Life Under Russian Bombardment In Orichiv: "Everyone Take Cover!"

Firefighters douse the flames at a bombed-out house in Orichiv, Zaporizhia, June 21. Luis de Vega

The roar of the plane’s engine over Orichiv is spreading panic, even more so than the artillery shells that have been hitting this city in the southern Zaporizhia region for some time. After scanning the skies for a few seconds, listening intently to confirm the worst omens, a general rush ensues for the next basement. “Everyone take cover!” Orichiv, which for months was a battleground between the Ukrainian and Russian armies, is now one of the bases for Kiev’s southern counter-offensive. The city is in Ukrainian hands but continues to be punished by Moscow’s forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Donetsk and Zaporizhia earlier this week and reported that his troops had advanced on all fronts. On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar put the advances at 1,200 to 1,500 meters south of Bakhmut and around 1,300 meters towards Berdyansk in the Zaporizhia region.

The noise in the sky above Orichiv interrupts the work of a group of firefighters who are clearing administrative documents from an office building with completely blown windows. They have positioned their red truck to pull straight from the second floor dozens of boxes containing papers and documents that make up the city’s archives. They are transferred to the city of Zaporizhia before the records are destroyed by bombing.

Moments later, the firefighters encounter a group of soldiers in the protective depths of the bunker. The responsible military officer fears that the presence of two cameras, one belonging to the Ukrainian rescue service and the other to EL PAÍS, could reveal the coordinates of their position. He initially rejected the explanations that everyone present had only limited insurance cover. He asks to delete the pictures, but gives in after a few minutes. Activating flight mode on mobile phones is mandatory in frontline areas to prevent Russian troops from using cell phone coverage to determine their positions.

Firefighters protect the city archives in Orikhiv.Luis de Vega

The Ukrainian counter-offensive is targeting two strategic sites relatively close to Orikhiv that are under Russian control: the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the corridor on the shore of the Sea of Azov, which facilitates logistics for the Kremlin’s occupying forces. One of the destinations halfway between Orikhiv and this supply line is the town of Tokmak.

Vitali Chorni, 34, was chief of the fire station in Tokmak until last September and now holds the same position in Orichiv, where there has been no water or electricity for months. He says he had no problems during the seven months he worked in emergency services during the Russian occupation, but when the opportunity presented itself, he fled in civilian clothes with other residents. In Orikhiv “the situation is difficult and complicated, especially in the last three weeks,” he says, describing the hostilities that erupted after the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the first week of June.

On the main street in Orichiv, as in many frontline towns, a grocery store that relies on a generator to stay open serves as a meeting place and information and supply center. While firefighters fill up two large drinking water tanks for the neighborhood, 26-year-old Anastasia Bolous, who is married to one of them, tends to several soldiers behind the counter. Uniformed men make up the bulk of the store’s clientele, she says. She stayed in the city because her parents still live in Orichiv in addition to their work in the shop: only about 10% of the pre-war population of 14,000 inhabitants are still alive. Bread is delivered from Zaporizhia twice a week and distributed to residents by the rescue services.

Anastasia Bolous looks after several soldiers in the shop she runs in Orichiv. Luis de Vega

“We have no choice but to stay here,” says Roman Semenovic, 46, whose family lives in exile in Poland. Another employee of the same store, he goes about his business in flip-flops, shorts and a tank top while several grenades whistle through the air before falling a few hundred yards away. The notion of fear and danger seems to have changed among those who have lived for months in Orichiv and other similar cities where the war began.

It’s as if the residents assume that nothing can stop their fate of living under constant bombing. Anastasia serves the soldiers and laughs when asked why she doesn’t panic under fire. “Sometimes I’m scared,” she says without really thinking about it. Several stray dogs roam outside. Some get restless. Others don’t even bat an eyelid. Burnt-out cars, destroyed buildings and debris lie on the streets, on which civilians can often be seen walking or cycling alongside the military.

Firefighters distribute humanitarian aid among the few residents who are still in Orikhiv.Luis de Vega

One of the grenades explodes next to several houses. The column of smoke alerts the firefighters, who are driving their vehicle in that direction – the same vehicle that unloaded the crates from the archives, which is also distributing bread and delivering water. Now it serves its original purpose as a pump truck. They quickly unwind the hose and pull out the ladders. There was one strike victim who was already evacuated when they arrived. A group of residents watch as the flames engulf a building amid a dense cloud that alternates between black and white.

“I’m only afraid of God,” says Vyacheslav Koutun, a 72-year-old retired artist who came to pick up bread and a box of humanitarian aid at a city building. He looks sadly at the building, a late 19th-century structure with shrapnel holes in the walls and a shattered roof half covered by a blue UN tarpaulin. His wife Tamara, 66, joins the conversation: “I’m tired. Let’s see if we win the war yet.” “We want to celebrate our victory here at home in Orikhiv. We want to eat meat and drink beer…a feast of local produce,” adds Vyacheslav, pointing to the sky. It is not only when Russian planes and rockets are discovered that people look up. They also do this when, as in this case, they pray for everything to end.

A column of smoke from a Russian shell that destroyed several houses. Luis de Vega