Ukraine: in Odessa, Marina waits for Kherson to be recaptured from the Russians
A replica of the Soviet Victory Banner flies near a World War II memorial in the city of Kherson on July 19, 2022. AFP - STRINGER
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
This Monday, September 5, it has been a week since Ukrainian troops launched a counter-offensive in the Kherson region, in Russian hands since the first weeks of the conflict.
Information on the course of operations is scarce.
Our special envoys in Ukraine met a young woman who fled last week from her village in the region, located very close to the front line.
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With our special correspondents in Odessa,
Anastasia Becchio and Boris Vichith
The sirens that sound regularly in Odessa do not seem to disturb many people.
Marina Brousskaya, she still feels a concern.
Just before the start of the counteroffensive, the 24-year-old fled her village, which had been under Russian occupation since the early days of the war, with her parents and grandmother.
We hadn't planned to leave, we were hoping to welcome our defenders to our home, but unfortunately the situation got so tense that we had to leave.
It had become unbearable to stay there.
In addition to the shelling, there was constant pressure from the Russian soldiers.
They felt at home and made us fear them.
It was very hard and very scary.
Marina left behind, in the suburbs of Kherson, her fiancé, with whom she manages to communicate once a day.
He says it's appalling, that the situation is more and more tense.
The bombings are incessant.
There are sometimes 10-15 minutes of lull, that's all.
But he told me: I'm ready to wait in the cellar for two weeks, if ours arrive.
While waiting to find her fiancé, the young woman goes to look for work in Odessa.
Before the war, she was employed in a bank which closed its doors when the Russians arrived.
►Read also: In Odessa, refugees from Kherson continue to arrive
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