The port of Otchakiv, on the shores of the Black Sea, was one of the first targets of the Russian invasion on February 24. Three weeks later, the small military town is only beginning to bury its soldiers killed in the early days of the conflict.
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Under a beautiful sun and an icy blue sky, a small silent crowd attends the burial of a young man of 28 years. No outpourings, no screams, held back tears and quick hugs. Here, you are a soldier, wife or child of a soldier, and the city is used to paying its tribute in war.
Witness the war memorial erected in the city center in memory of the “Ukrainian heroes” who fell in Donbass, the pro-Russian separatist region in eastern Ukraine, where the conflict started in 2014 left more than 14,000 dead. Or this tomb with the effigy of a young sailor killed in 2016, on which is written: “You will always be 23 years old”.
At the exit of the cemetery, a man agrees to deliver a few words. “I buried my son today. He was a pilot, shot down during a combat mission on March 4 at 12:10 p.m. Four rockets shot down his Mi-8 helicopter.
Head lowered, breathless with contained sobs, this colonel, named Anatoly, continues: “There will be no forgiveness for the “Katsapi” (pejorative word designating the Russians). As long as I serve in the army, I will destroy them. There will be no prisoners”.
It took weeks to identify his son, whose body was torn to pieces in the attack. As for the other soldiers who perished when the Russians bombarded the port and the naval base of Otchakiv on February 24, accused by Vladimir Putin of being in the hands of the Americans.
According to a city administrator, Alexi Vaskov, 24 soldiers died that day, and all the bodies have not yet been found. Funerals for those identified did not begin until Tuesday.
Located on the shores of the Black Sea, Otchakiv, 15,000 inhabitants, is a city of small low houses and wide deserted streets. We only meet a few inhabitants, shopping bags in hand, in a hurry and suspicious.
Nobody wants to talk about the war or the bombardments that still occur daily, even if they don’t have the intensity of the first days.
“The situation is calm here, we lack nothing, no one is hiding and we continue to live,” says Piotr, a sixty-year-old on his bike, who refuses to give his last name, like almost everyone he meets in town. .
“There was a bombardment this morning around 6 a.m., near the port, I don’t know more,” says Anatoli, another pensioner, while his wife adds: “the soldiers asked us not to talk”.
A man wearing a cap, introducing himself as Gennady, approaches. “People here have a patriotic mindset. Russians would do well to avoid this place. Because we are ready to send them back in coffins”.
Alexi Vaskov, the municipal official, admits, however, that 40 to 50 civilians continue to evacuate Otchakiv every day, in buses provided for this purpose.
Ochakiv is located equidistant from Odessa, the major Black Sea port to the west, and Mykolaiv, to the east, where heavy fighting has been going on for days between Ukrainian troops and Russian forces, who are seeking to win Odessa.
“Compared to other cities, the situation is relatively calm at the moment,” said the official, while acknowledging that shells are falling daily.
In addition, “the main military units that were based in Ochakiv left to protect other cities” more exposed. “But the Russians will not come here by sea, we are very well protected, we are holding on,” assures Mr. Vaskov.
Tamara Nikolaievna, an old lady, is however not reassured. “Yes, I’m scared, of course, like everyone else. Don’t you?” she said with a small smile.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca