPV drones drop grenades with fuel They’re doing the same in Velyka Pysarivka and it was reduced to ashes in eight minutes a drone dropped explosives on a private house and a farm in Yamne Vasyl said that forest fires are also widespread with recent blazes in the Pysarevsky and Yamnensky forests Extinguishing these fires is challenging due to mined roads and Russian drones that monitor and attack firefighters The risk of the outbreak spreading to the village is high given the dry grass and the lack of recent rainfall Although Yamne still has power and communication many residents have returned from evacuation to harvest crops and dig potatoes Approximately 450 people were still living in Yamne at the end of September 2024 Drones attack at night: FPV drones drop explosives and Shahed drones fly over the district there are artillery shelling and aerial bombings the Russian military targets not only villages and agricultural sites but also forests Russian drone pilots attach napalm mixtures to FPV drones to start forest fires Oleg Marukha, director of Svesky Forestry of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” reported that up to five fires break out daily due to drones dropping incendiary cans over forest areas While mineralized strips are used to contain the spread where possible military restrictions prevent access to all areas “Their goal is to ignite and destroy everything,” said a Ukrainian forces unit commander with the call sign Coliseum in an interview and destroy as much infrastructure as possible and there are up to 10 drones per five kilometers of the front line.” Fighting fires near the front line is extremely challenging due to ongoing artillery In the smoldering pine and fir forests near Yamne firefighters had to wait two hours before they could begin extinguishing a blaze due to a missile attack “The most likely cause of these fires is sabotage or shelling,” said Serhiy It is unlikely that fires could start so frequently in the same areas by chance It is more plausible that these fires are intentionally set although there is a possibility that some may be ignited spontaneously by shelling.” These forest fires are part of a broader pattern of environmental destruction in Ukraine. The Russian Federation’s military strategically employs environmental devastation as a tactic in its war of aggression against Ukraine. In the past two weeks, there have been 69 forest fires in northern Ukraine burning a total of 136.87 hectares (about 338 acres) 47 were caused by the ongoing fighting and 31 occurred in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine Weaponizing the environment has broader effects and has led to severe power outages in Ukraine with the looming risk of a nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Ukraine is pushing to classify this environmental destruction as “ecocide” and for the International Criminal Court to recognize it as the Russian Federation’s fifth wartime crime Legal experts believe Russian leaders could be prosecuted for these crimes if captured and found responsible underscoring the potential for accountability on the international stage The deliberate destruction of civilian areas and natural environments is a key element of the Russian strategy evident from previous conflicts in Chechnya This approach aims to inflict maximum suffering and hinder recovery efforts While providing aid and assistance in the recovery of affected areas is important the international community should support Ukraine addressing the root cause of the war rather than just its symptoms Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. © 2025 Community Alliance | Privacy Policy - Accessibility Statement Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have taken control over the settlement a few times since then The Ukrainan military was defending Oleskandrivka until mid-April trying not to let the enemy move forward to the west and occupy the Mykolaiv region The photo shows the ruins of a school building that was completely destroyed by Russian shelling in March Oleksandrivka and the nearby village of Stanislav used to attract many tourists thanks to the beautiful scenery Tourists were fascinated by the hills surrounding the Dniepr estuary known as Kherson’s Grand Canyon almost all residents of Oleksandrivka had to leave their homes The first news of residents fleeing Oleksandrivka broke at the beginning of April as dozens of people had to walk the 40-kilometer distance to Kherson Most of Oleksandrivka residents remained in nearby Stanislav The photo shows the road from Oleksandrivka to Stanislav Six-year-old Danilo is showing an ammunition belt from a machine gun He found it in his yard after his family returned to Oleksandrivka the Russian military retreated from Oleksandrivka on November 10 having left burnt military equipment and devastated homes behind The picture shows the interior of a house that Russian soldiers had occupied and looted "You deserved it for shelling Donbas for eight years," one of their officers told me after he knelt me down and put a gun to my head,“ says Serhiy one of the 16 residents who refused to leave the village during the Russian occupation He couldn't leave a few hundreds pigeons behind A month and a half after the Russian retreat there is still no electricity or gas in Oleksandrivka "As soon as we have electricity more people will want to come back," says Natalya Kamenetska Ninety of the 2,500 residents who lived here before the war have already returned In order to start renovating their destroyed homes Oleksandrivka residents need a roof above their heads Village Major Kamenetska dreams of modular homes that could temporarily accommodate construction workers In this picture volunteers from Lviv are repairing a roof in Oleksandrivka most residents of Oleksandrivka have not returned They come to collect the rest of their belongings which they will need away from home for now This update was shared on Facebook by Oleksandr Prokudin head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration about the launch of the energy independence project in Velyka Oleksandrivka The village is finalizing the installation and connection of solar panels which will supply electricity to all eleven wells,” Prokudin wrote This initiative ensures a stable water supply for 5,000 residents Prokudin expressed gratitude to UNICEF for its support in raising UAH 5.8 million for this critical project the reconstruction of a kindergarten in Velyka Oleksandrivka has been funded with more than UAH 38 million from state and local budgets the facility will accommodate up to 120 children Parents have enrolled the first 100 children This shows that local families want to stay in the region raise their children and live a normal life The reconstruction includes a fully re-roofed and insulated structure Interior finishing work and floor insulation have been completed Special attention has been given to the safety of children with a shelter being constructed next to the kindergarten to protect pupils during potential threats of Russian attacks this project exemplifies the gradual restoration of communities affected by the war a solar power plant has been installed in the Myrove community of the Kherson region with the support of UNICEF ten renewable energy facilities and a mini-hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 87 MW are operational in the de-occupied areas of the region With the assistance of international partners solar panels have been installed in the Velyka Oleksandrivka ensuring a continuous water supply by powering wells A total of 64 solar energy projects are planned across ten communities the need for solar panels at more than 300 facilities in 16 communities has been identified these projects are expected to generate over 10,000 kilowatts of electricity significantly advancing energy independence in the region Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Local people tell of horror and loss after surviving occupation by Russian troops and missile strikes Nikolai Bohun showed off the spot where the cab from a tractor landed in his potato field Not far from the blue metal carcass was a giant tyre Both objects had flown over the road last month after a Russian S-300 rocket landed on a nearby agricultural building a village on the frontline in Ukraine’s southern Kherson province setting up checkpoints and parking their tanks behind a school Soldiers from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) moved into Bohun’s once quiet neighbourhood of School Street the Ukrainian army lobbed missiles at the Russian occupiers a bomb demolished Bohun’s wall and an outhouse Bohun collected the missile fragments and put them next to his store of walnuts and quinces “I’m still finding shrapnel in my onion patch,” he said Remains of missiles and other munitions Nikolai Bohun and his wife collected from near their house Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianThe Russians left Mala Oleksandrivka on 5 October moving about six miles (10km) down the road Earlier this week the sounds of battle were all around There was a constant whump from outgoing Ukrainian artillery and mortars two Russian missiles came screaming over Bohun’s roof with a terrifying thunderous clap Then on Wednesday, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, announced he was pulling his army out of the city of Kherson and the rustic settlements along the west bank of the Dnipro River It was a significant strategic setback for Moscow after a failed attempt in the spring to overrun Kyiv and Ukraine’s late summer counteroffensive in Kharkiv The exit came five weeks after Putin annexed the territory and said it was Russia “for ever” Ukrainian troops have since gradually liberated communities close to the existing frontline local people have raised the Ukrainian flag themselves Ukrainian forces pounded Russian troops as they tried to flee According to local Telegram channels there were multiple explosions at the Kakhovka hydroelectric station a crossing point over the Dnipro next to the city of Nova Kakhovka Russian military bloggers suggested 20,000 troops were practically trapped in and around Kherson on the right bank Some fear the Kremlin will now seek to destroy the city, turning the port into another Mariupol the war appears to be turning slowly but surely in Ukraine’s favour he said his beloved 23-year-old grandson Maxim was killed in April while fighting with the Ukrainian army near Odesa gas and central heating as winter approached Remains of a Russian checkpoint position near Ivanivka in the Kherson region Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianThe departing Russians have left behind a prodigious mess Putin’s troops had constructed a foxhole using green ammunition boxes discarded cigarette packets and a solitary boot Nearby was a dumped anti-tank weapon and an oil drum branded with the red and white logo of the Russian energy company Lukoil In some villages there is not a single surviving shop The road to the frontline follows the curling reed-lined Inhulets River and a bucolic landscape dotted with roofless cottages and wonky electricity pylons A burned-out Russian armoured personnel carrier sits in a field not far from an abandoned car marked with a “V” A burned-out armoured personnel vehicle near Ivanivka Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianBohun’s neighbour Nadia Kotula said she had measured the crater left by October’s night-time S-300 missile strike – the one that landed on the tractor The hole was 5 metres deep and visible just beyond her wooden fence She said two DNR soldiers had lived in her house “They were well behaved and very religious They left behind their bible and a packet of coffee Hungry DNR soldiers knocked on Bohun’s door back in March They said they had not seen bread for five days They said: ‘We are following orders.’ They told me: ‘If it wasn’t for our commander we would have gone home by now.’ We were fortunate that they were not worse.” a drawing teacher and amateur theatre director said mines had blown up several of the village’s cows Back then the Russians believed they would stay indefinitely Andriy Bohun holds the wreckage of a Grad missile in the yard of a school that was used as a Russian military base Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianAndriy showed off the primary school where soldiers had lived for seven months In the rear of the building was a homemade shower block There were abandoned vehicles and ghostly track marks left by tanks The soldiers used it to have discos with women You could hear the music on Saturday evening,” he said The Russians made another base in the palace of culture in the neighbouring village of Velyka Oleksandrivka Nikolai said he had previously put on several productions there including a show called Solaris after the film by the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky When the war began he hid two projectors under costumes The soldiers stole one but did not find the other They obliterated a statue of Ukraine’s national poet locals discovered that the palace had been turned into an Aladdin’s cave of stolen household goods Washing machines were piled on top of each other She produced a certificate proving ownership The Ukrainian police gave it back to her,” Nikolai said Lubov Bohun looking at a family picture book in a room of their family house in the frontline village of Mala Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianAmid relief at Moscow’s withdrawal Local prosecutors said they had found more bodies this week of civilians killed by the Russian military It was the same grim pattern seen in other occupied areas At least five people were killed in the Kherson region village of Arkhanhelske One was a drunk man who ignored a command to stop The others – two married couples – were shot after witnessing Russian soldiers looting private houses Lena Sluzhinskaya said they murdered her brother Kolya and his wife “Kolya saw them throwing clothes down from next door’s balcony At night they broke into his home and killed him,” she said standing with a crowd of pensioners in the village’s main square Lubov Kravchenko described the invaders as zombies “They said they had come to liberate us and that we were Americans and Banderivtsi,” she said a reference to the militant Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera Kravchenko said her village experienced 10 brutal military rotations Each new Russian unit would pilfer any remaining items and drive off with them People didn’t leave their homes when the occupiers came because we had relatives to look after or cows to feed Nikolai Bohun and his son at their family house in the frontline village of Mala Oleksandrivka Photograph: Jelle Krings/The GuardianBack at School Street Nikolai Bohun said he had no intention of going anywhere after months in which flags and maps had changed at dizzying speed The graveyard is at the bottom of my garden When the time comes I’ll move over there.” Invasion by Luke Harding (Guardian Faber, £20). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com That's according to the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces "The national flag of Ukraine continues its victorious march through the south of our country units of a brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the settlement of Mala Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region from the Russian invaders Ukrainian paratroopers promise there will be more," the report said the command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the liberation of two settlements in the Kherson region Ukraine's 35th Separate Marine Brigade retook the village of Davydiv Brid "In the morning, the enemy hit Ray-Oleksandrivka in Mykolayivka community – houses, outbuildings, power lines were damaged. In Horlivka direction, Toretsk community came under massive fire," Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko posted on Telegram Three houses in Nykyforivka in Soledar community and one house in Chasiv Yar community were also damaged three houses were damaged in Siversk as a result of artillery and air strikes the Russians launched a missile attack on Pokrovsk the Russian army killed one resident of Donetsk region on June 21 Donetsk region is constantly under Russian fire the enemy kills and injures civilians and destroys infrastructure facilities Residents describe how Russian forces used a carrot-and-stick approach with the local population they describe growing evidence of Russian atrocities Soon after the Russians occupied his village of Velyka Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region 71-year-old Mykhailo managed to withdraw his pension and sell some of the garlic he had grown This left him only 9,000 hryvnias (about 300 dollars at the then-exchange rate) to live on Mykhailo said he felt he had no choice but to accept humanitarian aid from the occupying forces “Russian soldiers came to each household several times to donate products,” he continued “They didn't force anyone: you could either take it or not As Ukrainian forces liberated the southern region after nine months of occupation residents have told how the Russian forces used a carrot-and-stick approach with the local population.  Alongside the provision of humanitarian aid to win their hearts and minds the occupiers routinely arrested and mistreated those who challenged them residents over 50 years of age were not harassed the Russian military checked the documents of all residents who remained in the village and treated people of [more advanced] age with courtesy: they never entered the houses without the permission of the host were automatically under suspicion of cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence Numerous cases of arbitrary arrests and torture were reported particularly among local government representatives journalists and former members of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) run by Ukraine’s security forces in the Donbas region between 2014 and 2018 was tortured after Russian soldiers asked him to show the contents of his smartphone When he said he only had a basic keypad mobile phone they said that he was lying and arrested him Ivan Samoilenko, head of the Stanislav hromada, or territorial community, was detained twice They tried to intimidate and negotiate [collaboration] The push to liberate Kherson started on August 29 when Ukraine’s armed forces launched a southern counteroffensive to expel Russian forces occupying the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions Military analysts considered this to be the third strategic phase of the war along with the eastern counteroffensive and the ongoing fight in Donbas Located about 20 kilometres south-west from Kherson Stanislav hromada comprises four villages on the Dnieper-Bug estuary which were occupied on February 25 the day after the full-scale invasion began During the counteroffensive on the southern front the frontline villages were under constant shelling Samoilenko said that the occupation authorities appointed a woman to act as what he described as a “gauleiter” - the Nazi-era term for regional governor - to administer the hromada and manage aid deliveries “Most residents did not accept neither her nor the aid,” he stated Incentivised opportunities to receive Russian passports were also unpopular “Russians paid locals to get Russian passports,” Mykola told IWPR noting that collaborators had access to goods “You would get 5,000 roubles (83 US dollars) if you’d agree and 10,000 roubles after getting the passport They also distributed pensions in Russian roubles in cash near the village council there were just a few options to survive." said he understood why some locals accepted Russian aid “Almost all agribusinesses in the area stopped operating most villagers lost their jobs and were left with no income The occupiers took all the agricultural machinery that belonged to local farmers,” the 43-year-old told IWPR there were just a few options to survive: either evacuate to Kryvyi Rih which was not occupied or accept handouts from the Russians.”   The Velyka Oleksandrivka hromada in Beryslav district - which includes 31 villages and towns - spent months on the frontline For months there has been no transport connection with other parts of Ukraine Most residents managed to evacuate early on and only about 1,000 people are left in the hromada out of nearly 16,000 pre-war residents which had a population of about 6,400 before February 24 residents said that the whole village council The evacuation itself was dangerous as it proved impossible to negotiate a green corridor with the occupiers The commander in Velyka Oleksandrivka had no authority to approve the corridor and there was no communication with the higher ranks civilian cars were shot at as they drove to Kryvyi Rih This was how Velyka Oleksandrivka hromada’s residents were informed about the so-called referendum to join the Russian Federation In late September Russian-installed officials staged these referenda in the occupied areas of Kherson Samoilenko said that in the Stanislav territorial community collaborators who he described as “so-called members of election commissions” went house by house with ballot boxes Residents reported widespread intimidation to vote Ukraine’s security service is investigating criminal proceedings opened by the prosecutor general's office about the process when district election commissions were formed under the leadership of Maryna Zakharova the so-called head of the Kherson region election commission,” a source with the security service told IWPR on condition of anonymity Precinct commissions existed mainly on paper Zakharova and her subdivisions listed fake names and then received the money in cash for them.” The source added that an estimated 20,000 people in the Kherson region took part in the vote out of a pre-occupation population of over one million adding that coercion combined with the provision of aid once again played a part Journalists need training and support to properly cover war crimes trials Activists warn that vulnerable domestic workers risk abuse often returning with serious health conditions sacrifice and luck secured a vital early win in the south-eastern campaign Some women face Adana's male-dominated traffic chaos for a living Recent murder highlights widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people Open source intelligence (OSINT) can provide facts – but impatient Tel +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Tel +1 202 393 5641 IWPR is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom (charity reg no: 2744185); in the United States as a not-for-profit organisation with tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3); and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands The opinions expressed on iwpr.net are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting Site design by IWPR. Developed by AG Prime Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the region's military administration, said this in a post on Telegram Enemy forces also hit the Vysokopillia community with a missile and struck the Beryslav and Kherson districts with guided aerial bombs an industrial enterprise and a private car were hit (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images)Key developments on Oct 4Ukraine advances around 30 kilometers in Kherson OblastRussian troops withdraw from Kharkiv OblastRussian parliament approves annexation of 4 Ukrainian regionsRussia fires five missile strikes one airstrike across UkraineEditor's note: Shortly after this story was published President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine liberated dozens of settlements this week Ukraine continues to make substantial gains in Kherson Oblast Ukrainian soldiers have published videos from previously occupied settlements – Arkhangelske The Russian Defense Ministry officially confirmed a significant retreat in the northeastern part of Kherson Oblast over the past 24 hours The map also suggests that Russian forces were pushed out of the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast As Russian forces were retreating in several regions, Russia's parliament on Oct. 4 unanimously ratified the illegal annex of four Ukrainian regions it doesn't control Moscow is yet to formally draw its own borders signed a decree to formally rule out negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying that talks with the current Russian leader are "impossible." German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said peace talks with Russia are impossible warning that Putin's proposal was – "we will rob your country "Putin is lonely and isolated like never before," Baerbock said in an interview with the German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung published on Oct deputy head of the President's Office 4 that Ukraine had liberated 483 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast so far In neighboring Luhansk Oblast, authorities may soon ask remaining residents to evacuate as Ukraine is planning to enter the occupied region, Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai said The Russians are trying to strengthen their defense near Sievierodonetsk – in Kreminna, Luhansk Oblast – Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman of the Eastern Operational Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces, told Channel 24 Ukrainian forces appear to be pushing east of Lyman, Donetsk Oblast, and "may have broken through the Luhansk Oblast (administrative) border in the direction of Kreminna," the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. defense think-tank, said on Oct U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC News that Ukrainian forces are pushing into the Luhansk Oblast while also advancing in the south "And like you've heard President (Joe) Biden saying we're going to continue to make sure we can give them the weapons and capabilities so they can continue that sign of progress," Kirby said Biden announced a new $625 million security assistance package to Ukraine The security assistance package includes four HIMARS Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that 200,000 people had been drafted since Putin announced a so-called "partial mobilization" of 300,000 new conscripts on Sept over 700,000 people have fled Russia since Putin's announcement Ukrainian and Western intelligence assessments say Moscow is facing challenges in drafting more soldiers Putin has admitted that his mobilization isn't going well, the U.K. Defense Ministry's intelligence said on Oct as he is struggling to properly train drafted reservists arriving at military camps Russian forces launched five missile strikes and one airstrike across Ukraine on Oct Overnight, Russian missiles hit a residential area in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, damaging houses and a school and wounding two people, Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said Russian shelling continued in Nikopol and surrounding areas along the Dnipro River Nikopol's power grids were damaged as a result of the attack cutting more than 7,000 families from electricity In Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Synehubov said an overnight missile strike hit an industrial site in the western part of Kharkiv Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023 She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine Home page » Topics » Sports » Kayaks Are The Start There are many wonderful and off-the-beaten-path destinations with incredible nature in Ukraine Andrii Kuzmenko and his band ‘Skryabin’ showcased one of them in their music video “Місця щасливих людей” (‘Places of happy people’ – ed.) It was shot at the Stanislav cliffs on the Dnipro-Buh estuary in the Prychornomoria region and started promoting tourism in the region They launched a tour agency and now organize kayaking tours there the salt waters of the Black Sea meet the Southern Buh and Dnipro River deltas creating the picturesque Dnipro-Buh estuary clay escarpments rise – Stanislav Cliffs – or simply “The Cliffs” or ”The Kherson Mountains” centuries later the Cossacks would set up their winter shelters here the river has ceased to be the primary source of income for the villagers who are abandoning their villages in increasing numbers to seek jobs elsewhere But the two friends have demonstrated that treating this land of salt lakes and estuaries differently can unlock new potential Oleksandrivka, Prychornomoria Check location on Google Maps They both grew up in Oleksandrivka and were passionate about travelling and spending time in nature where he both studied and worked as a manager Andrii received a Meteorology degree in Odesa these two friends could never get accustomed to the pace of life in a big city He explained that after the economic crisis of 2008 so he left his job and moved back to Oleksandrivka He recalls that once back at the village he spent several years trying to discover what he wanted to do in life At the time his hobby was photography and video-making – so he decided to try to make a career of it; he bought the equipment and started shooting simply making money was not enough for Oleh Oleh found in him a like-minded person who hadn’t gotten used to the big city life either – Before this [moving back] my daughter was born and I realised that it would be better to raise the child somewhere unpolluted natural products and an eco-friendly environment Oleh says that he just couldn’t seem to stop thinking about how to improve – I’ve always wanted to do something for the villagers I don’t need to go elsewhere to earn money But still we aren’t doing anything for the village.’ We continued to brainstorm… we wanted it to be something that was not expensive From the start the friends recognised the untapped potential of Oleksandrivka and nearby villages so this was the insight that they focused on Oleh remembers how he had come across a photo of kayakers (kayaking is a type of sport or leisure activity on long narrow paddle boats – ed.) and thought it would be worth trying something similar here among kayaking fans there are two names for the boat – kayak and baidarka others distinguish between them arguing that kayaks are always rigid while baidarkas can be portable (the word ‘baidarka’ is popular mostly among Slavic peoples; in Western culture the common word for this type of boat is ‘kayak’ – either ‘rigid kayak’ or ‘folding kayak’ Canoes are often confused with kayaks/baidarkas – ed.) The two friends explained that people kept telling them Oleh remembers people’s reactions to his photographs that were posted in Oleksandrivka and Stanislav (the neighbouring village – ed.) Facebook groups Instead of simply admiring the beauty on their doorstep people’s comments focused on the piles of garbage in the background But Oleh explains why he believes that it’s important to focus on the positive: – If we can get people used to something beautiful maybe they will start to notice it themselves Oleh recounts that the company name ‘Skelka Tour’ (‘skelka’ is the diminutive word for ‘slope/cliff’ in Ukrainian – ed.) was coined by his wife, Svitlana. They loved this name right away, as it hints at two peculiarities of their region: ‘The Cliffs’ on the coast of the estuary and the ruins of the antique settlement – also called ‘Skelkas’ – which used to be in Olbia state that he wonders if without the support of his family he would have been able to devote himself to this project fully – It’s so good that I have a wife who supports my kind of ‘stupid’ ideas but today we won’t be able to finish our home renovation but rather we’ll invest in something crazy’ The first thing that the project founders did was buy the kayaks they paddled along the local bodies of water on their own to test the boats – We bought them and had no idea how they would actually work on the water We tried them both on calm and stormy waters It was awesome – we never capsized and only once ended up a little bit wet – that’s it The first three kayaks were ordered for ‘Skelka Tour’ from Stryi then they switched to fiberglass ‘Jazzy kayak’ models produced in Svitlovodsk Now their fleet consists of twelve two-person kayaks with an additional child seat The lads note that the idea behind buying this specific model paid off – they are easy to navigate if one fancies something like whitewaters in mountain rivers And it’s safe since the kayaks don’t turn over The organisers started promoting their project through social media regularly posting photos and videos from the trips Most of them came from the southern regions of Ukraine some – from the west or the capital (Kyiv – ed.) The founders of ‘Skelka Tour’ created two tourist routes The first one meanders through the Dnipro-Buh estuary – tourists paddle kayaks along the right bank of the estuary for 5 hours They can admire ‘the Kherson Mountains’ and take a photo-stop near the antique settlement of ‘Skelka’ Another break is for lunch – Oleh and Andrii treat guests to Prychornomoria fish soup and indigenous herbal tea the local fables they share are a must-have of the program The second route goes through the territory of Nyzhniodniprovskyi National Park Such an activity takes from six to eight hours Organisers say this area of the Dnipro delta is the only part of the biggest river in Ukraine that is not much affected by harmful human activity The lush flora is also a nesting place for endangered birds like the pink pelicans and the European roller are perfect watercrafts to marvel at all the beauty of nature while not harming it – It’s awesome that they are so high-speed that just 1-1.5 hours outside the village we find ourselves somewhere in the wild where there are no people and in a moment you’re floating among birds People really like such leisure activities and by the end of the first year the number of tourists has doubled ‘Skelka Tour’ has recently started to offer a 2-day tour along the Dnipro delta – through mazes of floodplains The founders deliberately arranged a route to avoid populated areas which is how one can feel the peace and calm of the big river From 2019 ‘Skelka Tour’ has been hosting tourists year-round they are the first ones in the region to hold winter kayaking tours Oleh assures that it is safe and comfortable as kayaks are the typical mode of transport among the peoples in the northernmost part of the hemisphere and can withstand low temperatures Winter trips are conducted only in case of windless weather since it is possible to do without wetsuits or other special clothes Oleh and Andrii care for the comfort and safety of their tourists – they provide guests with all the necessary gear: life jackets The ‘Skelka Tour’ organisers are finishing a campsite on the shore of Solonets Lake They are bothered by the lack of accommodations where tourists could spend the night plenty of houses are empty while their owners are working elsewhere Oleh and Andrii suppose that were the houses for rent it would both bring some income to the owners They discussed the possibility of receiving a land grant for the campsite with local authorities of both villages and with residents about renting out empty houses for tourists Having received no help from the public administration they partnered with a local entrepreneur to set up the campsite The two friends share that ‘Skelka Tour’ is a project inspired by their childhood there used to be docks with boats and catamarans in Oleksandrivka and in nearby Stanislav there was a marina Now he is startled that children barely come here to bathe Andrii adds that they spent their whole childhood in nature: swimming in addition to promoting the beauty of their land they want to create an example of how to make leisure both enjoyable and time well spent They would go fishing or play with the kids – and that’s it The two friends also wish to set up a school for kids as they don’t know where to start and how to implement it yet increase the understanding of tourism among children – There are kids who have never been to our waters sunbathing-and-beach-like tourism with their parents And we want to show them that tourism can be different – for example Oleh says he would like to develop an organic learning process in the school He imagines this project as something like a tourism club: hosting lectures trainings or camping trips with invited guests like travelers Apart from the school and setting up the aforementioned campsite ‘Skelka Tour’ founders have already seen the changes sparked by their project and are excited about them – Over the last two years that we’ve been coming here (to Stanislav beach – ed.) This year there’s almost no garbage at all Oleh and Andrii are sure that there are many other places where projects like ‘Skelka Tour’ can be organised They’re confident in the potential of local eco-tourism which helps people both to make a living in their home villages and change life there for the better Involved in the preparation of the material 10 volunteers Project support: Fundacja Euromaidan-Warszawa Use of materials is only permitted upon providing the source: Ukrainer.net Дизайн — Артем Зубкевич Розробка — Deluxcode As of 4 p.m. on February 2, 52 combat engagements took place at the front since the beginning of the day. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding the line and disrupting the adversary's plans, while the Russians continue to focus their efforts on the Pokrovsk and Kupiansk directions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports the border towns and villages of our country continue to suffer from Russian artillery shelling the following localities were affected: Oleksandrivka Oleksandrivka in Sumy region and Hremiachka in Chernihiv region came under air strikes the Russians have made 12 attempts to advance to Ukrainian positions in the areas of Petropavlivka The aggressor attacked our troops' positions six times in the Lyman direction near Novoyehorivka Ukrainian troops repelled one attack by the Russian army near Ivan-Dariivka one firefight continues in the area of Chasiv Yar Russians tried to advance twice in the areas of Toretsk and Krymske The Russian troops are still active in the Pokrovsk direction Ukrainian troops are repelling Russian attacks in the areas of Zelene Pole Six more firefights are currently underway The Russian forces tried to break through in the direction of Kostiantynopil in the Novopavlivka direction once but were stopped by Ukrainian defenders the Russian forces launched an air strike near Novopil They have not conducted any active operations in the Kharkiv and Prydniprovskyi directions since the beginning of the day the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled two Russian attacks and two more combat engagements are ongoing the Russians launched three air strikes using four guided bombs “Ukrainian troops are depleting the enemy along the entire combat line and in the rear,” the General Staff summarized Over the previous day, from February 1 to February 2, the Russian army lost 1320 soldiers in the war against Ukraine The Ukrainian Armed Forces also destroyed 45 artillery systems Since the beginning of the day on December 26, 114 combat clashes have occurred on the front lines. Russian forces continue to actively use aviation, including KABs (guided aerial bombs), according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the enemy continues to use artillery and aviation against Ukrainian territory Zarichchia in Chernihiv region; and Vidrodzhenske in Kharkiv region came under enemy fire The enemy also carried out airstrikes with unguided rockets on the areas of Oleksandrivka and Popivka in Sumy region two combat engagements took place today near Vovchansk and Starytsia Six assault actions by the enemy were repelled by our forces near Zapadne and Kruhlyakivka in the Kupiansk direction the enemy is attacking in the areas of Kopanky 18 combat engagements have been recorded in this direction the Russian troops attacked three times in the area of Bilohorivka but all attacks were successfully repelled by our defenders the enemy launched eight attacks on our positions near Diliivka and Toretsk fierce battles are taking place in the areas of Vozdvyzhenka the enemy has made 26 attempts to push our defenders from their positions with 21 of these attacks repelled by our forces 17 combat engagements continue in the areas of Petropavlivka Eleven enemy assaults have already been repelled by our defenders and Konstantynopilske in the Vremivka direction the occupiers made a futile attempt to push our defenders from their positions Ten combat engagements took place today in the Kursk direction where the enemy dropped nine guided aerial bombs on the areas of settlements and our defense positions including 13 from multiple rocket launch systems since the beginning of the full-scale war against Ukraine In particular, over the past 24 hours, the Russian army has lost 1,540 personnel About 136 combat engagements took place in the frontline over the last day Most of the fighting was recorded in the Pokrovsk sector reports the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine The enemy carried out 73 air strikes over the day missile troops and artillery struck 25 times at enemy concentration areas four artillery units and a fuel and lubricant depot and the Defense Forces repelled enemy assaults near Lyptsi Ukrainian defenders repelled the Russian invaders' assault near Bilohorivka in particular in the areas of Chasiv Yar and Ivanivske Ukrainian defenders repelled 42 enemy assaults in the areas of Vozdvyzhenka The highest concentration of attacks was near Ivanivka and Zhelanne Defense forces stopped eight attacks near Krasnohorivka and Kostiantynivka where the enemy tried to break through the defense of our troops Over the past day, Ukrainian defenders eliminated another 1,230 Russian soldiers. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has already lost more than 586,000 soldiers and thousands of pieces of military equipment. In particular, on August 6, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed a Russian helicopter in the Sumy region. [email protected] Italian war correspondent Mattea Sorbi is alive and is currently in the occupied part of Kherson oblast He had gone to the red zone without a Ukrainian producer or fixer As IMI reported earlier, Italian war correspondent Mattia Sorbi, who had come to Ukraine to cover the russian aggression, went out of touch on August 31. This was announced by the journalist's German colleague Arndt Ginzel on his Facebook page The same information has been confirmed to IMI by the international organization Reporters Without Borders Mattia Sorbi texted him that he planned to drive from Mykolaiv to Oleksandrivka We phoned him the day before because we wanted to know how he assessed the situation on the southern front before we continued our journey from Zaporizhzhia to Mykolaiv but no one answers or reads the news," said Arndt Ginzel Photo: screenshot from Arndt Ginzel's Facebook their inquiries to the local military administration about the Italian journalist yielded no results "We were able to dirve up to 12 km to Oleksandrivka None of the villagers we spoked to saw Sorbi Contacts from Oleksandrivka were not very optimistic," the journalist wrote on Facebook Маttia Sorbі is a freelance journalist who worked for the Italian TV channel RAI as a war correspondent in Ukraine Sorby worked as a correspondent for the russian war propaganda TV channel Zvezda which spreads disinformation against Ukraine [email protected] (050) 447-70-63 Ідентифікатор медіа: R40-01250 Reprinting and disseminating our information is allowed but under strictly condition of reference to the source the Russian army has shelled Donetsk region The Russian army shelled 13 settlements: the cities of Pokrovsk artillery.31 civilian objects were damaged: 27 residential buildings the occupiers fired two strikes with “Iskanders” The village of Rai-Oleksandrivka Russian troops covered the “Grad” Russian troops dropped the FAB-500 air bomb on Predtechyne Two air strikes with guided aircraft bombs “FAB-500" were carried out on Blessed There was no information on damage or casualties The Kherson region was also under enemy fire The aggressor pounded peaceful residential neighborhoods and led fire from mortars Kherson suffered heavy shelling from RSFs and artillery and outbuildings was recorded in the “Ship” microdistrict Dniprovsky and the mainland part of the Ship district the premises of the point of invulnerability suffered a 51-year-old local resident received explosive injuries and shrapnel wounds as a result of artillery shelling and was taken to hospital A 68-year-old man in Nikolsky was also injured The airstrikes were carried out by Kozatske Also under artillery shelling were Tokarivka We use cookies to provide you with better navigation on our website you automatically agree to the use of these technologies An updated service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs №6542 was opened in Velyka Oleksandrivka The old premises of the state institution at ul 14 B was destroyed by the troops of the Russian army during the occupation of the city But thanks to the cooperation of the service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs the deputy head of the Main Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Volodymyr Baranets and the head of the Regional Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kherson region Alexander Khomenko visited the opening of the new stationary service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “The opening of the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs №6542 in the Kherson region is an important marker of de-occupation Ukraine returns quality state service to Velykoalexandrivska hromada This is not just an event of local significance This is a really important indicator that everything is and will be Ukraine,” said the deputy head of the Main Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs a mobile service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to provide services here It is worth recalling that since March 10 of last year the urban-type settlement of Velyka Oleksandrivka and the village of Velykoalexandrovskaya hromada were occupied by Russian troops Bolshoi Oleksandrivka was liberated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine “Immediately after the de-occupation in agreement with the military administration — as soon as this became possible a mobile service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was sent to Velikaya Oleksandrivka We understood that it was important for people to recover documents lost due to war And in the beginning and in general it was important to charge the phone from the generator and get in touch thanks to Starlink services have already been provided here in the mobile service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs 176 registration operations with vehicles were carried out and 241 national driver's licenses were exchanged or renewed,” Volodymyr Baranets recalled in the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs №6542 you can now get the following services: — exchange or renewal of driver's license; — renewal of the vehicle registration certificate; — disposal of the vehicle (if it was damaged by the war and is not subject to restoration for the management of public roads); — all other types of registration actions with vehicles; — issuance of certificates and extracts from the Unified State Register of Vehicles And soon there will be an opportunity to pass a theoretical exam Main service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Resident of Stanislav village of Kherson raion Tetyana Stasuk came back to her village immediately after its liberation from Russian occupants on November 11 Almost half of village residents have already returned to their homes I had to leave the village because my husband served in the Ukrainian Army 2022 he has defended Kherson but then somebody betrayed him and he was found dead The war touched upon each family and imposed its deep scars on each family When we were liberated from Russian occupants I have been very joyful and immediately went home because it is my native village After liberation Oleksandrivka village of Stanislav community looked like almost completely ruined village Garbage left by Russian occupants has been cleaned in many courtyards People continue to return to their native village «420 residents returned to the village. Oleksandrivka is gradually recovering. Supply of gas and electric energy is partially restored. Some houses are already connected to supply networks. Water supply is not yet stable. We use artesian well but we do not have permanent electric power and use generator to pump water. Volunteers from Rivne region partially repaired roofs of 114 buildings We also participated and advised them to repair houses of those who served in the army and houses of families with children Because now this is the way we can help our guys who protect us» the head of local self-government in Oleksandrivka village head of local self-government in Oleksandrivka village Only 15 from 921 houses survived in Oleksandrivka Charitable organizations deliver them construction materials Bucha City Council supplied two batches of slates Examination of damaged houses is still under way Less than half of houses were examined and respective documents were registered Administrative building of the local self-government survived Mobile healthcare point has been launched in Oleksandrivka at the beginning of June Necessary equipment will be installed in the nearest future and it will start its work in a week The house of Natalia Kamenetska has about among surviving fifteen houses She does not plan to apply for the compensation from the state She says that the state assistance is needed far more by people whose houses were completely destroyed In order to apply for resources to repair damaged housing after May 10 Ukrainians can use the service «єВідновлення» [e-Renewal] within «Dia» [Action] web portal of administrative services Owners of damaged apartments and houses can receive 200 thousand UAH for repairing works Owners of destroyed houses can receive housing certificate for acquisition of an apartment or house «We are grateful to the government that they met the needs of rural residents The government allowed them to receive compensation for repairing their damaged houses Volunteers from civic initiative «Vostok SOS» help those people who do not have smart phones or are not able to apply Sometimes «Dia» does not identify the property registered in the single State Register of Immovable Property Or it does not «see» some documents about heritage data from state registers is not linked to «Dia» We are very much concerned about this problem» Oleksandrivka authorities plan to build modular mini-city with 50 Swedish buildings under charitable assistance It will host homeless village residents while they will rebuild their destroyed houses Authorities will allocate land plot and secure supply of water and electric energy They decided not to follow an example of Posad-Pokrovsky village where construction of temporary individual houses is planned Swedish buildings can be used as camping for tourists or hotel Shop in Oleksandrivka ruined by Russian occupants Oleksandrivka authorities also develop projects to restore social infrastructure destroyed by Russian occupants necessary resources are accumulated in the local budget Ruined objects will be restored after public discussions with village residents authorities consider construction of joint complex of school and kindergarten under the same roof instead of restoring separate buildings of school and kindergarten as it has been before the Russian occupation Permanent Russian shelling from the left bank of Dnipro river impedes upon full scale restoration of the village Russian shells do not reach Oleksandrivka but they hit each day Stanislav Shyroka Balka and all settlements along the right bank of Dnipro liberated from the Russian occupation Families with children come back to Oleksandrivka as says Tetyana Stasuk from Stanislav village Crater from air bomb at the center of Stanislav air bomb ruined half of the building of the village council Another one exploded near the house of culture Ruined building of the village council in Stanislav As head of village council Ivan Samoilenko says first three Russian air bombs hit Stanislav with an interval of 6 seconds on May 6 The second bomb exploded near the fishery shop We saw three huge smokes and heard two explosions (first two bombs exploded at the same time) electric transformer and network of electric energy supply We succeeded in resuming the supply of electricity from another transformer the village council gave people the canvas for temporary coverage of ruined roofs and windows» Ivan Samoilenko near crater from Russian air bomb Russian shelling of Stanislav and neighboring villages continues the Head of Stanislav Village Military Administration tells about difficulties in resuming peaceful life and restoring damaged houses: Some air raids occurred when people went to pick up humanitarian aid It has been a miracle that air bomb did not land five meters closer to the people Monument of Taras Shevchenko survived in Oleksandrivka local authorities think about restoration of schools and kindergartens If the work of Stanislav secondary school will be renewed to secure transportation of children from other villages We are ready to pay for the development of repairing projects but we need money for their implementation We should involve international donors or get reparations from the Russian Federation they are waiting for the demining of their lands Some of them have bank debts of 5-10 million UAH They were not able to cultivate their lands last year We consider a lot of other issues – repairing of roads and reconstruction of houses People will come back home despite any challenges» He told about an idea to create open air museum near Oleksandrivka dam Thousands cars tried to escape through this dam from Russian occupants in spring 2022 Some of them were shot and burnt by Russians Burnt cars are still standing along the road Issues of security and safety are of paramount importance for local communities and their residents the life is coming back to all neighboring villages as says resident of Stanislav Tetyana Stasuk: What is important is to get occupants out of our land» It was announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces regained control of the village of Mala Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region, which Russia took under its control at the beginning of the war in Ukraine on February 24 Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov shared the regions that the Ukrainian soldiers took back with the video he shared on his social media account In the post made from the official Telegram account of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces the soldiers of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces took control of Mala Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region.” statement was included it was seen that Ukrainian soldiers unfurled the Ukrainian flag in the settlement The head of the Luhansk Region Military Administration reported on his Telegram account that the Ukrainian army took action to regain control of the settlements in the Luhansk region in Donbas Noting that some settlements in the region in question were under the control of the Ukrainian army the liberation of the Luhansk region from occupation has begun A few settlements have already been liberated from the Russian army and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are already waving the Ukrainian flag there.” used the phrases You may be interested; 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