My story is not that interesting because I stay home most of the time. But I can write a few words about life in Kherson these days.
On the first of March, five bad things happened:
- The Russians invaded Kherson (obviously bad).
- In the process, they killed innocent people, but there’s not as many casualties as there are in Mariupol or Kharkov.
- Some of our Territorial Defense troops – ordinary people who wanted to defend our city – were killed by the Russians. They had a plan – they would ambush the enemy and throw Molotov cocktails. But something went wrong… Some of them cannot even be identified anymore; heavy weapons were used on them. Different sources tell different data – they killed from 8 to 16 people.
- Fabrika, the main place where many citizens eat, rest, buy things, etc., seems like it was hit by one or two tank shots, and a fire started. As the news says, firefighters arrived, but the Russians shot at their water tank. So the firefighters took shelter, and Fabrika continued to burn… The building remains, but most of the inside is ashes and dust.
- Maraudeurs. They just see an opportunity in this war and show their true nature by going to marketplaces and shops to steal things. Of course, many people see them and do what needs to be done. These bad people were punished with beatings.
After this, not that much has happened in Kherson. The main things were that our televisions now broadcast Russian channels (except one – “Kherson UA”).
On the fourth of March, the Russians did not allow our buses with supplies to go to town, because they have their own supply. They wanted to film people who wanted food and have them say on Russian TV that the Russians are “helping” us. But there were only 3-4 people who actually got those provisions into their hands, and hundreds stayed aside and loudly shamed the Russian soldiers.
After that, people wanted to show them how we “like” them.
On the fifth of March – and every day since – protests start at 10am. One police officer even got on their armored vehicle and waved the Ukrainian flag!
Every day we hear explosions, but most of them are not that loud. The reason for them is our army – they shoot the Russians with artillery and with Bairaktar.
And about mental health and the value of life… Maybe it’s a horrible thing to say, but many of our people (myself included) are now taking news like “don’t panic, the Ukrainian army is working!” with happy faces and relief.
For the first few days of war I, unlike most members of my family, had an opinion that Russian soldiers are people, like us. Yes, they are soldiers, but they have stories, families, and homes. It’s sad to see more and more people dying in that war. But they are staying on our land, killing innocent people, using bombs to terrorise our citizens and other horrible things. Right now I do not feel anything for these animals except rage.
There’s a new law that our government passed. Now any citizen can kill Russian soldiers without consequences. And our people will use that law, as much as they can, to resist the Russian soldiers.
We will defend our country, as Russia transforms into a second North Korea day by day.