Many villages on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro are virtually deserted. There has been heavy fighting in the area in recent weeks, after Ukrainian troops crossed the Dnipro in October. In June, the villages were flooded after the collapse of the dam at Nova Kachovka. Since then, the waters have receded, but the destruction in the area is enormous, the head of the regional administration, Tetjana Hasanenko, told Radio Liberty.
In several villages, the number of residents left behind can be counted on the fingers of one hand, says Hasanenko. The region includes twelve villages and the city of Oleshky. Before the Russian invasion, this area had almost 40 thousand inhabitants, of whom, according to the most optimistic estimate, less than a quarter remained. The village of Korsoenka is even said to have been completely abandoned, Hasanenko reports.
The area was conquered by Russia in the first days of the Russian invasion. The provincial capital Kherson also fell into Russian hands at the beginning of March 2022. Last November, the Ukrainian army managed to liberate Cherson and the entire western bank of the Dnipro. During the withdrawal, the Russian army destroyed the bridges over the Dnipro, preventing Ukraine from liberating the other side. Since then, the Russian army has been attacking the liberated area almost every day from across the river.
At the end of October, Ukrainian soldiers created a bridgehead near the village of Krynky, from which they tried to conquer more territory. The battle zone includes some of the villages that Hasanenko said have been virtually abandoned, including the villages of Krynky, Pidstepne and Pishchanivka.
Daan de Vries
Read here an analysis from last summer about the consequences of the destruction of the Kachovka dam, with images of the affected area: These are the consequences of the breach of the dam near Kherson, and this is what they look like.
2023-11-15 16:41:15
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