On Monday, the Ukrainian military released footage of the 35th brigade raising the flag of their country in honor of the capture of Storozhev on Monday Photo: Mikhail Ostrogradsky, 35th Brigade/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The past 15 months have not been easy for Yuriy Bakayev, head of the Volnovakha district near Donetsk. When Russian troops took over his corner of eastern Ukraine last March, his home was destroyed and he has been heading the local government-in-exile on the Ukrainian side of the frontline ever since.
On Monday, however, he watched with quiet delight the news that part of his old fiefdom had become the first territory to be liberated during a new Ukrainian counteroffensive. In footage released by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, servicemen plant a flag in Storozhiv, one of the villages in the Volnovakha district recaptured during the last days of fighting.
“We saw this on the Internet, and I, and everyone else in my office rejoiced,” Bakayev, 53, told The Telegraph on Tuesday as he held meetings at his makeshift city hall headquarters in a village near the town of Pokrovsk. «But it's too early to celebrate — we will do it on the day when every piece of Ukrainian territory returns to our hands.»
Perhaps Mr. Bakaev was right in not pouring champagne yet. For as the “liberation” progressed, the development of the villages of Storozhevoy and almost Neskuchnoye and Blagodatny was a modest beginning. The three houses, home to about a few thousand people, are nestled deep within a farming community 75 miles southeast of Donetsk, the capital of a Russian separatist-controlled region.
Ukrainian-occupied villages — Neskuchnoye Blagodatnoe Makarovka
The villages were overrun by Russian troops in the third week of March last year and have since become front-line ghost towns. «About 75 percent of the buildings were damaged and most residents fled,» one local Ukrainian official said.
Footage released by the Ukrainian military shows members of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade patrolling on foot overgrown the streets of Storozhev, which otherwise seemed almost deserted. Among the houses destroyed by the bombs, the padded Russian armored vehicles with the “Z” mark could be seen.
The footage also shows Russian rations and tracer ammunition scattered on the ground, which indicates the haste of the occupiers' departure. . Filming of the recaptured villages appears to have taken place over the weekend, judging by the wet weather captured by the camera.
Mr. Bakaev declined to comment further, citing the «War Plans Like Silence» campaign, which Kyiv urged Ukrainians to adhere to during the counteroffensive. However, officials in his administration said that about 30 people who still lived in the villages were evacuated to nearby towns while the counteroffensive continued. It is believed that most of them are elderly residents who refused to leave their homes with younger residents caring for them. Reception centers have been set up where they can receive accommodation and counselling. Everyone who is suspected of sympathy for Russia is also checked.
Despite their small size, the villages are clustered around a road junction, which could help Ukrainian forces move further south and east as the offensive continues. .
These are the first liberated villages since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the counter-offensive had begun on Saturday. They are located close to a 50-mile front line where the Ukrainian counteroffensive appears to be concentrated, between Donetsk and the city of Zaporozhye to the west.
On Tuesday in the village of Neskuchnoye, according to the news agency Reuters, the bodies of dead Russian soldiers are still lying on the streets. One bloated corpse lay next to an abandoned Russian military vehicle. The Ukrainian military said one of their drone cameras watched as peers of the victim tried to evacuate their fallen comrade with them, but left him on the street as the Ukrainians advanced.
Public relations officer, served in the 68th regiment. The Jaeger Brigade, which was present in Blagodatnoye, reported that among the Russian defenders of the village was the so-called “Assault Brigade Z” of former prisoners.
“One of them, with whom we spoke, he was convicted of murder and served half of the sentence,” the officer said. “He fought with the Shturm-Z brigade for only three days before he was caught.”
He added: “Everything in Blagodatnoye is destroyed, there is nothing else there, and artillery shelling is still going on.” happening.”
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