Russian attack Mykolaiviv lives under Russian rocket fire and prepares for an attack – “If Russia thinks we are Nazis, then we must kill everyone”

The southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv is strategically important as it is a route for Russian troops in Odessa.

Mykolaiv

“Protect yourself!”

A Ukrainian soldier shouts a call for protection against civilians on the streets of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Russian rockets are starting to rain at a rapid pace in the city.

The rocket strike was possibly done with a Grad rocket launcher. It’s a vicious weapon. Grad’s hit accuracy is poor, but firepower is frightening and when used in an urban environment it is bloody for civilians. One rocket launcher can shoot 40 rockets in 20 seconds, hence Grad’s apt name: in Finnish it means hail.

On a street in Mykolaiv, civilians begin to seek protection from anyone. Some run far, some seek gate corridors. One man’s gaze shows despair. His eyes stop for a moment as he hangs to reflect on the situation. However, the threat quickly passes as Grad’s “hailstorm” has sown its devastation somewhere farther away.

Such is the case in Mykolaiv, a city where Ukrainian forces are defending their positions against Russians seeking to the east. If Russia also wants to take over the important port city of Odessa, the takeover of Mykolaiv would be necessary because of the land connection. The seizure of Odessa exclusively from the sea would be a very risky operation.

A full missile hit the Ingul Hotel on Admiral Street in Mykolaiv.

The air conditioner hangs on the copper pipes after the impact. A missile has hit an ordinary residential building at Lohovenkakatu 6.

“Russia – Fuck! T. Mycola”, the billboard says.

“There would be a great danger that the landing would suffocate as soon as the power was not enough. It seems unlikely that the takeover of Odessa would be attempted by sea alone. The moment of surprise landing is already gone, ”says a research officer at the National Defense University Antti Pihlajamaa.

“I do not think that Russia now has the strength to work in the direction of Mykolaiv, although in a couple of days there have been reports of attacks on both sides. From the Ukrainian point of view, the situation in Mykolaiv does not seem endangered, as the Ukrainians have been able to counterattacks. There may not be an immediate threat, ”Pihlajamaa estimates.

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Mykolaiv has had a population of half a million. During the Soviet era, the city was closed and important to the country’s military industry. There is an important military dock in the city and, among other things, aircraft carriers have been built here.

Earlier this week, Mykolaiv made headlines when Russia struck the city’s administration building and an explosion tore through its center. At least 31 people died in the attack.

Even if Russia’s immediate plans now did not include the capture of Mykolaiv and Odessa, Friday’s rocket attacks once again reminded the city’s residents of the threat of Russian troops. As the Russians head east, the next major city is Kherson, about 50 kilometers as the crow flies from Mykolaiv. Because Grads have a shorter range, Russian troops must be somewhere between Kherson and Mykolaiv.

From the Tsentralny boulevard, all the trees have been felled, partly into logs on the front and roadblocks, partly to clear up the shooting range. Should Russian troops retry toward Odessa, the Armored Column would potentially advance along the boulevard toward the Varvarivka Bridge over the Pivdenyi Buh Bay.

The felled trees tell of the war on Tsentralny Boulevard.

In the city you can see how the preparation for the arrival of Russians here is everywhere. Checkpoints are cramped and the trees on the boulevards have been felled to make it easier to fight the Russian armor. Here and there, Molotov cocktails have been left at the crossroads and ring mounds are everywhere. One checkpoint also shows the transport box for the American Javelin anti-tank missile. On large signs, Russians are urged to “fuck up”.

Even in Mykola, the attacks by the Russians have also hit civilian targets. The exploded ruins of a two-storey residential building on Lohovenka Street break up a ninth-grader Sofia-girl’s mother tongue notebook. Sofia’s latest dissertation is about teleworking because of the coronavirus.

“There was a young couple living there, there were pensioners and there were middle-aged people,” Mikhail Koval pointing his hand towards the exploded homes.

Russia has claimed it has not hit civilian targets. However, the house on Lohovenka Street is once again one of the many pieces of evidence of war crimes in Russia.

Koval shows the shards of bombs in his hand, which he says are Russian cluster bombs. According to the UN, the indiscriminate use of cluster bombs can be considered a war crime. However, there is no certainty as to the origin of the fragments presented by Koval.

Sofia’s mother tongue homework hangs in the ruins.

Mikhail Koval walks through the rubble on his own home corners.

Koval says he also knows Sofia, who thankfully wasn’t in the building at the time of the attack. Instead, Sofia’s grandmother died in the explosion, Koval says.

The explosion has flown the balcony frames into the yard cow. Onions and garlic have flown into someone’s kitchen from the kitchen and the air conditioner is hanging from the wall on two thin copper tubes. The burning carcass still floats in the nose.

“Oh Why did the Russians fire at this house? What are Russians looking for in Ukraine at all? Maybe they’re just angry when we’ve repelled their attack and then fire in frustration here indiscriminately, ”Koval marvels.

He grabs a white stone from the rubble and begins to draw a map of southern Ukraine and Russian movements on it. At the same time, he begins to reflect on the role of the NATO Alliance and the 1975 Helsinki OSCE Summit.

“It just doesn’t work,” Koval refers to the Oyk Summit.

The meeting held in Helsinki in 1975 was considered significant during the Cold War, when East and West were brought to the same table. At that time, Helsinki wanted European borders to be permanent. However, the opposite happened.

“You Finns go to NATO first, then we’ll come after us, even though we don’t want to join the military alliance now,” says Koval.

The man is hating anger at the Russians. He says that the Ukrainians are taking the example of Finland’s wars against the Soviet Union and fighting “to the end”.

“The Russians think they can come here how they want and win the war just by throwing their hats. Russia claims the Nazis are leading Ukraine, but Annahan when I say: we are all nationalists in Ukraine. If Russia thinks we are Nazis, then we must all kill us. ”

Nearby in a residential house Vladimir Demchenko presents his family preparing for new attacks.

Dampers have been pulled into the windows, a security lock for robbers has been tuned to the front door with iron bars and chains, the evacuation items have been pre-packed and the car has a tank full of petrol. In addition to Vladimir, the family includes his wife, a 1.5-year-old daughter, and Vladimir’s mother Tatiana Radutnaya. Mashahas a separate safety room in the closet for her daughter.

In the kitchen, Masha stumbles into a stool and knocks her head on the refrigerator door.

“Naughty fridge!” Mum Tatiana Demchenko scolding the fridge Masha in her arms.

Tatiana Demchenko does not want to tell her daughter Masha about the war yet.

Vladimir says the war completely changed the family’s life. Vladimir no longer has a job, and when the air sirens sound, the family goes downstairs shelter many times a day. Some children have been so scared that they will no longer agree to talk, Vladimir says.

“War has changed people. We have become closer. ”

There is no desire to tell Masha about the war yet. The sounds of the explosions have been explained as belonging to the blasting work on the construction site.

“We try to save Masha from all this and draw attention elsewhere. Although Masha is only 1.5 years old, she knows how to identify an armored car. The touching moment was when Masha winked at the Ukrainian tank driver and this one flashed back, ”Tatiana says with her eyes wet.

Although Russian troops are only within range of Mykolaiv, Vladimir strongly believes in Ukraine’s victory.

“I’m sure the win is ours. We know why to fight, but the Russians do not. We are on the right. ”

The family also has connections to Russia, where Tatiana’s uncle lives.

“After talking to him on the phone, he doesn’t think there’s a war here and we’re being bombarded. According to my uncle, we have been brainwashed with Ukrainian propaganda. He does not believe his own relatives when we say that Russia has bombed our homes, ”says Tatiana Demchenko.

“It makes you angry.”

Tatjana Radutnaja looks at the jerks assembled in the stairwell, which can be quickly loaded into the car when the sudden start.

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