Except for the cleared road, everything around is a minefield. It’s a huge minefield. You can get there to Pavlo Maryanivka by running from Mykolaiv. We always race in Ukraine. The jeep is driven by Ratmir Gavelia, a soldier who has earned great respect on the battlefield and is also a spiritual reference here. Besides being a Protestant, he is a man of action and is also the military chaplain of the defense forces of Mykolaiv Oblast. “This is the peace Putin is talking about. Here it is, everywhere.” You can count the things you have at your fingertips. These are also seriously damaged. It’s like the homes of those who still live there. What we are talking about is not just death and destruction, we perceive it as cruelty. And you can see it in the eyes of the people who can do nothing but stay here and hope for freedom.
Clearing the fields entrusted to women and girls from mines
We go with Ratmir Gavelia to the place where Russian soldiers were located a short time ago. Those who were able escaped, but those who remained were subjected to such violence that it left an indelible mark on their lives. Along the way, we encounter demining teams and demining teams, which make up the majority. They have special machines to detonate bombs. The problem is that the mines are located not only in the fields (photo below), but also among the trees that limit the land for cultivation. One of the reasons why it is difficult to keep warm here is that when we arrived the thermometer read minus six degrees, even though it was almost eleven in the morning: you can’t even cut the wood from the trees, because you risk being blown away. Then there are so many that it will take years to eliminate or render harmless those that are already there.
Even in Partyzanske, about fifteen km to the south, the situation is the same as in Pavlo Maryanivka. Some kind of ghost place. Visible through the fog, little remains standing. Men and women, especially the elderly, take care of everything in a sort of makeshift town hall. On the young women’s faces are the dull expressions of those who paid an even higher price. They have the same looks as the Yazidi or Kurdish women slaughtered by ISIS in Syria and Iraq. “During the occupation, Russian soldiers stole everything and broke into houses and raped women as if nothing had happened. There are girls who were subjected to this type of treatment repeatedly, constantly. Every evening for months.”
Drones and rockets: the threat from the occupied Kherson region
These are the places where the priest fights and helps liberate. He always walks in front of us, showing us the remains of the missiles and bombs that rained down here. “This is what remains of the phosphorus bomb, banned by all international conventions. But let’s not kid ourselves, talking about the rules of war is complicated. But we are talking about civilians here. Do you see military targets?”. Until less than a year ago, the front line was where we marched, and even now life is not so calm. Drones pose a constant danger, but missiles and rockets are also fired from the occupied areas of Kherson, not far from here (photo below of Ivan Compasso, a bombed house in Blahodatne).
For Ratmir Gavelia (pictured below), a bright-eyed big man, it is inexplicable how Russian leader Vladimir Putin has so much reputation and admirers on the old continent. “Is Putin popular in Europe? Hitler was also popular, perhaps many forget. And it was the darkest page in European history. What kind of a world is this, where those who kill, destroy and rape are popular? Accept and even praise those who do this.” He had a background as a lawyer and it was in Russia that he studied to become a lawyer. A career disrupted by this new phase of the conflict. “As those who want to ease their conscience say, we have been fighting in this country for ten years, not three as they hope it will be at home.” Even in Partyzanske it’s all about walking on rubble (areas from Ivan Compasso’s interview on the map below).
Ukrainian children disappeared: No one knows how many there are
“I can assure you that none of us take pleasure in killing Russians. We would gladly do so, if not all of us. But that does not mean that we can allow them to kill us, enter our homes, loot and rape women. There are hundreds of people missing in this war, taken from their families, who lost their lives under the bombs.” I’m not talking about the losers, I’m talking about the same number of them, there were no people among them, there is more news, another serious war crime is added to the list of committed, even in 2024 – “And I really don’t think it will be possible to do anything, we will reveal how many Ukrainian children are missing when the conflict is over,” the priest told us.
We walk with him with great caution through the streets of Partyzanske. “Always keep your feet where the asphalt is, what little there is left. And stay behind me, follow my steps,” he says as he guides us through the rubble. “It will take years to clear all these mines,” Gavelia tells us when we arrive in Blahodatne. The situation here is worse than in previous villages. The scars of the war are even more obvious. They all collapsed. A man comes towards us and doesn’t think he actually sees anyone. It was clear from the very beginning that vodka was his companion. You don’t meet anyone else. If we see anyone in the previous villages, this is truly the end of the world. There is still a burning smell and a strange smell.
Pastor Ratmir Gavelia: “We will continue the struggle”
“I studied in Russia, I have Russian friends. I had at least a few. But I had never met an American. There was no one in my life before Russian special forces tried to take over our cities three years ago.” He stops and points to a burning Russian armored car. “Even in Europe, there is a lot of propaganda that distorts the truth, influencing many people. This shows us that we cannot afford to stop the war, to surrender. The war will not end anytime soon. Putin and his men decide to turn back and leave. But until then, our homes and we will continue to fight – Ratmir promises Gavelia – until our lands are liberated”.
In razed towns: A playground was also hit – video
Read more reports from Ivan Compasso on Today.it
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
