The small village of Vysokopillya in southern Ukraine was quick to fall into Russian hands when Moscow invaded on February 24. But in September – after six months of Russian occupation – it was recaptured by Ukrainian forces, who have now set up camp there. FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports on the soldiers’ daily lives, some 40 kilometres from the frontline.
“Whoah!!” Oleksandr exclaims when smelling the small package of home-made salo (pork fat) his mother has sent him in the mail.
“This is the first time in eight months I’ve eaten my Mum’s salo,” he says, while also picking up some military equipment he has ordered.
Oleksandr is one of the many Ukrainian soldiers now stationed in Vysokopillya after Ukraine recently retook the town as part of its counteroffensive in the Kherson region.
But life is not always easy for the troops. Soldiers belonging to another unit, which has taken up quarters in a house in another part of town, complain that they’re ill-equipped.
“Look: the lamps, the generators, we had to buy everything at our own cost,” the Ukrainian soldier Viktor says, while showing FRANCE 24 around the house.
Although Ukraine has spent nearly ten times more on non-lethal equipment for its armed forces this year than it did last year, it’s not always enough.
“Jacket: donated. Boots: donated. It’s all from people who care about Ukraine, who gave us these uniforms,” Viktor says and points to his clothes.
But morale still seems to be high.
“We’re going to keep pushing the Russians away, so they can’t come back, so the civilians living here don’t have to fear that some strangers will come and kick them out of their homes,” a sergeant by the name of Yura says, with a nod to the Ukrainian counteroffensive which is far from over.
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