ORIKHIV, Ukraine – Midway between the Ukrainian and Russian front lines in an increasingly volatile battlefield in southeastern Ukraine, the small town of Orikhiv is constantly on fire, and Tamara Mikheenko, one of the few remaining residents, rarely leaves. his basement.
Mikheenko, 70, said: “All the time in the basement, at night, under the fire,” said Mikheenko, 70, as another explosion sounded outside. “It’s very scary, like a flash of lightning, everything falls apart, houses fall apart.”
Trying to communicate through loud sobs on Tuesday, Ms. Mikheenko begged world leaders, including the presidents of the United States, Russia and Ukraine, to do whatever was necessary to stop them. stop the brutality, even as Russian forces appear to be preparing a major attack. Officials said Orikhiv could be moved in the coming days.
“Let them agree to put an end to this madness,” she said.
The night before, an explosion tore through the uninhabited house next door, violently shaking the dark cellar where Miss Mikheenko was hiding.
Orikhiv was in the midst of a small constellation of orderly farming villages, right on the path of Russian advances from the south and east. Ukrainian officials believe that Russian forces are preparing to take a major step forward in their efforts to expand some of the territory they captured in the early days of the war.
Shelling along this front has intensified in recent days, and across the region, Ukrainian forces are digging new trenches and fortifying positions.
It is in and around these villages, still inhabited by goats, cows, and chickens, but fewer and fewer people, that is the present critical stage of the ongoing war. After failing to capture the capital Kyiv and encountering impenetrable resistance along Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has transferred all of the remaining strength of his army across the region. fertile plain east of the Dnipro River of Ukraine and some key points. cities.
Russian forces now occupy nearly 80 percent of the Donbas region, as well as the swath of land linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Putin annexed in 2014. Each town south and east of Orikhiv has fallen to Russia.
Ukrainian forces, mainly from the 128th separate Mountain Assault Brigade, are currently digging into the dense forests around and between these villages and the vast fields of wheat and sunflowers inhabited by residents. their care. Soldiers from the brigade say they are about to stop expected Russian attack and even to push back the Russian lines.
But if Orikhiv also falls, Russian forces will have an almost open road to the large industrial metropolis of Zaporizhzhia, less than 40 miles away. Zaporizhzhia’s pre-war population of about 750,000 had grown with the daily arrival of evacuees from nearby territories now occupied by Russian forces, including the devastated port city of Mariupol.
Around Zaporizhzhia, one could feel a sense of impending danger. Now, air raid sirens sound several times a day and the local military hospital is filled with soldiers from the front lines with horrific injuries. On Tuesday, the Russian military launched a missile attack on targets inside the city, nearly missing its nuclear power plant, biggest in Europe when fully operational, according to officials. The rocket hit a city utility, killing one person, although local authorities did not provide further details.
Since the beginning of the war on February 24, missile attacks are rare in Zaporizhzhia. In Orikhiv it was not like that. The town was only three miles from the Russian lines, and shelling occurred around the clock, especially at night. Several homes were attacked on Tuesday night, including that of Mikheenko’s neighbour, Vitaliy Kononenko.
“This is what the Russian world has given us,” said Mr. Kononenko, examining the large hole punched through the facade of his home. Inside, the ceiling panels of melted plastic and the fur of a large teddy bear sat on the window of a singing child’s room.
The house, which Mr. Kononenko says he recently built, would have burned to the ground if Mikheenko’s son, Aleksandr, had not had to rush out of the basement to put it out.
The mayor of Orikhiv, Kostyantin Denisov, said it was a miracle that the city had no casualties despite the constant shelling. This is partly due to the decision to evacuate as soon as possible. Today, only about 30% of the city’s pre-war population of 20,000 remains.
Some people are still in the city, like Mikheenko, hiding in their basements, but not everyone is. On Tuesday, among the tidy single-family homes was an occasional resident hustling in a beautiful blooming front garden. The sounds of gunfire, clearly target practice, rang out in the distance.
Russo-Ukrainian War: Main developments
Mr. Denisov remained in position, refusing to leave his office in the peach-colored City Hall building. He said he needed help in defending the city. This is no easy task, as the 251-year-old town was once on several trade routes and has at least seven roads leading into it.
“Now we have to close these routes to avoid uninvited guests,” he said. “That is our main mission. We will not surrender.”
The towns that ran across the southeastern Ukrainian front were like stele markings of the Russian advance. Polohy, about 25 miles east of Orikhiv, fell to the Russians.
To the northwest is Komyshuvakha, where Russian forces had come dangerously close until about two weeks ago, when Ukrainian defenders pushed them back. On Tuesday, the biggest drama of the day was the escape of a black and white bull from Natalia Novitskaya’s yard.
But the devastation of war is still present. In front of Ms. Novitskaya’s house is a crater large enough to swallow a small sedan. The blast from the bomb, which occurred on March 16, blew out windows and left one of her sons concussion, she said.
Locals also showed remains of what appeared to be incendiary weapons that had been dumped on their homes and fields in the early days of the fighting.
Despite the relative calm for now, Komyshuvakha officials and residents are preparing for the return of the Russians. On Tuesday, rearguards were digging new trenches along the sides of the road and soldiers were stocking up on food at the local market.
“We don’t know what they have in mind, but we are strengthening,” said Yuriy Karapetyan, the mayor. “We are preparing for the worst and will resist until the very end.”
