The war in Kherson has torn thousands of families, members trapped on both sides of the river, from those fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian sides
Olena waits at the river port of Kherson. It is Sunday. December 4. Wait for your daughter. It is stuck on the other side of the Dnieper, under Russian control. He doesn’t know if he will be able to cross the channel. “I would like to see her appear now,” he tells the media. Like them, some residents of the western part of Kherson, which was recaptured by Ukraine in November, hope to reunite with their relatives, who, due to the development of the war in this region, have left no way out to the “wrong” coast. » from the river, according to the words of a resident. Authorities in Kiev and Moscow have called a short ceasefire, which ended Monday, to allow civilians from areas most at risk of conflict to cross the Dnieper and take refuge in a safer village. It is only possible for those who have a boat to evacuate. This is what war is: knowing that your family is waiting there for you, a few miles away, as you are gripped by the fear of dying alone and anonymously in a bombing raid.
The Dnieper River has become a barrier that separates not only armies, but also Ukrainian families. After the recent counter-offensive in Kherson, which forced the Russian army to cross the riverbed and fortify itself on the eastern bank of this historic river artery, the waters of which were filled with blood during World War II to stop the Nazi advance, the nearly 300,000 souls of the city have been split in half. A few thousand remain in it, now in the hands of the Ukrainians, and the rest remain on the other side, with the Russians. They include neighbors who left voluntarily and others who were forced to accompany the troops in their retreat. Many families have broken up. Their only link is “very fragile communication, which hardly lets us know how our people are on the other side”, as well as emotion-filled looks from one side of the river to the other.
“My brother, my sister, my niece and my granddaughter are there,” says 51-year-old Natalia Olkhovykova, pointing to the coastline occupied by Moscow troops. She has managed to stay in the city of Kherson, euphoric after the arrival of the Kiev army, although her joy has gradually faded due to the enemy bombardments, which have left the streets a victim of devastation. Olkhovykova is one of the people who daily approach the half-thousand “hotspots” set by the authorities. You can warm up in it and charge your mobile thanks to a continuous generator system. “We are very concerned because we have heard that your city is full of Russian soldiers,” the woman confirmed to her relatives.
There are many such cases. Olena Cherniavska lives every day with concern for the well-being of her mother, who lives on the east coast. “Every morning I get up to see if the place where he lives is okay,” says this 41-year-old woman. Both have been able to speak only sporadically. Their talks depend on a “highly unstable” signal after Moscow forces destroyed electrical infrastructure before leaving Kherson in mid-November. “I managed to talk to her and tell her almost everything I wanted to say, but the connection got lost,” Olena complains.
So close and yet so far away, Kherson’s families find it impossible to see their loved ones. Until a few weeks ago, everything was as simple as crossing the bridges over the Dnieper. The Russians blew them up during their retreat to cut off the Ukrainian advance. “It is now impossible for citizens to communicate. Those caught by the retreat on the other side had to stay there. The bridges are impassable and the ferries no longer cross the river,” said a resident of the Kyiv-dominated Kherson area.
The terror is now in the escalation of the bombings. Artillery duels over the Dnieper have intensified since late November. Dozens of civilians have been killed, perhaps hundreds, the exact number is not known, and stories are already circulating among the population of the western zone of parents separated from their wives and children, or of grandparents separated from their entire entourage, which have fallen under the missiles. “Nowhere is the situation better. But if we die, let’s all do it together,” Anastasiia, a young resident so far in the eastern part of the Dnieper, told a television channel whose street has been devastated by the attacks. “Although we are not fooled, the situation is difficult.”
The US Institute of War Studies has confirmed that only a handful of Ukrainian servicemen have managed to cross the river in boats and place their national flag on a crane near the shoreline. “This raid could open avenues for Ukrainian forces to operate on the eastern bank,” they explain from the ‘think tank’. However, no one throws the bells on the fly. Analysts point out that Kiev’s army would have to muster a large number of troops to launch against Russian defenses with chances of success, but the operation is complicated amid the difficulties presented by the river. The Institute of Studies acknowledged a few days ago that the Ukrainians “are likely to have more difficulty winning similarly spectacular victories in the eastern part of Kherson” than in the rest of the recaptured territory, although “the Russians’ efforts to to strengthen.” their line of defence”.
Waiting is key for residents. “Be patient,” Tatiana Maliutina warned her family, friends and neighbors. They all hope to be “released soon,” says this 54-year-old woman, hoping that the emotional meeting will happen as soon as possible. The situation causes fear and disappointment among the residents. Such is the case of 47-year-old Olga Marchenko, who admits to being frustrated after nine months of constant clashes and bombings since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of the neighboring country on February 24.
The discomfort for her increases because she does not know how long the Russian army will continue to occupy the areas on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, where the rest of her family lives. “We hope to find them when they are released,” the woman says after a sigh, fearful that when Moscow leaves the region completely, the pattern will be repeated in other liberated cities, where hundreds of mass graves have appeared. Olga, like the rest of the Ukrainians, hopes not to find her relatives with bullet holes or underground.
Source: La Verdad
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