While Moscow is preparing for the victory celebrations and the world is waiting to see if Russian President Vladimir Putin announces further escalation in hostilities, in the city of Mikuliev in southwestern Ukraine aroused by Russian shelling of the city center, evidence that for millions of Ukrainians Putin's declaration of war has little or no significance.
Tires and Molotov cocktails are scattered in the city streets, in preparation for the Russian army's sudden break into the city, a possibility that until a few weeks ago seemed reasonable, when Russian forces stood at the city gates and repulsed in an attack against Ukrainians thirty kilometers south where the front line now passes.
There is no drinking water in the city because the Russians occupied and destroyed the pumping station of the city which is located south, near the city of Kherson, so the residents line up to get water from large tankers brought by the Ukrainian army and the Red Cross to the city.
Alina near her Russian-shelled shop,
In front of her ruined shop stands Elena Orov, a resident of the city in her sixties, and speaks from the bottom of her heart: "I own this whole complex. I rent the shops here and this is my main income. This is not the first time we have been hit here and no one will compensate us. "We want to celebrate. We have won, they have not won but they are guilty of destruction and suffering. All we want is a future for our children, a free life and a dignified existence," she says.
Fortunately no one was hurt in the shelling that hit downtown in the morning, as residents were in their homes or shelters.
A nearby school was also hit by the shelling, the field where girls played until before the invasion Kels and other games adorned with Grad injuries.
Residents wait for water on Mikuliev streets, Photo: Eliyahu Rufo
Nearby is a center to which the Red Cross and various organizations bring the elderly and wounded from the destroyed villages.
Most of them have nowhere to go and many of their relatives were killed or remained under Russian occupation.
This is the face of the Russian invasion, which will be celebrated tomorrow in splendor in the Red Square, an attack whose main victims are the helpless.
Galina, who is hospitalized at the scene, says: "The Russian Air Force bombed my village for a few days. The front line passes right by and the Russians managed to occupy part of the village. "Horrible, she did not survive. If we could not bury her in a cemetery because the shelling was so heavy, we had to bury her in the garden. My mother had a heart attack because of the shelling and now she is hospitalized and unable to walk."
Elderly people in a refugee shelter in Odessa,
In the city center I meet a Ukrainian officer, commander of the local spokesman unit, who is trying to paint a Ukrainian "Victory Day": "We have repulsed the Russians from the city and now we are liberating village after village across the sector. I have no doubt our victory is approaching. For a long time I do not know what Ukraine's victory will look like on the front lines, but the first thing I intend to do when it comes is to call my mother and sister and tell them to come back that the war is over and they can go home. "
Rybik, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, expresses well the determination of Mykolaev residents to continue and resist the invader, despite the difficult situation of their city.
"I am fighting for my homeland, for democracy. The Russians are brainwashed and believe in everything they see on TV, they are scared and therefore able to do everything, including war crimes. We have pushed them back and now they will not be able to conquer the city.
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