War in Ukraine: in the cemeteries, the carnage of the front is displayed for all to see

Nicolas Tonev (special correspondent in Ukraine), edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: STRINGER / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP 06:13, February 20, 2024

While the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been going on for almost two years, the two belligerents are trying to hide as best as possible the number of soldiers who died in combat. Something difficult to do in Ukraine, with a territory 15 times smaller than Russia. Europe 1 went to a small cemetery near a medium-sized town.

The Ukrainian anthem resounds in the gusts of wind that sweep through the Nove cemetery, in Rivne, a medium-sized town of less than 250,000 inhabitants, 320 km west of Kiev in Ukraine, and where the burials of soldiers take place almost every day. day by day. In this context of war with Russia, the two countries are trying to hide as best as possible the number of soldiers who died in combat. If in Russia, the immensity of the territory makes it possible to distribute the losses and make them less visible, in Ukraine, on a territory 15 times smaller, the carnage of the front is displayed for all to see in the cemeteries of the smallest towns and cities. villages.

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This is the case in Rivne, where this time, a Kalashnikov salvo was fired in honor of Olexander Morgun (infantry), 33 years old. Antonia, his widow with staring eyes as if stunned, mechanically agrees to tell the story on the microphone of Europe 1. "He died on January 27 in the Donetsk region. He was killed by a drone and fragments of an explosion. J "I lost my man and our two sons lost their father," she laments.

“Here, they are all relatives”

The priest blesses the grave, the shovelfuls of earth crash onto the coffin. This is Father Olere's deadly routine. “At the entrance to the cemetery, there was a new square for our heroes, but it is already full with almost 300 dead, and here we will arrive at 50 graves of our heroes,” he explains. "Yesterday I had a funeral, this one today... And you know, here, it's small, they're all close friends."

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This square 75, sector 7, is already almost full. Before him, a grim, muddy wasteland waits to feed on the next battle deaths, as the two-year Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches.