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The cracked kitchen clock still marks the moment when the first Russian missile tore through the courtyard of a Soviet-era apartment building facing Ukraine’s southern front in Mykolaiv, one of the…
The cracked kitchen clock still marks the moment when the first Russian missile tore through the courtyard of a Soviet-era building facing Ukraine’s southern front in Mykolaiv, one of the key cities in the next phase of the conflict.
The second S.300 rocket exploded a minute later, at 1:44 am. By then, Gennadiy Gerulo had already fallen out of bed, realizing that much of his old way of life was gone.
The engineer looked out his broken kitchen window a few hours later and saw strikes on the port city of Mykolaiv as a sign of imminent victory.
“He’s like a jealous lover,” the 50-year-old said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He says that if he can’t have Ukraine, nobody can.
Southern Ukrainian cities like Mykolaiv will play a crucial role in the next phase of the grueling war that the Kremlin mastermind began exactly eight months ago.
A Ukrainian counter-offensive that forced the Russians out of the territories they had occupied in the more industrial north reached the agricultural south.
And cities such as Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih, about three hours’ drive to the northeast, offer the Ukrainians two bases from which to launch their next attacks.
“Injured animal”
The latest wave of rockets, which injured four, reinforced the belief of Svetlana Tichevska, a neighbor of engineer Gennadiy Gerulo, that Ukraine is on the right track.
Russian authorities are already evacuating the nearby city of Kherson – the only regional capital the Russians managed to control throughout the war, which began on February 24.
A Ukrainian victory in the area would sever the Kremlin-created land bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
It would also restore crucial access to the Sea of Azov and give Mr Putin some leeway in a military campaign that has turned him into an international pariah.
Cleaning the garbage from the stairs a few floors below the engineer, Svetlana Tičevska expresses almost the same thoughts as her neighbor.
“He is like a wounded animal,” she says of the Russian president. “He destroys himself and wants to drag others down with him.”
The retaining wall of Svetlana’s building cracked and the facade of a smaller building across the courtyard partially collapsed.
Few residents consider staying in one or the other building.
“I think victory is near,” said the 50-year-old amid the destruction.
Trail of Destruction
The trail of destruction caused by the withdrawal of Russian forces has fueled hostility toward Moscow in countries where many residents prefer to speak Russian and have family across the border.
Guennadiï Gerulo, a Russian-speaker, says he feels “nothing but hatred, pure hatred for these people who call themselves our brothers”.
The vast majority of attacks target Mykolaiv and surrounding towns after midnight, or when people wake up and go out for the first time that day.
Time is very intriguing. Some believe Russia may be trying to demoralize Ukrainians by depriving them of sleep.
“The Russians want to tire us out and start civil unrest. They want us to force our government to give up,” said the engineer. “They don’t know any other way.”
Mykolaiv became Moscow’s target in the first weeks of the invasion. The Russians were making big gains and targeting the nearby Black Sea port of Odessa, a cultural capital touted by Putin when he went to war.
Mykolaiv suffers for the second time with the withdrawal of Russian troops.
But Lioudmila Falko, an academic and part-time volunteer, seems almost cheerful as she digs through what’s left of her daughter’s apartment.
“These kamikaze drones and these missiles are his last acts,” this 60-year-old woman assures the Russian president. “Children are dying, old people are dying because he is dying.”
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A resident in the rubble of the courtyard of a building after a Russian missile attack in Mykolaiv on October 23, 2022 in Ukraine.
• BULENT KILIC
A damaged building after a Russian missile attack, October 23, 2022 in Mykolaiv, Ukraine
• BULENT KILIC
A resident cries after a Russian missile attack in Mykolaiv on October 23, 2022 in Ukraine.
• BULENT KILIC
An injured resident is carried by rescue teams after a Russian missile attack in Mykolaiv on October 23, 2022 in Ukraine.
• BULENT KILIC
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