(Stoyanka) Russian snipers have the empty streets of the Ukrainian village of Stoyanka in their sights, but Andriï Ostapets still hopes to bring food to his neighbors, and to his cats, if they are still alive.
Posted at 10:51 a.m.
The 69-year-old returned with others to Stoyanka, a week after fleeing the village on the western edge of the capital Kyiv. He heard that Ukrainian forces were chasing Russian troops there.
“We saw people killed, houses burned, we lived through hell” when the forces of Moscow occupied the village, testifies Andriï, protecting himself from the biting cold with a big leather jacket.
“Yesterday they chased them from our farm. The Russians have no chance of staying alive. They must surrender or die, ”says this man, owner of a private museum.
An icy wind blows over Stoyanka, transformed into a ghost town after nearly a month of fighting and attempts by Russian forces to encircle the Ukrainian capital.
Shelling and gunfire still echo from the hills surrounding the village, where Russian snipers are hiding, according to Ukrainian volunteers defending the area.
In fact, the fighting continues around Kyiv, even if Russia announced on Friday that it would now “concentrate its efforts” on eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian forces claim, however, to regain ground, after the Russian advances of recent weeks, around the capital and in particular in Stoyanka, located less than a kilometer from the western limit of Kyiv.
“I have a car full of food products and the people who stayed there, we are going to bring them food”, explains Andriï Ostapets. “We are waiting for permission and we will go and save those who are still alive”.
“Shot down by snipers”
Most of the houses at the entrance to Stoyanka appear empty, and others have been destroyed by shelling.
At a checkpoint, where civilians wait to receive help, a Ukrainian fighter warns: it would be “suicidal” to go to the center of the village.
“Two civilians were killed by snipers today,” he said, Kalashnikov in hand and his face hidden by a khaki balaclava. Stoyanka is still targeted by sniper, mortar and artillery fire, most of it coming from nearby woods, adds this fighter, who declined to give his name.
Among the inhabitants who remained despite the fighting, many lack food.
Andriï Ostapets’ daughter, Snijana Chokina, made a surprise visit to the village to “bring food” and “support” the inhabitants.
“I didn’t tell my parents that I would come because they would have started to worry. I just came, ”says this 45-year-old woman, mother of two children.
“Historical Enemy”
Her parents fled Stoyanka after a shell exploded in their garden, knocking her mother down and leaving a large crater.
Their cats were “probably killed”, but they “hope most of them are alive”.
The road to the heart of the village is however dangerous. Ukrainian fighters warn of snipers targeting the debris-strewn junction on the main road to Kyiv.
Andrii Ostapets, a history buff who says Russia is the “historic enemy” of the Ukrainian state, sees this as a tactic to delay the counter-offensive by Kyiv forces.
“The Russians are running out of ammunition and have been split into small groups. Small arms and snipers will not help them in this situation,” he said.
“They killed all living creatures, cats, dogs. They had no more provisions, so they broke in everywhere and stole everything,” he said. Charges that could not be verified by AFP.
With a broad smile, Andriï Ostapets raised a fist in the air, before concluding: “Glory to Ukraine! “.