Russian residents are offered a family mortgage to purchase secondary housing in Ukrainian cities Among them is the town of Snihurivka in Mykolaiv region This is evidenced by the list published on the website of the operator of the preferential programme «Dom.RF» The opportunity to purchase housing on the secondary market under the programme «Family Mortgage» The list includes 901 settlements where you can buy property Russians are offered to buy property in Mykolaiv region which has been under Ukrainian control since November 2022 It is worth noting that the town of Snihurivka in Mykolaiv region came under the control of Russian troops on 19 March 2022 the Russians looted and removed property from educational and cultural institutions destroyed entire abandoned areas with shelling and committed a number of war crimes that are still being investigated by law enforcement agencies However, during the occupation, on 30 September, representatives of the illegal Russian authorities announced the annexation of the Kherson region, which included the entire former Snihurivka district under Russian control Vladimir Putin signed a law on the incorporation of four regions of Ukraine into Russia including part of the occupied Mykolaiv region The Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to liberate Snihurivka in November 2022 More about the chronology can be found in the article NikVesti 236 days of occupation, terror and faith in return: how the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated Snihurivka from Russian occupiers WWF-Ukraine and The HALO Trust, in cooperation with the Snihurivka community in Mykolaiv region, have restored a forest belt damaged by combat operations The initiative is part of the pilot project “Shelterbelts: Restoration and Resilience,” launched in 2024 to promote the ecological sustainability of demining activities in Ukraine Taking into account the region’s characteristics The shelterbelt is expected to become a resilient green barrier protecting farmlands from dust storms and dry winds while improving crop yields and serving as an ecological corridor for wildlife “Although this pilot project is an important step legal mechanisms for restoring ecosystems affected by war still need to be developed,” said Hanna Lobchenko forest project manager at WWF-Ukraine and associate professor at NUBiP of Ukraine Shelterbelts are a modern agroforestry practice Mykolaiv is among the regions most in need of shelterbelt restoration with a critical cultivation level reaching 85%—far above the EU average of 25% Military action and occupation have worsened the situation: recent research shows that shelterbelts near the front have lost 57% of their effectiveness significantly reducing the region’s agricultural capacity “Almost every second demined area in Mykolaiv contains remnants of shelterbelts damaged by war and fires,” explained Serhii Shcherbak environmental expert at The HALO Trust Ukraine “This joint initiative aims to raise legislative awareness and develop funding mechanisms for such efforts.” The project began in fall 2024 with a site assessment near the village of Tamarine Experts collected soil samples and began drafting a restoration plan under the guidance of forestry expert Oleksandr Sovakov The shelterbelt will serve as a scientific object for ongoing monitoring over 1,000 oak acorns and 100 fruit trees were planted in the area Local residents collected the acorns and contributed seedlings Fruit trees will protect young oaks and attract birds and pollinators “Shelterbelts offer an ecologically smart alternative to large-scale afforestation in the steppe zones of Mykolaiv where forest ecosystems are rare,” said Maryna Romanenko of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration The planting effort was supported by the Snihurivka City Council and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg WWF-Ukraine and The HALO Trust will host a workshop titled “Restoring Shelterbelts after Hostilities: Joint Solutions for Communities.” The event aims to launch a national dialogue on using protective vegetation as a tool for ensuring Ukraine’s environmental and agricultural resilience amid climate change and the consequences of war Small town a kilometre from army’s positions in southern Ukraine was retaken on Thursday Southern Ukraine in November is a grey mass of brown, barren-looking farmland. The bright greens and yellows of the fields have faded and the snow has not yet fallen. But the upbeat mood in the small town of Snihurivka was in stark contrast to the season. Around the town’s bombed-out buildings, the mountains of rubbish left by Russian soldiers and streets littered with shrapnel marks, groups of smiling, happy residents gathered together to chat. When cars drove past, they waved and smiled. They described feelings of ecstasy upon seeing Ukrainian troops and debated the most apt insults for the Russian soldiers: should it be “pigs” or “beasts”, they asked each other. Read moreSnihurivka sat firmly on the frontline just a kilometre away from Ukrainian positions and was retaken by Ukrainian forces on Thursday Russia’s ministry of defence announced a tactical withdrawal of its forces in the south after Ukraine repeatedly destroyed their supply lines and ammunition depots The outbursts of joy being captured across the newly retaken swathe of southern territory derives from the hope instilled in residents by the long talked-about southern offensive in late June and then again in late August Ukraine’s forces made their first decisive strides in early October which were freed while the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the invasion which was retaken while the world was looking away the liberation of Kherson region was so hyped by Ukraine’s authorities that it became a fixation for many Ukrainians A resident picks up some of the bullets that scatter the ground near a former Russian military position.“I have a radio – a battery-powered one,” said Sasha carefully stepping over a pile of sand in case the Russians had left mines below “I can’t tell you how it felt seeing [Ukrainian troops] We sat for eight months without electricity Residents said they had tried to keep up with the news by any means possible after their electricity was cut off and Russian soldiers went door to door confiscating phones Some had generators and were able to catch Ukrainian TV; a few managed to keep their phones and would climb to the top of abandoned five-storey blocks of flats to catch some signal 65-year-old Vera Borisovna pointed to her empty flowerbed and beamed we took all of them to give to our guys,” her voice quaking as she talked about the moment Ukrainian soldiers entered the town A girl in front of her battered apartment where she lives with her mother and sister.“I can’t stop smiling because it’s been eight months of nothing to smile about,” said Borisovna whose house was between Russian positions and who once had to duck behind her fence to avoid the shrapnel that pock-marked her street She said she kept a diary because that was the only way she could keep track of what date it was without electricity Hardly any of Snihurivka’s residents left when the invasion started They were either too old or did not have enough money dodging the stray incoming fire while trying to find supplies and avoid the Russian soldiers The hardship fostered a sense of community and solidarity that residents said bonded them together to Kherson at their own risk to buy food for the only shop in the town Oleksandr Shekavcuk in the town’s only shop in their garage.But just as in other towns and villages across Ukraine although happy the Ukrainians had returned would probably carry the scars of the occupation for the rest of their lives As a former Ukrainian army captain and police officer his name was on a Russian list of potential pro-Ukrainian troublemakers Volodymyr Perepilitsia talks with a neighbour in his street.The first time the Russians took him away for interrogation, they accused him of being a “knocker”, slang for a spy. The second time he was taken because he refused to accept their humanitarian aid, after which, he said, they looted his house as punishment. The third time he was detained it was because a 20-year-old Ukrainian soldier, whom he had witnessed being beaten heavily by Russian troops the day before, had disappeared. Perepilnitsia said the soldier had escaped with his wife on a moped at night. Read more“They kept me in isolation for five nights in a row and beat me,” said Perepilnitsia who said the Russians used the local police station as their interrogation centre I was in the neighbouring cell and I heard them beat him and then I heard them drag him out.” Perepilnitsia said he did not know where the dead man had been buried but he said there were “many” men who had gone missing since the Russians took control in March which locals said happened over a matter of hours they planted what is likely to be a future misery for the town’s residents “All the fields are mined,” said Perepilnitsia “A farmer boy went out yesterday to look at the new cemetery and blew himself up A Ukrainian soldier checking the site of a former Russian military base for mines and booby traps.The head of Ukraine’s national security council told Ukrainian TV that the Russians had mined “huge swathes” of the area before their retreat you see what they’ve done here – pigs,” said Perepilnitsia pointing to the charred buildings and the sea of rubbish surrounding them Accompanying Perepilnitsia was his jack russell puppy Patron is the name of the jack russell that Kyiv rescuers trained to find mines in the early days of the war It seems that despite their isolation and suffering the residents of Snihorivka were following the war along with rest of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine announced suspicion of a resident of Snihurivka who in September 2022 headed an educational institution in the occupied Zaliznyi Port in the Kherson region This is stated in the text of the suspicion published on the website of the General Prosecutor's Office 51-year-old Liudmyla Ryzhenko assumed the position of director of the so-called «State budget educational institution of the Kherson region «Zheleznyi Port school of the Hola Pristan municipal district» no earlier than September 5 the official contributed to the organization of the institution's activities The investigators established that Ryzhenko issued documents on the admission of students to the educational institution conducted school-wide educational activities with the assistance of the occupation administration questionnaires with her data can be found on some Russian sites for tutoring courses Liudmyla Ryzhenko's page in the banned social network «VKontakte» contains diplomas of a teacher of the Russian language and a tour guide The woman was charged with committing actions aimed at implementing education standards of the aggressor state in educational institutions (Part 3 Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) We will remind you that the Security Service of Ukraine announced the suspicion of another Russian military official involved in the occupation of the Mykolaiv region We are talking about the commander of the Ural District of the National Guard of the Russian Federation Myanmar earthquake: Working to meet the biggest needs 90% of our funding comes from individual donors. Learn how you can support MSF’s lifesaving care with a gift. We need your support to continue this lifesaving work Voices from MSF patients and staff on the devastating effects of war MSF teams have been working in areas of Kherson oblast since June. We are operating mobile clinics focused on basic health care and mental health. MSF ambulances also transfer patients to hospitals and between medical facilities around Kryvyi Rih and in the areas of the Kherson oblast that are under Ukrainian control. Apart from Ukrainian state actors and volunteers there remain very few international organizations on the ground in recently re-taken areas of Kherson and Mykolaiv. ​ Below are stories from MSF patients and staff who have endured tremendous challenges to continue living and working through many months of fighting “My husband and I lived under occupation for two months When the Russians started letting people out More than 600 people left Vysokopillia on Easter When we tried to leave the town for the first time We had to drop to the ground a hundred times Nadia Pedchenko standing on the main street of Vysokopillia When we learned that Vysokopillia had been liberated on October 4 and every evening my husband needs an injection of magnesium We called a hospital in the city of Kryvyi Rih The doctors say it is very far away for my husband to be transported there I put an IV in him and give him medicine at home I came [to MSF's mobile clinic] to get him medicine A local health center damaged by shelling in Kherson Medical files and debris on the floor of a health care clinic in Kherson “I have lived in the city of Lyman for the past two years when they started shelling about 50 meters away from my house We moved to Dnipro and in September I started working with MSF as an emergency room doctor and also support the MSF mobile clinics Several people who approached us had previously had surgical operations and were constantly in pain We met one man who needed dressing for his wound I recently met a doctor who was a pediatrician all her life we ran for safety to the village of Mykolaivka My children are still living there but my husband and I decided to go back home This spring we planted vegetables under fire The roof and windows of our house are damaged; we have had to cover them There is no electricity or gas in the village But they study online now and there is no electricity in the village One of my sons lives in the village of Korobky in Kakhovka district [controlled by Russian military] We are very worried about him and his family We don't know what's going on there and we can't get in touch with them.” “My husband and I stayed in Ivanivka for three months Our children who live in the city of Kryvyi Rih kept asking us to leave the village. I don't sleep well; my hands are shaking They shelled us so badly every day that it became a usual thing for us During one shelling I realized that my husband could make it to the basement that it felt as if hail was hitting the roof One of our cows was killed and another one was injured Liudmyla and other patients line up for a consultation at the MSF mobile clinic in Kherson A shell hit between the hall and the veranda We swept a little and covered the windows with plastic sheeting you can only see a pile of garbage and nothing else People with serious conditions had to turn to him and there was no way for them to get their medicine People were scared but they asked that doctor for help.” “I have been seeing this [conflict] since 2014 although back then they didn’t use such heavy weapons I was living in Kramatorsk with my family but the front line came very close so my wife and I decided to leave the city with our two children I was one of the first to join MSF’s project in the city of Kryvyi Rih in April I see terrible things that should never have happened We meet a lot of people whose houses were hit by a missile as well as those who lived under occupation for five or six months People told us that they lived without food “Russian troops entered Snihurivka on March 19 there were just a few doctors in the hospital: me We had no surgeons at all. People with shrapnel injuries were brought to the hospital every day Volodymyr Todosenko is a medical director and a urologist in the town of Snihurivka I had to go to the Russians and tell them that we had nothing to treat people with are needed for people with serious injuries who are being treated in intensive care and cannot get up We had to soak these catheters in special solutions and then reuse them We didn't even have urine collection bags and used bottles instead Damaged buildings line the streets of Snihurivka in Mykolaiv oblast The town sat on the frontline for many months and was retaken by Ukrainian military in the beginning of November The hospital in Snihurivka is cold and dark From March and until the town was retaken by Ukrainian forces in early November a small group of nurses and doctors ran the hospital without electricity and with very limited medical supplies There was also a pressing need for medicines for people with diabetes and high blood pressure Most of the people who stayed behind were elderly and had chronic diseases we will give you everything.’ I must have given them those lists 10 times and a few medications such as painkillers and anti-inflammatory pills ‘How can I treat hypertension or diabetes with these?’" “Some 400 people previously lived in the village We haven't had light or gas since March. Many people have nowhere to come back to because a lot of houses burned down.  Vasyl Kukhar in front of the damaged cultural center in Vysokopillia in Kherson oblas He is a veterinary doctor from the village of Novovoznesenske I had to put out the fire in my house two or three times All the wheat burned. Many animals were killed and a pig were badly hurt and I had to put them down Natalia is a nurse at the hospital in the town of Snihurivka in Mykolaiv oblast Natalia was one of few medical staff who stayed behind and continued the work in the hospital through the dangerous shellings I have been living in the hospital since March 21 There were a lot of hungry dogs left behind in the town people were lining up for water when there was an attack I had to send three or four ambulance teams to Novodruzhivka that day. Lysychansk was occupied in June Nadia Kasimova is an ambulance paramedic with MSF in Kherson and Dnipropetrovks oblasts MSF ambulances transport patients from rural villages to the hospital in Kryvyi Rih I started working for MSF—first in the east of Ukraine We go to hospitals in Kherson to pick up the wounded and take them to the hospital in Kryvyi Rih. A few weeks ago Many people were wounded waiting for a bus when the shelling began.” we talk to people about mental health and how to maintain it; we explain coping mechanisms to them and how to restore them We use different methods from different areas of psychology Oksana Khodorkovska is a psychologist working with MSF in Kherson did breathing exercises and many other things Some humanitarian crises make the headlines—others don’t Unrestricted support from our donors allows us to mobilize quickly and efficiently to provide lifesaving medical care to the people who need it most whether those needs are in the spotlight or not And your donation is 100 percent tax-deductible © Médecins Sans Frontières 2025 Federal tax ID#: 13-3433452 Unrestricted donations enable MSF to carry out our programs around the world we will reallocate your donation to where the needs are greatest The team of the Civil Network OPORA is telling about the life of de-occupied communities: what Russians left behind and what issues local authorities need to address in the first place to be able to bring back people and normal life.  the story is about Snihurivka (Mykolayiv Oblast) that has been under the occupation for eight months Russians used Snihurivka to continue their advance to Mykolayiv That is why the de-occupation of the place was a precondition for the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian army A motor highway and a railway run through Snihurivka, and Russian military  used them as logistical arteries. Ex-commander of defense forces of the city of Mykolayiv, Major General Dmytro Marchenko  said last summer that Snihurivka was a strategic junction that is why Russians had held it occupied for such a long time the place was used by the Russians to advance on Mykolayiv Another reason the Russians were interested in the town’s occupation is economic. Snihurivka  territorial community hosts successful industrial enterprises and over 200 farmsteads Russian troops wanted to establish control over the business especially when they realized they would have to retreat.   the day after the control was resumed over Snihurivka and other places in the Right Bank Russian troops had to retreat to the Dnipro left bank under the pressure of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.  That was the end to Snihurivka’s eight-months-long occupation.  Trying to understand how Snihurivka survived the occupation OPORA talked with an anonymous local activist Our interviewee shared that Russian troops seized the city on March, 19, 2022. Several days before, they had been actively shelling it and striking from air. The first such strikes took place on March That is when they struck the local territorial center of conscription and social care (military conscription center — ed.) and private households Russian army continued the shelling of residential housing; they struck schools the community was left with as few as 7,000 However, not every person has a place to return. In the interview to the TV channel “Mart,” the head of Snihurivka City Military Administration told that about 1,500 private households were destroyed by the occupiers (50% of the housing stock) the roof slates for the reconstruction of the damaged rooftops.  There are other relief programs available, too. Some of them are funded by international donors. For example, on March, 13, 2023, the implementation of the project started in Snihurivka community Winterization initiative to reconstruct the damaged buildings the project would not transfer money to the bank cards like in the “e-Recovery” initiative they will engage a subcontractor to perform the approved scope of work.  and UAH 6,600 from the International Organization of Migration.  In addition, with the support from charities, a free of charge laundry center was opened in Snihurivka. The community  received ambulance vehicles, gravel for the reconstruction of bridges, tires for municipal transport It was made possible because charities donated to Snihurivka modern buses because Russian military stole the buses the city used to have before the full-scale war.  Another challenge faced by local authorities after the de-occupation was the resumption of water and power supply Our interviewee shared that Snihurivka residents had to live without any electricity centralized water and gas supply for eight months of the occupation.  The community is little covered by gas pipelines which is why people could not get any heating with no power supply as houses mostly use electric heaters.  Electric kitchen stoves are most widespread in the town That is why Snihurivka people staying under the occupation had to cook outside in open fires they used gas cylinders that could be bought in the then occupied Kherson.  According to Ivan Kukhta, almost immediately after the de-occupation, water supplied was resumed in the city. The same as before the full-scale invasion, you cannot drink tap water, but it is good for cooking. Regional authorities and charities helped with power generators all of the community could enjoy water supply This information was also confirmed by OPORA informer He shared that Russians stole all the utility company machinery and also pillaged local people and businesses “They took away everything they could from people and light towers of the regional electricity company Our interviewee added that the owners managed to locate the whereabouts of some vehicles that had GPS trackers on Regional authorities and private charities helped procure some machinery for repair works.  A new challenge in supplying the community with water came from the blast of Khakhovka dam blown up by Russian occupiers in early June our informer told us that utility workers managed to take out the water pumps from the wells in due time we would have needed to buy new water pumps we managed to quickly bring them back and we keep track of the water levels continuously the water from the city water network is still non-potable It can only be used for washing the clothes and for sanitary needs such as to wash down the toilet or wash the floor You can’t drink it or use it for cooking utility companies organized daily deliveries of potable water brought to 15 or 20 places at the same time military administration are working on the improvement of water quality authorities plan to drill new water wells and separately connect each city district to those water sources That water might as well be good for drinking at least after filtering with the help of regular household filters that any resident could install at their place it will all depend on the wear and tear of the waterpipe.  Another challenge coming after Russians blasted Kakhovka dam was the flooding affecting 12 villages in the community area Our informer told us that the total number of flooded houses was 375 The water flushed inside the houses a lot of mud The walls and the ceiling could not withstand The most difficult situation developed in Afanasiyivka a village surrounded by little lakes and floodplains It was connected with the other part of the community by three bridges that went under water during that flooding It made Afanasiyivka stay without transportation for several days It caused a humanitarian disaster. Some people from the flooded houses have been successfully evacuated. Others, who stayed, could use some food delivered by boats. 75 private households in the village were fully flooded, and the total of 171 houses were affected the source of food and earning for local citizens the water receded but the consequences of Russian terror acts will last and will long be felt for local citizens who had not been waiting for the Russians Which language would you like to use this site in which litter territories in Ukraine formerly and currently occupied by Russian forces continue to pose a deadly threat to civilians and must be subject to a prompt Amnesty International said in a public statement released today Ukraine recorded 608 landmine casualties in 2022 more than any country in the world bar Syria Data gathered by humanitarian mine clearance organizations working in Ukraine shows most casualties come from anti-personnel mines which are inherently indiscriminate weapons and as such prohibited by international humanitarian law “Mines are scattered across the territory of Ukraine previously and currently occupied by Russian troops Some have been deliberately placed in civilian homes where they maim and kill,” said Patrick Thompson Ukraine Researcher at Amnesty International Mines are scattered across the territory of Ukraine previously and currently occupied by Russian troops Some have been deliberately placed in civilian homes where they maim and kill “There must be an effective investigation into all such incidents as possible war crimes In every region in Ukraine that was formerly occupied by Russia we have seen evidence of civilians killed and injured by anti-personnel mines left behind by Russian forces.” Anti-personnel mines have been used regularly in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 There was a noticeable spike in civilian casualties following the Russian retreat from Mykolaiv Russian forces evicted Oleksandr* (not his real name) and his mother from their flat in Snihurivka A Russian military unit took over the entire apartment block until it was forced to withdraw following fierce fighting around Snihurivka in November 2022 Oleksandr returned to the apartment block to assess how badly it had been damaged he stepped on a disguised PFM-1 anti-personnel mine that had been placed under wooden planks and landed on other disguised mines that had apparently had been deliberately placed to injure or kill anyone entering the building He lost both his left leg and arm in the incident Amnesty International researchers documented other incidents of Russian forces laying anti-personnel mines in residential areas in Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts “The deminers working to clear Ukraine of this threat are carrying out painstaking While the scale of the problem is undeniably huge the biggest obstacle to clearing Ukraine of landmines is Russia’s ongoing aggression,” Patrick Thompson said “The international community must commit to sustained financial and technical assistance to help Ukraine get rid of a danger that continues to wreck lives and livelihoods.” Ukraine has itself pledged to investigate its own forces’ use of anti-personnel mines Anti-personnel mines deployed today will continue to impact civilians long into the future stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines worldwide There must be an end to the use of such indiscriminate weapons,” Patrick Thompson said Amnesty International wrote to the Government of Ukraine on 12 June 2024 asking for a comment on the progress of the investigation into the Ukrainian forces’ use of anti-personnel mines and at the time of writing no response has been received Together we can fight for human rights everywhere Your donation can transform the lives of millions If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you that of seeking out Russian collaborators and spies was captured by the Russians with practically no resistance with the support of sections of the political class and even the local military establishment had attracted the attention of the Ukrainian authorities because every day she collected enough humanitarian aid to feed a large family When the intelligence services began to follow her they discovered that she was also buying men’s clothing the special forces battalion commanded by Vladislav (an assumed name) raided the basement of the woman’s house and found Russian soldiers hiding there That day they arrested 30 Russians hiding out in various locations Vladislav does not want to specify whether they were all soldiers who had been left behind during the retreat or whether some were spetznatz Russian special forces infiltrated from the other side of the front to gather information or carry out sabotage operations Vladislav speaks to EL PAÍS at the roadside There are few people left in the town and the cars that pass by honk their horns at the battalion commander as a sign of respect but on the locked entrance door there is graffiti left by a local drug dealer offering amphetamines During the eight months of Russian occupation Inhulets was used by the invading army as a torture chamber “People in the neighborhood would hear screams coming out of the restaurant,” says Luba Zhigalko an elementary school teacher who left the village on April 1 She returned last March when she learned that her husband had died Pro-Kremlin collaborators continue to be a problem, Vladislav acknowledges. He recalls that on one occasion, he and his men were hiding on the outskirts of a village they had infiltrated on a secret mission, behind Russian lines They watched as he threw his cell phone away a few meters away from them They immediately understood the device was pinpointing their location and made a hasty retreat Vladislav even claims that military commanders in Snihurivka provided armored vehicles to the invading Russian troops “Everyone in Snihurivka knows where our base is,” says one of Vladislav’s men “Someone could pass the coordinates to the Russians but they don’t because we have the town under control and we would catch them in a matter of hours.” Collaborationism is a problem that senior military and political officials in eastern Ukraine the half of the country historically closest aligned to Russian culture confirmed in a meeting with journalists that Russian informants are a major concern Kirilenko provided the math: if 20% of the pre-war population remained in the province A tip-off is the only explanation for an Iskander missile attack on a nondescript building in an industrial park on the outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia on May 5 according to an army officer consulted by this newspaper EL PAÍS correspondents witnessed the attack and went to the site of the target Volodymyr Kredovskii says that many people left Snihurivka when the Russian troops withdrew but he is proud to have been among those who played their part by passing information to the Ukrainian Army about enemy positions inside the village He was the owner of a garage that was destroyed in the fighting and the town council has compensated him by hiring him to guard the remains of a pedestrian bridge blown up during the Russian retreat the twisted ironwork that remains is a treasure for scrap metal dealers Kredovskii is 63 and spends his time fishing in the Inhulets He fills a bucket with the small carp he catches while chain smoking cigarettes Kyiv’s greatest military mistake was not to have blown up the Antonovsky Bridge the main road across the Dnipro as it passes through Kherson The seizure of the province in a matter of days at the beginning of the invasion was partly due to the fact that Ukrainian defenses were weaker in the south than in the north and east but also because the Russians were aided by support of local administrations and the passive attitude of military commanders in the region the Ukrainians or the Russians?” Elena asks journalists during a walk along Ushakovka Avenue She is convinced that there are shells falling n the city that are not Russian but are being fired by Ukrainian artillery is aggrieved that the police stop her on the street to check her cell phone in case she has any connection with the Russians Oleksandr Lutsenko is a 29-year-old greengrocer at a local market in Kherson He corroborates Elena’s story: during the Russian occupation Most of the city’s residents chose not to go out on the streets according to testimonies collected by this newspaper last November There were multiple raids to arrest hundreds of men suspected of being loyal to Ukraine Elena explains that people continue to remain indoors after the liberation The city is shelled on a daily basis and when missiles strike near her apartment block Elena also suspects that Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses are not operational in Kherson Ushakovka Avenue becomes even more devoid of passersby The few vehicles on the road are mostly military The avenue ends at the river promenade that runs along the Dnipro: 500 meters away No signs warning of the danger are necessary only the remains of a bus destroyed by enemy fire every step toward the water is a step toward death A multimedia team of four journalists from EL PAÍS traveled across eastern Ukraine covering 1,200 kilometers between Kharkiv and Kherson in the weeks prior to the counter-offensive that will determine how far can the country go in its quest to liberate the territory conquered by Russia.  Dozens of testimonies from civilians and soldiers collected along the front line portray the impact that a long-lasting war is having on the day-to-day life of the population: drinking beer in a bar while receiving a Telegram notice that a missile will fall on you shortly; life in a line of towns that have become part of the battle front; what it is like to celebrate your golden anniversary in the middle of a devastated city; the daily life of the soldiers which also consists of many moments of waiting; the fear of living across from the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in the middle of a conflict; being a teenager and living 12 kilometers from the dangerous Bakhmut front confined at home and receiving online classes; and finally Kiyv's search for Russian collaborators.  It is a series of seven reports about how life goes on despite everything in the middle of the violence and destruction of war at a decisive moment for Ukraine: a counter-offensive where its destiny is at stake.  Follow all the international news on Facebook and Twitter Mykolaiv Oblast — When Russian forces seized her town chemistry teacher Natalia Vorobiova had a choice: collaborate and be left alone or defy them and risk everything Even after Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) threatened to abduct and imprison her in Siberia she continued to refuse to teach a Russian curriculum When some other teachers chose to work with the Russians she tried to collect their names and turn them over to Ukrainian authorities The school was closed due to Russian occupation and I will work for Ukraine," Vorobiova recalled telling the FSB operatives who came to cajole and threaten her a railway hub on the western bank of Inhulets River and the northern gate to Kherson was occupied by the Russian troops on March 19 after 16 days of heavy fighting against Ukrainian forces and crowds of civilians blocking roads into the town Vorobiova and her fellow educators from local schools were left with an unenviable choice: continue to teach under the Russian flag or look for another job the only other available work was selling produce at local markets who had previously taught chemistry in two Snihurivka schools they took over both schools where Vorobiova had worked before the full-scale invasion One of these schools had displayed a Ukrainian flag donated and autographed by the 28th Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine's Ground Forces they took the flag out of its display and threw it on the floor to step on and shoved it up my sleeve," Vorobiova told the Kyiv Independent "I do not know what was driving me," she said she put the flag in a glass jar and buried it in the ground among some berry bushes Vorobiova told a colleague she was hiding the flag "When two FSB operatives showed up at my place I thought that my colleague had exposed me to the Russians," Vorobiova said But the Russians were there because of her other activities The occupying forces had started recruiting teachers to keep the schools open they succeeded in recruiting over a dozen teachers — in an attempt to relaunch at least one of the schools "I advised parents not to attend Russian schools," she said showing the Kyiv Independent two Russian school advertisements that she tore down Vorobiova began putting together a list of teachers that agreed to continue working with the Russians she came to one of the schools where she worked before the occupation and asked her colleague to provide their names "I was told 'this is confidential information,'" Vorobiova said She threatened to report the colleague to the headquarters of Vitaliy Kim two FSB operatives showed up at her house and started questioning her "that moment I realized who turned me in," Vorobiova said Vorobiova said she did not hold back in front of the operatives "I told them how I was cursing out the Russian soldiers at the checkpoints inside the town," she recalled Vorobiova then admitted that she was providing the teachers' names and other information to the deputy head of the Snihurivka military administration and her former student "For transferring that kind of information you face five years in Siberia," Vorobiova said she was told seeing that intimidation doesn't work "Passing on information can be very unfortunate for you," she recalls hearing She was banned from coming close to the town administration building during the occupation All four checkpoints inside Snihurivka had notices identifying her as a threat Vorobiova said that the entire staff of one of her schools refused the Russians' offers to continue working the Ukrainian language and literature teacher in the vocational lyceum was among those who refused the Russian demands "Russian soldiers had an insulting attitude towards the Ukrainian language and our territory They kept telling us that this land is Russia not Ukraine," Olekhova told the Kyiv Independent standing in line at a humanitarian aid distribution point in Snihurivka and you will teach the Russian language," a Russian soldier told Olekhova "I told them I am a pensioner and can stay retired the Russians in Snihurivka hadn't managed to open the schools by Sept The Russians had scheduled the next school opening day for Dec but Ukrainian troops reached the town prior Locals said that almost all the Russian troops left Snihurivka on Nov Ukraine's 131st Reconnaissance Battalion liberated the town the 28th Mechanized Brigade was liberating Kherson "We prayed for our Armed Forces to free us we breathe and live easier," Olekhova said Thank you for reading the story about brave Ukrainian teachers This is my first story from the liberated town of Snihurivka in Mykolaiv Oblast, where Russian forces committed atrocities with signs of war crimes. Another story to follow. But to continue reporting from the ground in places like Snihurivka and others, the Kyiv Independent team needs your support. Please consider supporting us by becoming our patron Alexander Khrebet is a reporter with the Kyiv Independent alleged abuse of power in the country’s military leadership and reports on the Russian-occupied territories Alexander is the European Press Prize 2023 winner the #AllForJan Award 2023 winner and Ukraine's 2022 National Investigative Journalism Award finalist His was published in the Washington Times and Atlantic Council the Russian military attacked Mykolaiv region with Shahed 131/136 drones and FPV drones A fire broke out on a farm in Snihurivka community due to the hit of one of the Shaheds This was reported by the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim the Air Defense Forces shot down three more Shahed 131/136 drones in the sky over the Mykolaiv region Due to the fall of UAV wreckage in the Bashtanka district dry grass in an open area outside the settlement was set on fire the Russians attacked the Kutsurub community twice at night the enemy attacked the Kutsurub community with FPV drones,» Vitalii Kim wrote there were no casualties as a result of the attacks in Mykolaiv Oblast on the night of October 12 We will remind you that on Thursday, October 10, the Russian army hit Mykolaiv twice with ballistics. The first blow was heard at 11:45 7 minutes after the start of the air raid alert As a result of the Russian attack, residential buildings in Mykolaiv were damaged so the city council will provide materials to temporarily close broken windows Before that, on the evening of October 9, at 10:15 p.m., the enemy attacked an infrastructure object on the outskirts of Mykolaiv with X-59/X-69 cruise missiles A training program for training women tractor drivers has started in Snihurivka with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine and the Danish government This is stated in the UNDP Ukraine report Someone drives a minibus and raises three children But all of them aspire to master the profession of a tractor driver The future female tractor drivers have already mastered the theoretical part and practice driving - five days a week for six hours They will be able to get the right to drive a tractor only after passing the state certification in the fall of 2024 who has been teaching tractor driving for more than 20 years says this is the first time he is teaching women But I will definitely remember this group for a long time but after seeing the interested eyes of the students at the first lesson I realized that it would be an interesting experience Future female tractor drivers have already successfully completed the theory and moved on to practice someone has to take care of our fields,» said Anatolii Stepanovych We will remind, in Mykolaiv on July 18 , another group of trolleybus drivers completed their training at the base of KP «Mykolaivelectrotrans». 15 students received certificates who has been fighting as part of the «Sparta» reconnaissance battalion under the command of Arsen Pavlov-«Motorola» since 2014 took part in the occupation of his hometown The court sentenced him to 15 years in absentia The relevant verdict was passed by the Snihurivka District Court on 17 March witnesses told about the pro-Russian views of 33-year-old Mykola Slyvka he took part in rallies in support of Russia he claimed that he would fight for an illegal armed group in Donetsk Slyvka joined the illegal armed group «Separate Marine Reconnaissance Battalion» in 2017 they saw him armed at a Russian checkpoint near the Employment Centre and at a local market in Snihurivka They also recognised him in one of the videos where Slyvka campaigned for the illegal armed group «Sparta» together with Arsen Pavlov-«Motorola» The man was tried under three articles: creation of a terrorist organisation The court sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property He is a 35-year-old resident of the Krasnodar Territory «whose exploits» are now taught to children in Russia Mayors of cities in Mykolaiv region have published their declarations for 2024 NikVesti analysed the declarations of the mayors of eight cities: Pervomaisk and the head of the Snihurivka City Military Administration Pervomaisk mayor Oleh Demchenko receives the highest salary and Snihurivka mayor Ivan Kukhta earns the lowest salary Read more about the declarations of city mayors in the article NikVesti In his 2024 declaration, Pervomaisk Mayor Oleh Demchenko indicated that he owns only a 36.2 square metre apartment in Pervomaisk All other real estate is owned by his wife Iryna She owns real estate in Kharkiv: one 91.2 square metre apartment and another in joint ownership His wife owns 18 land plots in Mykolaiv region She owns 25% each of a 1,285.3 square metre shop and a 1,552 square metre land plot The mayor's wife also leases non-residential premises of 53.5 square metres and 21 square metres of land in Pervomaisk and another 210.3 square metres of land in 2024 The couple also use a land plot and a 210.7-square-metre house in Pervomaisk The mayor of Pervomaisk also declared that he owns a car «Volga» and his wife owns a PORSCHE CAYENNE made in 2013 which she bought in 2019 for UAH 400 thousand Oleh Demchenko received ₴1.3 million in salary as mayor of Pervomaisk And his wife received ₴556 thousand from renting out property the couple sold a 36.2 square metre apartment in Pervomaisk and a NISSAN X-TRAIL car The mayor declared ₴90.8 thousand from the sale of the property The mayor of Pervomaisk keeps 100 thousand hryvnias and 10 thousand dollars in cash while his wife keeps 300 thousand hryvnias the mayor's wife took out a ₴5 million loan The couple also have over ₴300,000 and $2.3,000 in their bank accounts Voznesensk Mayor Yevhen Velychko indicated in his declaration that he owns a 56.8 square metre apartment in Voznesensk and a 20,000 square metre plot of land in the village of Akmechetski Stavky His wife Anna owns 25% of an apartment in Voznesensk with a total area of 66 square metres live in a 137.7-square-metre house in Voznesensk owned by Alla Velychko Yevhen Velychko also owns five trucks and a 2012 FIAT DOBLO car the mayor sold his 2010 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT CC for ₴400,000 which she bought the same year for ₴1.1 million Yevhen Velychko received ₴687,700 in salary as mayor of Voznesensk His wife Hanna received ₴6,800 in social benefits The mayor of Voznesensk keeps 267,700 hryvnias and 7,000 euros in cash Yevhen Velychko also declared that he and his wife have $78,200 in cash The mayor of Pivdenoukrainsk, Valerii Onufriienko which he purchased in 2021 for ₴1.1 million In the first 9 months of 2024, the mayor received ₴583,000 in salary, which is an average of UAH 64,800 per month. After his resignation, Valerii Onufriienko was reinstated as mayor by a court decision in April 2024 the mayor's wife received UAH 134,600 in pension and Valerii Onufriienko himself received UAH 219,000 And their daughter received ₴804,700 in salary from the state-owned enterprise «NNEGC «Energoatom» The mayor of Bashtanka, Oleksandr Berehovyi declared two houses in Bashtanka with a total area of 114.6 square metres He also owns two non-residential premises there Oleksandr Berehovyi has also been renting a non-residential premises with an area of 100 square metres he has owned another 1,000 square metres of land in Bashtanka his wife Yelyzaveta has owned a 44-square-metre apartment in Mykolaiv and two non-residential premises in Mykolaiv with a total area of 70.3 square metres She also owns another non-residential property of 251.84 square metres and a 23.4 square metre garage in Bashtanka The mayor's wife also owns a non-residential property in the village of Pyatikhatky The wife of the mayor of Bashtanka owns three plots of land in Bashtanka and the village of Mykhailivka Their total area is 92.3 thousand square metres She also leases a 366 square metre plot of land in Bashtanka Oleksandr Berehovyi declared three cars owned by his wife Yelyzaveta which she purchased in 2018 for ₴193.1 thousand; a 2021 SKODA KODIAQ which she purchased in 2021 for over ₴1 million; and a 2023 SKODA KAMIQ which she purchased in 2023 for ₴941.1 thousand The mayor of Bashtanka has had a car trailer since 2008 Oleksandr Berehovyi received ₴854 thousand in salary as mayor of Bashtanka which is an average of ₴71.1 thousand per month He also received a gift of 179 thousand hryvnias from his wife His wife received ₴2.9 million in income from business activities and ₴35.4 thousand from renting property The mayor of Bashtanka keeps 140 thousand hryvnias in cash while his wife keeps 25 thousand dollars and 1.5 million hryvnias The mayor of Novyi Buh, Maksym Lahodiienko declared a 122-square-metre house and a 36-square-metre apartment in Novyi Buh He also owns three plots of land in Novyi Buh Maksym Lahodiienko has another land plot in the village of Pokazne And his wife owns two plots of land in Novyi Buh Maksym Lahodienko received ₴965.1 thousand in salary as mayor of Novyi Buh which is an average of ₴80.4 thousand per month He received another ₴27.5 thousand for «independent professional activity» from the Department of Education Youth and Sports of the Executive Committee of the Novi Buh City Council His wife Victoria received 195,300 hryvnias in salary from a private rental company «Victoriia» The head of the Snihurivka local military administration, Ivan Kukhta The total value of the spouses' land plots as of the date of acquisition of the right was ₴363,300 Ivan Kukhta's wife owns a 66.8 square metre apartment in Mykolaiv and a 1.1 hectare land plot in the village of Rybakivka Yevheniia Onyshchenko also jointly owns a 230-square-metre office with Yurii Chichkov and a 240-square-metre plot of land in Bashtanka Ivan Kukhta owns three cars: Volkswagen transporter made in 2006 He also owns a 1996 Mercedes-Benz 609 D bus His wife Yevheniia Onyshchenko owns an Opel Insignia made in 2013 The declaration states that Ivan Kukhta's wife owns the company «Kiv-trans» with a registered capital of 100 thousand hryvnias The company's main business activity is wholesale trade in grain Ivan Kukhta received UAH 279.1 thousand in salary as the head of Snihurivka DMA which is an average of ₴23.2 thousand per month He received another 24 thousand hryvnias of income from the company «Kiv-Trans» and 1200 hryvnias of income from the company «Yug-Tir-Service» His wife received ₴20,600 in social benefits The couple have no registered bank accounts The mayor of Nova Odesa, Oleksandr Polyakov declared a 69.6 square metre residential building in Nova Odesa and a 508 square metre land plot His wife Victoria owns a 20,000 square metre plot of land in the village of Novoshmydtivka Oleksandr Polyakov earned ₴898,300 in salary as mayor His wife received ₴88.2 thousand in salary from the Department for Interaction with Local Self-Government Bodies of the Mykolaiv District State Administration She received another ₴16.3 thousand in part-time salary from the Charitable Organisation «Charitable Foundation «Adventist Agency for Relief and Development in Ukraine» but the amount of money kept on them is not specified The income declaration of the mayor of Ochakiv, Serhii Bychkov, is still classified by the National Agency for the Corruption Prevention. However, after checking the mayor's declarations for 2021 and 2022, the National Agency reported that Serhii Bychkov purchased an apartment in Spain worth more than ₴5 million and received ₴12 million as a gift from his mother The NACP said that the inspections revealed signs of illicit enrichment and declaration of false information worth more than ₴3 million He also allegedly received gifts in cash from his mother worth over ₴12 million these funds exceed the woman's legal income which since 1998 has amounted to only more than 580,000 hryvnias «The income of the mayor of Ochakiv and his wife from confirmed sources also did not allow them to purchase an apartment in Spain at their own expense noted an increase in monetary assets by ₴2 million in the reporting period the legality of the sources of which was not confirmed during the inspection» And also, what is stated in the declarations of the heads of district state administrations in Mykolaiv region and heads of district administrations in Mykolaiv Implemented with the support of the Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine and Amediastiftelsen as part of the Regional Media Support Hub project The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the partners Головна Сторінка » English stories » Planned abuse: during the occupation of Snihurivka Russians took people to torture chambers according to lists Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region, was under the occupation of the Russian army for 8 months. On November 10, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the town told the Slidstvo.Info journalists about the torture chambers set up by the Russians and about life during the Russian occupation Russian aviation dropped 4 air bombs on Snihurivka with the help of parachutes which resulted in the destruction of civilian houses and a military enlistment office our flag was still hanging on the city council a local resident Denys recalls the arrival of the Russians the Russian military began to conduct searches and abduct people We told them that there were no soldiers here let alone any military facilities,” says Denys The man recalls that the Russians had lists of people they planned to kidnap they were “working out” people who were in the territorial defense anti-terrorist operation (the name of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts used before 2018 – transl.) And at the checkpoint there were already these lists… the car could be turned around because the person on the list was not allowed to leave,” says Denys It is still unknown exactly how many people were killed and disappeared in Snihurivka there are people who were there not one day they were deprived of water and food,” Denys recalls “Local people found him in the neighborhood with very serious injuries and rescued him at home It is currently known about the torture chambers that the occupants deployed in the buildings of the national police The head of the Snihurivka city military administration Ivan Kukhta told journalists about this the head of the Snihurivka city military administration “We know that tortures took place in the district police station It is destroyed… We will demine the destroyed buildings later see what the situation is there,” says Mr Ivan Kukhta says that they are currently recording testimonies of people tortured by Russians There are many destroyed and looted houses in the city Local residents of Snihurivka say that Russians abducted not only Ukrainian servicemen my friend and I were kidnapped by Russians and taken to the basement of the elevator We stayed there for 4 days without food and water,” recalls 15-year-old Nastia Russian soldiers kidnapped the teenagers and threatened to cut off their fingers if they did not tell them about the Ukrainian military “They wanted to know about the Armed Forces about the military… We say we know nothing After that they left and never came back,” says Nastia For several days the children tried to get out of the basement on their own “We were trying to break the door for two days Then in the evening we started hammering and hammering and finally broke it,” the girl recalls Nastya said that the Russian military abducted two more girls “There was such a thing (abduction of women and children – ed.) then they were abducted and are still missing,” says Nastia she also does not know where her friend Vitaliy is who was beaten by Russians for hanging the flag of Ukraine his nickname is “Kaban” (“Boar” in English transl.) and half of the house was left at my grandmother’s house on Shevchenko street (street in Snihurivka – ed.) we do not know where he is now,” the girl says many units and various military formations of the Russian Federation visited Snihurivka soldiers from the “LPR” and “DPR” (the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics self-declared quasi-states established by the Russian Federation on the occupied territory of certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine – transl.) as well as Rosguards and Tyumen riot police in the town Information about the people who were visited by the Russians was provided by collaborators “I was detained twice: once – for a day Interrogations were conducted five times a day with psychological and physical influences,” says Andriy Zherdev The man says that the cells in which the Russians kept the abducted people were overcrowded Andriy heard how the military interrogated the townspeople how many there were… According to rumors on some days – up to 40 people… I heard it was impossible not to hear how they (Russians – ed.) interrogated,” Andriy recalls Andriy says that local collaborators pointed at him because the man financed the territorial defense He believes that it was a revenge for the fact that his son helped to defend Snihurivka since the beginning of the war but in fact I have not yet proved their (local collaborators – ed.) involvement because I need “iron” documents or confessions,” the man says The head of the military administration of Snihurivka Ivan Kukhta told the reporters that the collaborators who held high-ranking “positions” fled together with the Russian military but many executors of the orders of the occupation authorities remained in the city “There are those who directly organized the processes Not these leaders who gave orders for certain actions directly organized the referendum but those who helped in the organization,” he said Now police and Security Service of Ukraine officers are working in Snihurivka as the Russians left behind many mined buildings Slidstvo.Info agency traced the path of the 27-year-old Viktoria uncovering the conditions of her detention in .. who for the first time shared her experience of imprisonment and what is .. The Command of the Ground Forces told Slidstvo.Info that Oscar was captured in Luhansk Oblast and has been .. (Getty Images)Russia's gradual retreat reached a sudden climax on Nov when Moscow announced the withdrawal of its forces from the right bank of the Dnipro River Upon the recommendation of Sergei Surovikin Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the retreat of all remaining troops to the left bank of the Dnipro Maintaining the presence of Russian units on the right bank of the river was "hopeless," Surovikin said in his televised conversation with Shoigu and resources will be freed up for new activities Ukrainian forces have already entered several settlements on the way to Kherson on Nov including the strategic town of Snihurivka and is the only Ukrainian regional capital captured by Russia since the launch of its full-scale invasion in February Kherson Oblast was among the four Ukrainian regions Russia said it had annexed on Sept The possible loss of Kherson is a major blow to Russian war aims in Ukraine Little information is currently available about the progress of the Russian retreat and the extent to which it was completed before Shoigu's announcement was made Neither the Ukrainian General Staff nor any other representative of the military has given an official response to Russia's announcement the General Staff reported on developments in other areas of the war but omitted any details about the Kherson front In the first official response from the Ukrainian side, Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine, urged caution in taking Russia's words at face value "Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal," Podolyak told Reuters The announcement comes after months of anticipation of a Russian retreat from Kherson and the surrounding areas Ukraine initially announced its counteroffensive to retake the city back on Aug Although large areas further north were liberated in early October Ukraine's counteroffensive had failed to make significant territorial gains in the area near the city Though Russia was understood to have heavily fortified and reinforced the occupied right bank of the Dnipro the Ukrainian army has had a significant logistical advantage in the area having damaged the only two bridges across the river with a series of precision rocket strikes starting in July Signs of Russia's intention to withdraw from Kherson began to appear in the first days of November when Russian flags started disappearing from key administration buildings in the city Residents also reported checkpoints in Kherson being abandoned by Russian troops occupying forces also began removing statues of Russian military figures as well as the remains of Russian imperial general Grigorii Potemkin from Kherson's St Catherine's Cathedral These moves were just the tip of the iceberg of a wave of reported looting of valuable items from the city from artworks in galleries to electronic equipment in hospitals and schools Ukrainian units deployed on the front line between Kherson and Mykolaiv expected a difficult fight to retake the occupied right bank Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukraine's Intelligence Directorate, had earlier in October called the signals of withdrawal "an information operation and manipulation in many aspects." Details from the ground about the Ukrainian advance remain scarce as Ukrainian officials have urged maximum secrecy Ukrainian forces reportedly entered several settlements on the way to Kherson Early in the afternoon, photographs were posted on local Snihurivka Telegram channels of a Ukrainian flag raised on a telecommunications tower near the town's train station Around the same time, a selfie was posted to social media of a Ukrainian soldier in front of a destroyed bridge quickly geolocated to being outside the village of Kalynivske in Kherson Oblast Throughout the day, dozens of photographs began to emerge on social media of more bridges being destroyed throughout the occupied areas on the right bank of the Dnipro, including just outside Snihurivka Speaking anonymously to the Kyiv Independent a Ukrainian officer posted near Snihurivka confirmed that Ukrainian forces had entered the town and are continuing to advance Hi, I'm Francis Farrell, who wrote this piece on a day which heralded another historic victory for the Ukrainian army, though the road to the liberation of Kherson remains fraught with danger. Liberating Kherson means more shelling, more torture chambers, more mass graves, and we will be there on the ground as soon as possible to keep our readers updated. Please consider continuing to support our reporting Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker despite the fear of encountering an unexploded shell grazes cows on a mined field on the outskirts of the city The man told NikVesti why he has to risk his life but they did not give a 100% guarantee that the field is safe Bohdan Reshetniak has to write off his livestock because he was unable to prepare enough food for the cows also due to mining but they said that it is still not desirable,» said the man this is the only more or less safe place for cattle grazing all other fields in the district remain mined the cows went a little further into the field These were my neighbor's cows,» said Bohdan Reshetniak He also said that after de-occupation he found about 50-60 explosive devices in Snihurivka But the man assures that he knows how to behave properly in such situations don't get too close and call the emergency services,» said the man It should be noted that the Snihurivka territorial community is the territory of the Mykolaiv region most littered with explosive objects the community has 10,000 hectares of land in need of survey and further demining Read the article by NikVesti about the residents of the community who were blown up by landmines «I have no legs, how will I walk": the story of two brothers from the Mykolaiv region who survived after being blown up by landmines Also, NikVesti explained what mines are and how to act if you find a suspicious object According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine 277 were killed during the detonation of mines and other explosive objects 14 children were among those killed by mines Last year, 2023, 17 people, including one child, died in the Mykolaiv Oblast due to the detonation of ammunition According to the calculations of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (ESES) there were a total of 57 cases of detonation of the civilian population by landmines last year On November 24, 2022, a case of mine detonation was recorded in the de-occupied Snigurivska community in the Mykolayiv region. Employees of the State Emergency Service were killed and wounded On December 15, 2022, a man found two anti-personnel mines left behind by the Russian military in one of the villages of Snihurivka region. The shells were detonated. A 26-year-old man died on the spot. Subsequently, on April 22, 2022, in the town of Snihurivka, near the former mineral water plant, two residents of the community were blown up by an anti-personnel mine On September 20, 2023, a car carrying two men was blown up by a mine in Snihurivka. One of them died on the spot, the second man was hospitalized. Later, on October 11, a combine exploded on a mine in a field near the town of Snigurivka The driver was injured as a result of the explosion and is in the hospital Also, on February 1, 2024 , four people were detonated by a mine near the village of Yevgenivka in the Mykolaiv region. On March 5, 2024 , a 38-year-old man blew himself up in the village of Bezimenne We would like to remind you that on March 12, 2024, an interactive safety class was opened at the base of the Department of Emergency Situations in the Mykolaiv region, where children will be taught the rules of handling explosive objects Earlier, in August 2023, Mykolaiv rescuers created a mobile mine safety class which works in various settlements of the region It was created to minimize risks and reach as many residents of the region as possible especially in the de-occupied territories or in settlements where active hostilities were taking place Video released today shows Ukrainian soldiers in Snihurivka following Russian claims yesterday that they had left the town Sky News has geolocated the video to Snihurivka just over 30 miles from the centre of Kherson Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The court classified the victims as civilians who maintained their protective status Some 20 servicemen have already been identified and suspected of mistreating villagers A Russian National Guard Captain has been sentenced in absentia to ten years in prison for ordering the torture of Ukrainian police officers during the occupation of the town of Snihurivka in the Mykolaiv region in March 2022 the Snihurivka District Court of Mykolaiv Region handed the prison term to 34-year-old Anton Kabayev Article 438 of the criminal code of Ukraine concerning the violations of the laws and customs of war After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 Russian forces quickly seized the Kherson region The invading army then advanced toward the neighbouring Mykolaiv region.  Russian troops occupied the 12,000-resident town of Snihurivka located on the bank of the Inhulets river near the border between Mykolaiv and Kherson regions The capture of Snihurivka held strategic importance as it is a key railway and road junction providing access to Mykolaiv Ukrainian investigators report that the occupying forces in the town included soldiers from the 23rd Obereg special forces detachment military unit 6830 of the Russian National Guard based in Chelyabinsk in the Ural region.  Kabayev commanded the second group within this detachment From the first day of the occupation of Snihurivka Russian forces conducted raids and s-called filtering operations – an illegal procedure involving document checks and interrogations entered a local residence where he ordered the unlawful detention of three men and a young woman The men were separated and placed into different rooms of the house stripped and searched for tattoos that might indicate their political allegiance the whereabouts of artillery spotters and their service in the armed forces of Ukraine or the territorial defence One man was beaten and tortured in the bedroom another one in the kitchen and the third one in the garage Kabayev himself participated in the torture holding a knife to one man’s throat while claiming that he had shot his friend in the adjacent room the detained woman was ordered to sit on a bench in the yard She heard gunshots coming from the house and garage and feared that the men had been killed The Russian soldiers failed to obtain any answers during their interrogations They took the detainees to their headquarters at the local cafe in the town centre ordered them to cooperate and then released them According to the verdict against the Russian captain published in the Ukrainian Register of Court Decisions not members of the Ukrainian armed forces and had not been involved in combat operations The court examined crime scene reports and victim reenactments recounted how Russian soldiers in balaclavas rushed into the yard.  She said the accused introduced himself as a captain and was the only one without a balaclava The testimonies given during the reenactments were corroborated by the victims in court At the start of the occupation of Snihurivka the officers hid their service weapons and gathered at the married couple’s home to discuss the situation.  they suddenly heard the roar of engines along with the command face down!” A Russian armoured personnel carrier The victim who was abused in the garage recounted in court that the Russian soldiers already knew that they were policemen.  “They demanded information about other police officers the territorial defence and the military recruitment centre They accused him of directing artillery fire at their positions they kicked him in the torso and chest,” the victim stated in testimony recorded in the Ukrainian Register of Court Decisions “There was a senior officer among these soldiers forced to kneel and shot near the head – an incident that temporarily impaired his hearing.  they tied my hands and legs behind my back put me face down at the edge of a bed so that my upper body dangled above the floor and had to be held up and then placed an inverted stool under my face stuffing socks into my mouth,” the victim testified in court they demanded the location of my weapon.”  captain OSOBA_8 [the designation for Kabayev in court records where his personal data is hidden] and provided his mobile phone number,” the female police officer said.  He also asked her if she was a police officer and inquired about the location of her service weapon pleading with the Russians not to kill her colleagues The fourth victim testified in court that Russian soldiers interrogating them refused to believe that the detainees were police officers The Russians insisted they were military and demanded to know where their weapons were hidden The victim later recognised the accused by voice recalling that as they were marched down the street to a cafe serving as the Russian headquarters it was this man – according to the police officer – who held a knife to his throat He said that his friends were already dead and he would be next unless he revealed information He also asked the victim about his sneakers and what running standard he achieved as a police officer he commented that the “Russian Guard wouldn’t have taken him,” the victim said in court Released by the Russians after being given time to consider potential collaboration the victims managed to escape from occupation to Ukrainian-controlled territory several days later Ukrainian forces de-occupied Snihurivka nearly eight months afterwards Kabayev was tried in absentia after ignoring subpoenas and court summons; according to the prosecution he is currently located in a temporarily occupied area of Ukraine The investigation revealed Kabayev’s passport details and confirmed that his special forces unit had been stationed in occupied Snihurivka The victims identified him from a photo lineup of 11 individuals with similar features The court did not classify the victims as combatants - that is as direct participants in hostilities as part of a nation's armed forces during wartime the court upheld that the victims maintained their civilian status and were under protective status “The fact that the victims were serving as police officers performing law enforcement duties at the time does not automatically render them combatants,” the court ruled “The court has established that they were detained simply for being police officers – not for engaging in direct resistance to the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine There is no evidence in the case to suggest that the police unit to which the victims belonged had been incorporated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces or was implementing tasks that might have endangered the occupying forces.” Kabayev’s defence attorney from the Centre for Free Legal Aid argued in court for a lighter sentence for the accused citing his client's status as a serviceman and claiming he acted under duress the court ruled that the charges against Kabayev were substantiated Kabayev’s defence team has 30 days to appeal If no appeal is filed and the verdict stands the sentence will begin when the Russian commander is captured 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 Mood on frontline buoyant in face of increasingly ‘panicking’ Russian forces Danilo and two fellow soldiers stared intently at a screen call in an artillery strike and see where it lands a member of Ukraine’s 63rd Mechanised Brigade The drone offered a panoramic view of the city of Snihurivka occupied since the spring by Russian troops pointing to the feed that showed a puff of grey smoke The trio were standing next to a white satellite dish connected to Elon Musk’s Starlink system Immediately behind them was a well-developed network of first world war-style trenches For months the Russians were a mere kilometre away A member of the 63rd Brigade in a frontline position just outside Snihurivka.On Wednesday The Kremlin was retreating from its positions in Snihurivka and other villages on the right bank of the Dnipro The ruined city is in a sliver of Mykolaiv oblast close to the administrative border with the Kherson region and the occupied city of Kherson said the Russian army had blown up all of the bridges over a tributary river Russian forces had destroyed a bridge over an empty canal turning it into an impassable concrete V shape “The occupiers are preparing their withdrawal They are disabling the bridges to deter our advance.” The Russians had beefed up some of their positions on the road south of Snihurivka to give cover to departing troops Russia’s defence minister confirmed his forces would soon be leaving right-bank Kherson part of a territory Vladimir Putin “annexed” in September the Ukrainian army pushed cautiously forward Military traffic could be seen on the road to the frontline including T-72 tanks on loaders and a US-supplied Himars long-range artillery system The war for the south of Ukraine was being conducted as a rhythmic aerial duel Every few minutes there was a loud “wump” from outgoing Ukrainian fire Soon afterwards came an answering cascade of Russian Grad missiles: whoosh The surrounding sunflower fields are pitted with projectiles sticking out of the ground like angry white hairpins a column of black smoke poured over the horizon A fuel depot or a Russian armoured vehicle,” he said Members of Ukraine’s 63rd Brigade in the underground part of a frontline trench.Moscow is reported to have sent 80,000 newly mobilised personnel into combat Their task is to defend the territory Russia illegally seized in the spring and follows a rapid Ukrainian counteroffensive in September and October in the north-eastern Kharkiv and Kherson regions About 800 had arrived on the Mykolaiv front Ukrainian officers describe these recruits as untrained One of them went to the toilet in the middle of the night using a flashlight We identified their tank position and destroyed it,” said Lt Oleh Zelinskiy “They try to shoot down our drones with automatic weapons They don’t understand that drones can drop bombs Russian soldiers who surrendered or got captured were treated humanely in contrast to the torture meted out to Ukrainian prisoners of war A room with empty bottles at a Ukrainian position close to the frontline.Zelinskiy said his brigade was also up against more experienced airborne troops as well as fighters from the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic These combined Russian forces have been building defensive positions around Kherson city while at the same time deporting residents to Crimea and beyond A stockpile of Ukrainian mortars on one of which someone has written: ‘Hi from Pasichnaya’ a village in west Ukraine.The first signs of a Russian retreat came two weeks ago Residents still living in Snihurivka said the Russians had taken away all the equipment from the city’s hospital from his burial place in a cathedral crypt the Russian flag was removed from Kherson’s maritime academy and trade union buildings They have also moved out newer tanks and left behind older armoured vehicles Draftees have been busy fortifying a fallback line on the Dnipro’s left bank A member of the 63rd Brigade crouches down.Moscow’s ministry of defence had claimed everything was going to plan “All attacks by the Ukrainian army in the Kherson region have been repulsed,” it said pro-Kremlin media reported that Kirill Stremousov the deputy head of the Russian-installed Kherson administration “The Russians understand they have to leave Kherson We are not obsessed with deadlines or symbolic dates.” He doesn’t mind if 1,000 soldiers die in a doomed offensive We have a democratic president and might get a different one in a few years’ time We have to balance the lives of our soldiers against the suffering of Ukrainians living under occupation Andriy, a mortar operator with Ukraine’s 63rd Brigade, walks through a trench.‘Unlike the Russians I know why I’m here We defend our land,’ says Andriy.Back in the trenches a soldier called Andriy gave a tour of his underground living quarters a pasty and grape juice; fellow soldier Valeriy tucked into potato with salo (pork fat) “Eight months ago I left my home in Lviv to fight,” Andriy said “I would like the war to finish as soon as possible We defend our land.” At the far end of the trench was a store of high-explosive fin-tailed shells Andriy’s mortar launcher sat under a leafless tree “I only fire when I get an order,” he said “We’ve finished for today.” Valeriy praised the antitank weapons supplied by the UK adding: “Russia kaput!” The west must send more air defences in order for Ukraine to kick the Russians out fully Behind their forward location is a village Dogs and cats roam a glass-strewn alleyway in front of what was a primary school Andriy’s platoon had carefully stored hundreds of plastic bottles making it easier for drone operators to spot them civilians had donated warm clothes and food with the whole of Ukraine supporting the war effort The journey to the front involves a hair-raising drive along a dirt road and water culvert in range earlier this week of Russian guns Danilo and his drone crew said their afternoon had been successful they would destroy a Russian outpost every two or three days Ukrainian troops had reportedly entered Snihurivka’s northern outskirts Danilo added: “We would not be here if we didn’t believe in victory Invasion by Luke Harding (Guardian Faber, £20). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com A court has found Russian servicemen Ruslan Akhmetov and Azret Batdyiev guilty of cruel treatment of civilians in the village of Novikiivka in Mykolaiv region and sentenced them to 11 and 12 years in prison in absentia This is evidenced by the verdict of the Snihurivka District Court of 28 April It should be noted that in July 2024, the court imprisoned pensioner Hryhorii Dragunenko for aiding the Russians in the case The village was occupied from 4 March to 11 November the soldiers of the 1st Motorised Rifle Company of the 126th Separate Guards Brigade of the Russian Coastal Defence paramedic Ruslan Akhmetov and assistant grenade launcher Azret Batdyiev tortured and threatened to kill seven villagers When the occupiers faced a water shortage in July 2022 they found a house in the village with a water intake point equipped with a water pump which they wanted to use for their own needs The locals found out about it and dismantled the pump together with their fellow villagers A list of their names and surnames was handed over to Akhmetov and Batdyiev along with other members of the military group the Russians could not find their places of residence on their own they travelled around the village looking for the people on the list They brought the detainees to the area near the cemetery so that «would not have to carry» far and ordered them to line up taken behind a beam and staged to be executed by shooting over their heads and forced to play a game of draw for their own lives — they were ordered to pull a stick to find out who would be killed first while Batdyiev shot at the ground at their feet the Russian military kicked them in the face forced them to their knees and threatened to shoot them They were then released and given until the morning to return the pump Ruslan Akhmetov was sentenced to 12 years in prison Earlier, it was reported that two Russian servicemen would be tried in absentia for illegal detention in inhumane conditions and torture of a civilian resident of the former temporarily occupied territory of Mykolaiv region In most big cities, the average worker struggles to afford their own place Investors are chasing resilience, not dazzling returns By Donald Trump’s telling it did. The data suggest otherwise It is the most democratic region in the world. But people are increasingly fed up Ukraine launched a counteroffensive that some military analysts have interpreted as the most decisive response to the Russian invasion since the beginning of the war The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Office have refrained from comment so far The South Operative Command announced the beginning of the AFU’s offensive but sources in Ukrainian security agencies argued that the announcement had been hasty and the counteroffensive had not in fact begun who are normally forthcoming in their comments on combat activity The first strikes were launched on the night of August 29 on Russian facilities in Kherson including a munitions warehouse in a Ukrainian penal colony with the addition of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam Four communities on the Kherson front have been liberated; available data suggest the first line of Russian defense has been breached. At first, Russia denied the breach but then admitted that Ukrainian troops had begun offensive activities in the Kherson and the Mykolaiv regions Judging by the reports of Russian and Ukrainian army representatives and military correspondents, the Ukrainian counteroffensive is unfolding in three directions. The first front is in the west of the Kherson Region, where CNN has reported the liberation of Pravdyne The data of Ukraine Battle Map also suggest the Ukrainians have retaken Oleksandrivka The operation began on the night of August 29 with a massive shelling of the Russian positions on the right bank of the Dnieper One of Ukraine's objectives in the counteroffensive is to encircle a large group of Russian troops in the area The information provided to The Insider's correspondent by his sources in the Ukrainian military further confirms CNN’s reports: AFU troops have started advancing along the line Kisomys – Nova Dmytrivka – Tomyna Balka Russians are trying to regain their footing in the settlement of Blahodatne leaving at least five dead and three times as many wounded As the pro-Russian military correspondent Roman Saponkov reports the Ukrainian Army launched an attack outside Davydiv Brid and liberated the community of Sukhyi Stavok that “Russians respond to every [Ukrainian] shell with a dozen of theirs” but separatists and fighters mobilized in the Donbas republics are fleeing from the battlefield The second front is the direction of Mykolaiv with resumed combat activities in the vicinity of Posad-Pokrovske and Luparevo in the west of Kherson Region and the vicinity of Davydiv Brid and Vysokopillia in the north of Kherson Region Russian troops will not be able to retreat with their weapons and vehicles as Ukrainian military expert Oleh Zhdanov points out in conversation with The Insider The third front of the offensive is the north of the Kherson Region The AFU’s successes near Andriivka have been reported by the pro-Russian channels Rybar and Grey Zone with the latter allegedly connected to the Wagner PMC Battles near the Inhulets base of operations and near Snihurivka as well as a direct offensive toward Kherson are visible on NASA Firms satellite images of fires reports (without specifying the source) that the AFU have started using HIMARS against infantry and not only military facilities in the rear such as munitions warehouses and command points The offensive may have been facilitated by the AFU receiving an efficient tool for suppressing Russian air defense: AGM-88 HARM missiles for the MiG-29 aircraft as Air Force colonel Viktor Alksnis remarked to The Insider he doubts the compatibility of MiGs with American missiles: The modernization included installing a new mission computer Furthermore, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported a fire in an “abandoned facility” south of Sevastopol on August 29. OSINTtechnical, an anonymous OSINT analyst on Twitter, said it was a Russian radar unit Cape Fiolent in Crimea holds at least one 55Zh6U Nebo-U radar system and a 48Ya6-K1 Podlet all-purpose mobile radar unit most likely attached to the nearby S-400 air-defense missile battery Even though many experts, including those interviewed by The Insider, interpret the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a major development, others tend to be more skeptical. Thus, the Russian military observer Ilya Kramnik does not believe in the AFU's offensive potential, as he argued on his Telegram channel including when it comes to coordinating large armored formations makes one doubt the feasibility of such plans in the absence of drastic changes across multiple aspects from logistics to the matters of orchestrating large joint force groupings on the battlefield offensive operations will continue to unfold in the usual format: a measured progression of battalion groups following the advancement of the artillery firing positions the most far-sighted commanders began preparing for winter as early as in June Now even the most careless ones have gotten down to it.” the Russian Armed Forces are reporting progress in its “special operation” publishing unrealistic figures of enemy losses According to the Russian Ministry of Defense the Russian troops have “smothered the Ukrainian offensive” 37 armored vehicles of miscellaneous types and eight pickup trucks with large-caliber machine guns – all within 24 hours Pro-Russian Telegram channels are also broadcasting videos of “destroyed Ukrainian military convoys” although these videos only show individual losses We really need your help! 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Сделано в Charmer устарел и не позволяет корректно отображать сайт another map of the northern area of Russian occupation in the Kherson area Not all the villages and towns marked have been confirmed That in itself shows another huge change in Kherson this week: Opsec near radio silence from the forces stationed in Kherson Ukrainian troops made that daring doubleback in which they crossed a pontoon bridge built by Russia to free a Russian-occupied town But when it came to videos and images from Ukrainian forces Whoever gave that lecture on how loose iPhones sink infantry Only now there are videos and more videos of the towns and villages liberated in the last two days comes complete with a video of Ukrainian forces strolling in locals giving them a tearful greeting (along with the occasional apple or watermelon) the rapid advance of Ukrainian forces had brought them down to the line that supposedly represented Russia’s fallback position: A line running from Bruskynske to Borozenske to Mylove Each of these positions is reportedly beefed up by Russian forces that retreated from the front lines and each reportedly has defensive positions that Russia hopes to use in holding the roads that lead down to Berislav (bottom of the map) reports from Telegram sources indicate that this line is already broken Russian sources now tell the defensive line towards Beryslav is broken, and that AFU units are pushing to the city from two sides already (north and east). They also say that there is nearly nothing left of the 126th brigade. pic.twitter.com/QhaulvgZ3k "Ukrainian formations will continue to push through the defensive orders of the Russian armed forces The nearest goal of the armed forces of Ukraine is Berislav and New Kakhovka A new phase of the battle for Kherson begins Whether Russia has been able to get anyone across the Dnipro to Nova Kakhovka is unclear retreated across the Inhulets River at the west side of the map and crowded around the city of Kherson where they can neither be adequately supplied nor relieved or flying horse will come to take them away before Ukrainian forces reach the town Because Berislave is only about four small blocks deep along it’s whole length with the back of the town flat against the river There’s a small quarry near the northwest side of town providing a bit of a ditch and a hill composed of spoil and it’s hard to see where thousands of Russians could position themselves in this area without just getting the snot beaten out of them Russian guns on the east of the Dnipro will likely set up across the river and attempt to give the trapped forces cover but a town this narrow doesn’t make the most comfortable place to be when shells are arcing overhead And Ukraine is absolutely going to declare it HIMARS O’Clock if there’s a big cluster of Russian forces gathered in this place this is actually the site of the Turkish fortress city of Kazikermen from which a legendary iron chain was raised across the Dnipro and it’s also home to the ruins of a 14th century castle So someone in the past apparently thought this was a decent spot to hole up those folks in the past had never heard of artillery Where is the actual front line at the moment I can only tell you this: The map at the top of this page Ukraine has liberated a third of the territory on the west side of the Dnipro By the time we get confirmation of the new positions Ukraine has been pushing across a wide front Now they both seem set to collide across the river from Nova Kakhovka What happens here is going to be significant Ukraine just has to get there. Meanwhile I had to double check it but it is circulating that the strategically important city of Snihurivka has been liberated by AFU. #Mykolaiv #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/WOjBpBUcm1 Snihurivka guards a highway that leads right into the city of Kherson and there are few spots along that highway suitable for defense until right in the suburbs of the city Could Ukraine actually go for Kherson and Nova Kakhovka at the same time New goodies for Ukraine.  The precision-guided artillery rounds are particularly important to hit entrenched armor in that last line of defense around Kherson and Nova Kakhovka The remote anti-tank mine shells are a curious addition I’m wondering why Ukraine asked for them given how quickly they are punching through Russian lines.  as all military equipment is prone to frequent break downs as we’ve seen a handful destroyed by Russia.  and can be towed by humvees and other jeep-style vehicles but great support for attacking troops because of their mobility and because the longer-range stuff can’t be fired anywhere near friendly forces.  We’ll eventually know greater details about the collapse of the Russian defense in Kherson but odds are that it will have much to do with Russia’s inability to properly reinforce their forces in this axis I’ve seen credible estimates that only about a quarter of Russia’s supply needs were being met by barges and what little truck traffic can gingerly cross the two damaged bridges into the Kherson pocket Cold and hungry troops suffering from a shortage of ammunition and fuel don’t lend themselves to an effective defense Russia mitigates its logistical challenges and can concentrate its firepower in a smaller area.  A timelapse of the development of Ukraine's counter-offensive in Kherson Oblast over the past 5 days. pic.twitter.com/HBMjlrTK4F This may be the best cope I’ve seen all war:  and we might even be able to see the few meters Russia “advanced” in four days.  This week on The Downballot we check in on Pennsylvania where Republican Doug Mastriano has called for "40 days of fasting and prayer" to save his ailing campaign for governor; dig into ad spending numbers that show Democrats airing far more spots because they aren't relying on super PACs; and recap the dispiriting results of Italy's general election which saw the far-right win for the first time since Mussolini Not signed up for Daily Kos yet? Create a free account Video shows Ukraine’s forces about nine miles from city centre but Kyiv unable to confirm Russian retreat Ukraine says it has reclaimed dozens of settlements in the country’s south as its forces close in on the outskirts of Kherson, while Russia has confirmed its troops have begun their retreat from the key southern city In his Thursday evening address Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that “dozens of Ukrainian flags have already returned to their rightful place” “Today we have good news from the south,” the Ukrainian president said Hours after Ukraine claimed the liberation of the key town of Snihurivka images emerged of relaxed-looking soldiers from Ukraine’s 28th Mechanised Brigade with a Ukrainian flag in Kyslivka a village just outside Klapaya and about nine miles (15km) from Kherson’s city centre Kysylivka was liberated by 28th Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine(~9km to Kherson/Chornobaivka airport and ~14km to Kherson) pic.twitter.com/JMwUa68tbb confirming that its withdrawal was under way said: “The Russian troop units are manoeuvring to a prepared position on the left bank of the Dnipro River in strict accordance with the approved plan.” Witness reports said Russian forces were still visible in Kherson with Ukrainian troops continuing their advance from three directions – from the north east and west – as the large pocket around the city once held by Russian forces appeared to be shrinking Ukraine’s deputy military intelligence chief estimated over half of the Russian forces that had been stationed on the right bank were still there – a force that had previously been put at 20,000 “The most recent information we have is the 4th Tactical Military Base has supposedly been transferred to the left bank conducting military activities with the aim of providing cover for others to leave,” added Skibitsky the Russians are retreating from the second line of defence that they were pushed back to by Ukrainian forces in early October But they have built a defence line around Kherson city – and he said “time will tell” whether they will choose to defend the city Late on Thursday there were reports of incoming shelling explosions around the Nova Kakhovka a 30-metre hydroelectric facility which Kyiv has repeatedly warned could be targeted by the Russians Among the areas recaptured by Ukrainians on Thursday was the town of Snihurivka with footage showing a group of Ukrainian soldiers in Snihurivka as one of them announced: “Today Snihurivka was liberated by the forces of the 131st Separate Intelligence Battalion Glory to Ukraine!” A small group of civilians applauded nearby ⚡️ Ukraine liberates Snihurivka in Mykolaiv Oblast.Ukrainian soldiers published a video from Snihurivka on Nov. 10, saying that the settlement had been liberated by the forces of the 131st reconnaissance battalion.📷 Ukrainska Pravda / Telegram pic.twitter.com/06wdTdSgOw was an important logistics hub for Russian forces on the west bank of the Dnipro and acted as an anchor for the Russian defensive lines there announced on Wednesday that Russian forces would retreat from the west bank of the Dnipro the only regional capital that Moscow had captured since invading Ukraine in February Despite Russia announcing its withdrawal from the area Kyiv has said it is wary of rushing in and warned it may be a trap by the Kremlin Brig Gen Oleksiy Gromov told a briefing that the Ukrainian armed forces’ actions had left Russian forces no option but to withdraw “But at the moment we can neither confirm nor deny the information about the so-called Russian withdrawal of troops from Kherson We will continue our offensive operation in accordance with our plan,” he said A Ukrainian serviceman and a chaplain have a discussion on a road near Shihurivka Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersWhile the announcement by Moscow that it was abandoning its defence of Kherson has been greeted with jubilation in Ukraine Ukraine’s military and key officials have been far more cautious warning that the posture of Russian forces remained unclear One senior adviser to Ukraine’s president said on Thursday that Russia wanted to turn Kherson into a “city of death” Mykhailo Podolyak accused Russia of mining everything from flats to sewers and planning to shell Kherson from the other side of the Dnipro “RF [Russia] wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death’. The Russian military mines everything they can: apartments, sewers. Artillery on the left bank plans to turn the city into ruins,” Podolyak tweeted “This is what [the] ‘Russian world’ looks like: came people in Kherson reported still seeing Russian forces in the city although it was not clear how many remained which has been delivering aid and helping people evacuate Kherson since the invasion said local people who it had been in touch with described “a striking silence and calm in the city” Only single vehicles of the occupiers drive by; people try not to leave their homes because sometimes shelling is heard in the city.” another resident who did not want to give his surname told the Guardian: “We have been without electricity The Russians have removed all their flags.” The first and the last time they see Kherson. pic.twitter.com/8ngWHYN6kw Video posted by Russian soldiers retreating across the Dnipro appeared to confirm that at least some troops had already withdrawn One video posted on Russian Telegram channels appeared to show a night-time convoy of Russian vehicles described as heading for a river crossing two soldiers speak to camera during their own crossing on a pontoon ferry next to the damaged Antonivsky Bridge It was not clear on what day it was filmed It’s quite difficult,” says one of the soldiers Today we woke up very early … we’re crossing to the other bank of the Dnipro Now it’s clear to me why what is happening is happening Defending the city with these supply lines would be utter madness.” The second soldiers speaks: “We saw many banners here ‘Russia is here for ever.’ We’ll see what’s going to happen next.” What’s happening in Kherson isn’t exactly clear and it’s likely to remain that way for some days While so far Ukraine doesn’t seem to have taken any of what might be regarded as the most strategic targets—Vysokopillya in the north, Snihurivka guarding the routes east of Mykolaiv or the city of Kherson itself—the territory that has reportedly changed hands does have considerable significance reports filtered through Russian Telegram accounts and unofficial sources in Ukraine indicate that Ukraine has taken a number of towns and villages at multiple points on the line several of which represent necessary steps toward liberating the region Ukrainian troops have reportedly liberated Arkhanhel's'ke This allows Ukraine to completely encircle Russian forces in Vysokopillya That location has been one of the most fortified—and fought over—sites in all of Kherson oblast Russian previously used Vysokopillya as the launching point for attacks in the direction of Kryvyi Rih and it has used the town as both a supply depot and command outpost It’s been nearly a month since Ukrainian troops secured areas to the north and east coming close to cutting off access to this Russian hard point If the reports of Ukraine capturing Arkhanhel's'ke are correct it seems almost impossible that Russia could continue to hold Vysokopillya for an extended period Russian forces have at last acknowledged Ukrainan control of small villages along the Inhulets River as well as the capture of the Sukhyi Stavok Ukrainian forces are reportedly sweeping east toward Bruskynske which was the limit of attacks made shortly after Ukraine first secured its bridgehead on the east side of the river numerous outlets have reported that Ukraine’s bridgehead across the Inhulets had been “wiped out” or was “no longer present,” but there has never been a direct Russian claim of recapturing those riverside villages Now Ukraine seems to have even more force across the river and is threatening to break into an area that would essentially be Russia’s backfield—sparsely occupied and lightly defended villages in the center of the oblast that would also renew the threat of an advance down the T2207 highway toward Beryslav and the bridge at Nova Kakhovka But if the advances in the south are accurate Among the villages reportedly captured by Ukraine on Monday were Tomyna Balka and the neighboring village of Novodmytrivka this represents a 10km cross country advance by Ukraine to secure a location it fought hard to reach—and failed to secure—in the previous counteroffensive While Tomyna Balka was a tiny place (pop both Ukraine and Russia have recognized that it has a tactically important location in southern Kherson oblast Ukraine can move south to encircle forces along the coast or press east toward the Kherson suburb of Bilozerka Ukraine is now threatening Russian forces along two of the three main highways into Kherson and well behind the front line on two sides.  the capture of Tomyna Balka in one day’s fighting is such good news that it’s difficult to believe The report that Novodmytrivka was also liberated makes this news seem a bit more solid take it with a grain of skepticism … and an air of hope In addition to the reported capture of these locations that Russia has held since just days after the war began reports of Russian shelling and Ukrainian advances suggest Ukraine has regained full control of formerly disputed Kyselivka This would seem to place all the Russian forces south of the major M14 highway in something of a salient Maybe Ukraine can demonstrate those “pincers” that Russia can never seem to close It seems that Ukraine has renewed artillery or HIMARS strikes on bridges across the Inhulets traffic over the river may be limited to barges and whatever pontoon bridges Russia can keep intact This could leave Russian forces on the west bank of the Dnipro not just difficult to supply and support there were reports Monday night of renewed attacks on the two Dnipro bridges one of which reportedly also damaged Russian pontoons or barges that were crossing near Kherson The accuracy of these reports and extent of the damage will have to wait until images are available Satisfying and exciting as all these reports may be it’s worth remembering that even on the best days the control over many of these locations is questionable We know whose flag is flying in Mykolaiv and Kherson but in between … everyone is reliant on a lot of Telegram reports and FIRMS hotspots to put together the best estimate it seemed that Russia was creating an ominous “bulge” in the area directly east of Mykolaiv Now it seems that Ukraine is making a serious run at disrupting the entire oblast Yet either (or both) of those interpretations may be overreactions Whatever actually happened in Kherson over the last 24 hours the most important effect may be this: Russia is reportedly trying to relocate forces from the Donbas region to Kherson to resist this attack This is happening just hours after Russia received reinforcements in the form of their long-discussed 3rd Army Any plans that Russia was making to immediately throw those forces into a renewed eastern offensive have now been utterly scattered by Ukraine’s sudden move in Kherson All of the Russian activity in the east on Monday seems to have been restricted to a few failed movements near Bakhmut and Siversk.  It’s impossible to divorce what’s happening in Kherson from what’s happening in the east Even if Ukraine succeeded in nothing more than giving Russia a good scare forcing commanders to rethink how many battalion tactical groups are needed to hold the south Reports out of Kherson in which Russian commanders seem to be blaming conscripts from Luhansk and Donetsk for Russian losses further increasing reports of tension in the Russian forces This renewed counteroffensive also contributes to making Russia’s mock “referendum” much less likely #Kherson Regional Council confident that Russians will not be able to hold "referendum" https://t.co/AQlUXBY75o Russia being forced to frantically move forces from the east weakening an already stalled assault; increased tension between Russian forces and those of the DNR and LNR; and efforts to hold a fake election making Kherson “part of Russia” sidelined? All of that could make this Ukrainian effort a winner before the first meter of ground was taken it seems like Ukraine’s counteroffensive is very much the real deal As the closest large Russian city to Ukraine and the location of a major Russian military base Belgorod has been an instrumental location for Russia’s invasion That’s particularly true when it comes to attacks on Kharkiv Many of the rockets that have blasted apartment buildings in Kharkiv were launched from the area around Belgorod Ukraine has demonstrated ability when it comes to hitting targets around the city low-level helicopter attack that struck a fuel depot near Belgorod’s rail hub that took out an ammunition depot to the southeast panic surged in Belgorod with news that Ukraine was once again preparing to hit targets in the area We now have a first video which confirms that missiles are striking the Russian city of Belgorod tonight.Large crowds of Russians have gathered at the central station, trying to get on trains leaving for Moscow. pic.twitter.com/pc2QvTyldY the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had something to say about Russia’s recent missile attacks—which may help to explain why Ukraine feels more comfortable going on the offensive Last night, the invaders launched another missile attack on Kharkiv.Unlike March 1, when they used "Kalibrs", this time they shot air defense missiles. The evil empire is running low on cruise missiles, but they remain evil. Trying to kill Ukrainians with everything they can. pic.twitter.com/LVctyKuwVX Another reminder of just how much artillery is being exchanged in this conflict: "As of Aug. 24, the U.S. military said it had provided Ukraine with up to 806,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition."https://t.co/NfclJyjXR4 pic.twitter.com/EQe4lCNIXe With recent reports that Russia is using artillery shells at a rate greater than any nation in World War I it’s good to know that Ukraine isn’t exactly undersupplied is far from the only nation sending 155mm shells their way Антоновський міст привіт! pic.twitter.com/jH01cIl4sH Numerous reports this morning of large quantities of Russian equipment being unloaded in Donetsk oblast and moving to the west Unclear what the quality of this equipment is or whether there are sufficient forces to operate the gear There are thousands of elections on the ballot this year, and Democratic campaigns all over the country need your help to get out the vote. Mobilize is your one-stop shop to get connected with campaigns anywhere in the country that need volunteers to call, text, write, and knock on doors. Click here to view GOTV opportunities near you. Intense footage of close combat between Russian and Ukrainian forces by a bridge in Pisky. The Ukrainian forces are under the bridge, while the Russians can be seen at the top left of the screen. pic.twitter.com/PBGKG2PmlH Huge ammo explosion in Russian occupied Nova Kakhovka. What a blast. #NovaKakhovka #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/zef59bJzu7 «The boys went to get firewood in the plantation while the Russians took him to Nova Kakhovka (Kherson region note) the second came back in a wheelbarrow and also blew up,» says Lidiia Bratchenko In a small village near Snihurivka in the Mykolayiv region lives the large Virovkin family Brothers Ihor and Oleksandr take care of the household during the occupation of the village by Russian soldiers the brothers were blown up by petal mines left by the invaders on the road and lost their legs Ihor and Oleksandr shared their story with NikVesti local residents walked along the road leading to the forest strip behind the village The men collected the glass and other garbage that was in the yard in a wheelbarrow and set off on their usual road in the direction of the forest strip put it on a wheelbarrow and went down the road collected firewood and went back,» says the youngest of the brothers The man did not have time to take even a few steps before he felt severe pain and fell to the ground the man stepped on a petal mine that the Russian military had scattered around the village Oleksandr says that he was conscious the whole time and remembers everything in detail from the moment of the explosion to the time he ended up in the hospital bandaged my leg with his daughter-in-law's jacket Sasha shouts: «I don't have a leg.» The man was not confused and he wrapped Sasha's leg with my jacket,» recalls Yona the woman ran to the Russian military in the hope that they would help transport the victim to the hospital Yona remembers how the soldiers shouted and cursed at her The younger brother was taken to the hospital in Nova Kakhovka Oleksandr was informed that Igor had blown himself up in the same place and also lost his leg and then I returned to the wheelbarrow and stepped forward myself Then the Russians noticed me and also took me away,» the man recalls Yona learned about her husband's injury when she returned to the village from the hospital Although the couple agreed that Ihor would go home to the children Children and parents also did not know where he was I immediately started asking what happened to him And he tells me that the situation is even worse than with Sasha but for some reason he decided to return for the wheelbarrow and blew himself up almost at the same place The Russians took the man to the hospital to his brother from there they were transported to Henichesk Yevhenivka was released by the Ukrainian military the family managed to find volunteers who took the brothers to Norway Igor and Oleksandr underwent rehabilitation there the family lives on a disability pension — 7.5 thousand hryvnias (about $190) The accident taught not only the Virovkin family but also all fellow villagers to be more careful rescuers regularly come to Yevhenivka to explain to adults and children the rules for dealing with explosive objects The Virovkin family also attends mine safety classes Driving through the streets of the village special labels of different shapes and colors on the gates of literally every house immediately catch your eye The letters «Z» were apparently left by Russian soldiers Crosses and rings were already left by sappers of the State Emergency Service as they demined the village after de-occupation The woman says that if you see a blue circle on the gate which means sappers have already been there and checked the yard we see a broken sign «Beware of mines» and the remains of ammunition The man says that pyrotechnicians worked on this site Bohdan Reshetniak has to write off the cattle The man was also unable to prepare a sufficient amount of hay due to landmines but they said that it is still not desirable,» says the man this is the only more or less safe place for livestock grazing Those were my neighbor's cows,» says the man Bohdan Reshetniak says that during the two years of the war he saw with his own eyes about 50-60 mines don't get too close and call the emergency services,» he says the Snihurivka community remains the territory of the Mykolaiv region most littered with explosive objects It is here that the largest number of cases of detonation of civilians with munitions is recorded The head of the Snihurivka city military administration says that 10,000 hectares of land remain mined on the territory of the community and the worst situation is with forest strips and agricultural fields «Our community is the most littered in terms of explosive objects Now we need demining of about 10,000 hectares of land as regards the forest strips near Snihurivka and on the former contact line These areas remain unverified,» says Ivan Kukhta sappers of the State Emergency Service and the Ukrainian humanitarian demining program «The HALO Trust» are working on the territory of the community in order to speed up the process of clearing the community the rescuers were given two machines for mechanized demining but there have been no drastic changes in the pace of deminers' work We will remind that in the past year 2023, 17 people, including one child, died in the Mykolaiv Oblast due to the detonation of ammunition The largest number of such cases occurred precisely in the Sniguriv community On April 22, 2022, in the town of Snihurivka, near the former mineral water plant, two residents of the community were blown up by an anti-personnel mine. Later, on September 20, 2023 , a car carrying two men was blown up by a mine On October 11, 2023, a mine exploded in a field near the town of Snihurivka. The driver was injured as a result of the explosion and is in the hospital. Also, on February 1, 2024 , four people were detonated by a mine near the village of Yevhenivka in the Mykolaiv region. On March 5, 2024, a 38-year-old man blew himself up in the village of Bezimenne, Snihurivka community, Bashtanka district. In addition, in the Snihurivka region, the pyrotechnic group of the State Emergency Service demined the area where a cow was blown up by an explosive device This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.