Emmanuel Grynszpan
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ReportThe Russian-speaking city of Nikolaev in southern Ukraine is needed by Russian troops on their way to Odessa. Its residents, who have repulsed dozens of offensives since the beginning of the war, express anger at Vladimir Putin
Fourteen days after the start of the war, Nikolaev is still blocking the Russian advance on the way to Odessa. This industrial city of half a million, leaning against the southern Bug River in southern Ukraine, has repulsed dozens of attacks and been bombed since February 24. On Wednesday morning, residents awoke to a relatively calm second night as rumors of an impending attack from the north, east and south were on everyone’s lips.
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“I’m tired of sleeping in my clothes! We have been waiting all night for a Russian guest,” 58-year-old Tatyana Zakharova said, referring to shells fired from Russian positions a few kilometers away. Modestly dressed, with a plastic bag with provisions in each hand, she exchanges with neighbors in the entrance of her house at 134 Kosmonavtov Street. On Monday morning, the “Russian guest” had already appeared on the square formed by the houses, breaking most of the windows, cars parked on the street. “It was not an explosion, but not less than a dozen,” the neighbor assures. “This is a Smerch,” Vadim believes, inspecting his damaged van: “A cluster bomb, so we heard a lot of explosions. Look at this hole in the ground [il fait environ un mètre de diamètre]if it was the city [des roquettes tirées en salves, très utilisées par l’artillerie des deux côtés], the hole would be much larger. »
According to local residents, as a result of this shelling, which occurred at 5 am, no one was killed. But the incident traumatized Tatyana Zakharova and provoked a verbal hemorrhage. “Why? But why shoot us? I don’t understand. You know, I have always respected Vladimir Putin,” she admits, a little apart from her neighbors. “He straightened out his country and led it with a firm hand. I had a good opinion of him. I don’t understand why Putin is sending his army here to kill us Did I ask Putin for something to come save me No Did I ask him if I want to go to Russia No Do the Russian people want “So that I come to Russia? No. And no one wants Russia to come here. This is our country, this is our choice, whether Putin likes it or not,” she exclaims breathlessly.
gaping hole
Tears well up in his eyes. “I have lived all my life in Ukraine, while I speak Russian, I am Ukrainian myself,” she continues. But I speak Russian, like most people here in Nikolaev. Nobody beats us because we speak Russian. Russian husband, Belarusian father, so what? Why do the Russians want to destroy us? What have we done to deserve to live like rats? »
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