“I left my friends and my house,” says Aleksei. On February 24, the day war was declared on Ukraine, he was already on a business trip to Kryvyi Rih, 180 kilometers north of Kherson. Since then, of course, he has never returned. “I hope to be in Kherson in early autumn and that we can take back our country, he confides in us. Every day we think about it and believe in it. I just want to go home calmly.”
>> Counter-offensive, troop movements… Why the war in Ukraine could enter a new phase in the south of the country
And if Aleksei believes in it, it’s because the Ukrainian counteroffensive is taking shape in the south of the country, precisely on the Kherson front. And the strategy becomes clearer. First strike in depth and destroy the infrastructure held by the Russians: fuel depots, armed bases… Then bombard the bridges to prevent the deployment of enemy troops from the east. Finally, run a slow, progressive offense. Therefore, the Ukrainians hope to systematically win back the territory lost in the spring.
“The counter-offensive has to start as soon as possible and we have to take back our country, right down to Crimea.”
Around 35,000 displaced persons from the Kherson region have passed through the Kryvyi Rih reception center since the beginning of the war. And many today share Aleksei’s hope. Natalia Patroucheva, director of this reception center, has been working with displaced persons from Donbass for eight years and prefers to dampen the enthusiasm of the optimists.
“We must be patient and courageous. We believe in our army and our people. Everyone is doing everything to help our country,” assures Natalia, who does not believe in the quick recapture that some hope if we do not have enough ammunition and have long-range weapons?”
“Russia must go alone. And if it doesn’t want to, we’ll throw it out of here. We just have to wait for things to get better.”
Natalia Patrusheva
at franceinfo
However, according to her, we must not give up hope. In early March, the Kryvyi Rih reception center housed displaced people from Boutcha and North Kyiv. Today, the vast majority of them have returned to their homeland, to territory abandoned by Russian troops.
Ukrainian counter-offensive gives hope to displaced people in Kherson – a report by Thibault Lefèvre and Eric Audra
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