Thread by @StefanWeichert

A 🧵about what I have seen in southern #Ukraine. 👇

More and more villages are back under Ukrainian control near Kryvyi Rih on the way to #Kherson, and the stories about rape and killings are reaching the surface, while fighting can be heard nearby. 1/8

Sixty-seven-year-old Valentina recalls how the Russian troops moved into her neighbors' houses.

“My mother always told me that it was so terrible during the World War, but I didn’t know that war could be so terrible. I had no idea." 2/8

#ukraine

thedailybeast.com/body-in-a-base…

Another man told about how the #RussianArmy broke into his shop and stole everything. Later, his good friend Igor was killed, and a woman was said to be raped.

"They also killed Igor. They just came into his home and shot him," said Volodimir. 3/8

ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/krigog…

The #ukraine army controls the area, but not everything has been checked thoroughly yet.

It was possible to see hidden Russian ammunition boxes, which the Ukrainian army then came to remove soon after. 4/8

#UkraineRussiaWar

People are already starting to move back despite the frontline being close by. People simply do not want to be on the run anymore. It is incredible to hear their stories while artillery fire can be heard nearby. 5/8

#ukraine

It is not only in the villages in southern #ukraine that people try to get back to normal.

In the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, the steel company ArcelorMittal recently restarted its production despite the threat of air attacks. 6/8

But the war is never far away, even in Kryvyi Rih. The hospital is still full of patients - civilians and soldiers. A soldier told me that he couldn't wait to return to the frontline. 7/8

In contrast, many civilians just want the war to end. 7/

It is also still pouring in with refugees from #Kherson region. Many are women and children.

“The (rumors of a Russian) referendum are one reason to leave now. It is getting harder and harder to leave and harder and harder to live in Kherson." 8/8

#ukraine