The front line passed through the village of Posad-Pokrovske in the Kherson region. When the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the right bank of the Dnieper, local residents began to return home. However, after the Russian army, only the walls remained of their houses, which their owners are trying to save.
The road from Mykolaiv to Kherson is empty. The only creature visible on it is only a red dog that appears on it and disappears in the bushes. There are wide fields on both sides of the road. The fog covers the road like spilled milk and blinds the eye. Halfway there is a village called Posad-Pokrovske. On its streets there are many ridges of wooden beams that are supposed to hold the roof tiles on the houses. However, due to constant enemy shelling, the roof tiles are no longer on the buildings.
"In our village it was like in the city," says a woman in her fifties, who stands at the threshold of the village council and distributes hot lunches and bread brought by volunteers to her fellow villagers. - All the streets used to be lit up with lights, we decorated such a beautiful Christmas tree for the holidays. Here's a look.
The woman takes her phone out of her pocket and looks for photos from last year. On them there is a big Christmas tree and smiling faces of women in the light of New Year's lights.
Before the war, about two and a half thousand residents lived in the village of Posad-Pokrovske. On March 15, the Ukrainian army helped residents of Posad-Pokrovske to evacuate. After the New Year, 196 people have already returned. Most of their houses were destroyed. It happens that the most frequently damaged part of the house is the roof. Therefore, the owners of many houses now do not have a roof over their heads. That is why the walls, floor, furniture and household items got wet under the southern rains.
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— But these houses will be covered with film. Maybe you've seen some houses being closed like that here, says local volunteer Natalya, a short blond girl.
Natalya is an agronomist. She lived in Posad-Pokrovske with her mother. Every year they grew alfalfa and sold it to the Mykolaiv Zoo. In addition, they sowed barley, wheat, sunflower and planted tomatoes. "We grew all the crops that are typical and popular for planting in the Kherson region," the girl adds.
Last February, Natalya was in Germany, working there. Then her mother called her and said that the war had started. The girl could not come immediately, because she had signed a contract for work. She worked in Germany as an agronomist's assistant. When she returned to the village, she began to live in a neighbor's house, because living in her own house is now almost impossible. The thing is that one of the walls is destroyed and needs to be restored. A rocket hit Natalya's house. Now the girl is engaged in volunteer activities. She helps emergency workers find shells left on the streets.
— My mother is in the Ternopil region now. She came here for a few days. We have rented vegetable gardens there and are planting watermelons. This year, we bet local residents that we would grow watermelons up to 10 kg. We were told: "Watermelons of this size do not grow in this area." As a result, we managed to grow a watermelon weighing nine and a half kilograms. In February, the girl will go there again, because she has to prepare the soil in the garden for the new season.
While we are talking with Natalya, she is surrounded by a large pack of dogs, who begin to run around the volunteer in a circle.
— There are so many dogs here. In many destroyed villages, there are just as many running through the streets, I say to Natalya.
— I have 15 dogs now. I cook two pots of porridge and that's just for one day. Out of this whole pack of dogs, I know only two of them, I don't know the rest, - the girl says. — I ordered food for these dogs from volunteers. We set up feeders around the village and pour feed there as well. After all, there are so many animals where to go, and it would be a pity to chase them away.
In one of the houses, where the owners do not live now, the dogs brought a cluster projectile with a tape.
"There were only explosions here from demining, and they found it somewhere and brought it to me," says Anfisa, the house owner, on the doorstep of which the dogs left the projectile.
We meet Anfisa in the middle of the street where the woman lives. She also covered the roofless house, looking for small pieces of tiles. However, as soon as she heard the news about the liberation of Kherson, she was ready to sleep even in the open air, if only in her own home.
— Oh, this Russia that we hate, it must be completely wiped off the face of the earth. So that such a state does not exist. It is necessary to make sure that neither Russia, nor the "Russian world", nor the Russians themselves exist at all. They just need to be destroyed. After all, they are attacking all countries. Whom did they not attack! Why do we need such people? This country, their government and their people must be destroyed.
Anfisa evacuated with her fellow villagers at the beginning of March. Before leaving, she was hiding in her sister's house. When the women left the place where they spent the night, a shell flew there.
"If we had stayed there, we would have been killed." We were so harshly bombed. I hate these bitches. The Russians entered our territory on March 2-3 and fired at us.
Stepan and Tetyana Kovalovs are also trying to preserve the walls of their own house. A rocket hit their house last May. In some rooms, the ceiling sagged, and there were puddles of water on the floor.
— When it started to rain, I put my clothes in boxes up to the ceiling. When the ceiling started to fall, my husband and I began to run away quickly, - says the woman and begins to cry. - Oh, children, the most important thing is that no one sees the horror that I saw. We invested so much in this house, we worked so hard. In order to raise money, we had to breed four bulls at a time. I myself was born during the war and now I lived to see the war again...
— And where do you sleep? I ask.
— In the basement. I get up at night, my hands and feet are cold. A small home-made stove barely heats the room. There is not enough firewood and everything is wet.
In the Kovalovs’ basement, where canned tomatoes and cucumbers are usually stored, there is now a home-made stove and a bed. Two kittens are sitting on the bed.
— Look, where my cats are sleeping. My wife and I also sleep on this bed. Here I usually light a candle, we drink tea and go to bed, - says Stepan Mykolayovych.
— In the house, all things are hidden in boxes. This is better, because before they were simply scattered on the water flowing into the house. Despite the fact that we put clothes and other important things in boxes, rainwater also gets on them and spoils them.
Even when food and humanitarian aid items are brought to us, there is nowhere to store them in the basement and nowhere to take them out. It is wet and damp in the basement, and mice will eat them outside.
Stepan and Tetiana Kovalovs lived together for 60 years. They will celebrate their wedding anniversary in May. Everything in their house is important to them: wardrobes, mattresses, doors and sofas. Every piece of furniture is crucial to them and everything is necessary. All their lives are focused - here, in this house, which they want to keep.