This city in southern Ukraine is no longer connected to a road to the rest of the country. Part of its population, terrorized by the incessant bombing, seeks to flee when the other is determined to fight to the end.
Le Monde
It was a splendid weather this Sunday in Mykolav, for the first time since a week. An azure blue sky, a dyed light, no wind on this almost besieged city of southern Ukraine. Ideal conditions that make it possible to correctly adjust the artillery fire and take advantage of the data transmitted by the recognition drones to aim with precision.
The steel rain has fallen on civilians. Sunday morning around 11 am, a rocket salvo has fallen avenue of the heroes of Ukraine, in front of a shopping center. Nine people were killed, according to the governor of the Vitaliy Kim region. According to the same source, in the middle of the afternoon, four civilians perished when a Russian bomber dropped an explosive gear on a Zelionyi Haï village school, not far from Mykolav’s military aerodrome.
Two hours after the massacre of the Ukraine Heroes Avenue, the place is deserted. A policeman at the closed mine monitors the parking. The showcases were blown by the explosions. Three impacts are visible in the bitumen, many small holes drilled by the bursts in the storefronts. Black plastic tarpaulins having served to cover the bodies open on the bitumen. One of them partially hides a big puddle of thick blood.
The rare passers are presses the step. Nadia Emelianenko, 70, tells you heard many successive explosions. She was just 50 meters behind the corner of a store. “I’ve seen several elongated people, people who moan, other inerts. And a dead dog,” she remembers. “It was terrifying! I could not do anything to help, I have too bad back to drop me. Besides, my children forces me to go down the street because of the danger, but I can not m to prevent it. I do not have much time left to live, so better than it is me who takes risks that my children or grandchildren. “
waiting for evacuation buses
A lady and her teenage girl watching the macabre scene while walking. “We come here doing shopping, because in our village in Kapustyne, all the shops are closed, we are bombarded at all times,” says Ania, the mother. “Today, there is no more public transport, we walked two hours and I just could buy a fruit juice,” she said, showing the bottle of a sorry air.
The Alley along the shops leads to a set of buildings. The bloody corpse of a dog lies near a garage. The shower of missiles struck the whole neighborhood. Glass splinters and other debris strew the ground. Families go away, pulling suitcases with roulette or bags. An elderly couple loads a car. The man shows a shrapnel brilliance having sprayed the glass of his apartment. “We move to my daughter, who lives in the city center,” he explains. Here, it is no longer strong. We can not close the eye. I get crazy! “
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