Videos show: Russians make the toughest conditions in a Ukrainian city - but the crowd fights back
Created: 03/03/2022, 11:16 am
By: Stephanie Munk
Dramatic scene: In a video, the mayor of the city of Konotop in Ukraine speaks urgently to his citizens.
© Screenshot Twitter
In the Ukraine war, people experience dramatic scenes, many fear for their lives.
Two videos on social networks show how determined the Ukrainians are.
Konotop/Munich - In the Ukraine war*, the population of Ukraine has been living in fear for eight days: there are air raids, rockets are falling, people are dying.
Nevertheless, the Ukrainians vehemently oppose the army of Russian President Vladimir Putin*, many people want to defend their country with all their might.
Two videos circulating on social networks show how bitterly the people of Ukraine are resisting.
Several media, such as the US newspaper
New York Times
and the US broadcaster CNN
,
report on the two clips, which at the same time reflect the desperation and determination of the Ukrainians in the war against Russia.
They were created in the small town of Konotop in north-eastern Ukraine.
Putin has apparently sent Russian troops to negotiate there in order to force the city to surrender.
The city is located in the currently highly competitive Sumy region.
Ukraine War: Video Shows Dramatic Scenes From Contested Territory
According to the New York Times
and CNN , both videos have been
checked and verified.
In a first video, distributed via Telegram and Twitter, several Russian soldiers can be seen walking towards their tanks through an angry crowd of Ukrainian citizens in front of Konotop City Hall.
The soldiers are accompanied by the city's mayor, Artem Semenikhin.
One of the Russian soldiers holds a grenade in both hands and stretches his hands above his head.
The Ukrainians around him are not intimidated by this.
"Shame on you!
Go away!” they call out to the soldiers, and swear words can also be heard.
"Don't run around here showing off your grenades!" Then the Russians get into a tank and drive away to applause and cheers.
According to the
NY Times
, the footage first surfaced on social media on Wednesday, March 2, but it's unclear exactly when the scene was filmed.
According to CNN, Ukrainian authorities then said that the Russian soldiers had come to persuade those responsible in the city to surrender to Putin.
Otherwise they would fire at the city with artillery.
This threat was resisted, CNN quoted the Ukrainian authorities as saying.
Ukraine war video: mayor asks crowd if they want to surrender or fight
In a second video, also verified by
NY Times
and
CNN
journalists , Mayor Semenikhin stands on a concrete wall amidst a crowd and speaks loudly and forcefully to bystanders.
According to the
New York Times
Semenikhin explains to his citizens that the Russian soldiers told him that if the city's residents did not surrender, they would "level the city to the ground".
He then asks the surrounding people several times whether they want to surrender or fight.
The answer of the overwhelming majority is: "Fight." "I'm also for it," says the mayor, according to the report.
"But our decision has to be unanimous because their artillery is already aimed at us." The video is shared on Twitter by the Eastern European news portal
Nexta
, for example .
Ukraine on Thursday, March 3, called on Russia to cease fire in the Sumy region, which includes the town of Konotop, to allow civilians to escape.
In the Ukraine war, Russia keeps launching new offensives, but Ukrainian civilian resistance continues, and Putin's army is advancing more slowly than expected.
During the protests, people are said to lie down on streets, among other things, to prevent Russian tanks from advancing.
This article shows all current maps and graphics related to the Ukraine War.
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