on the M14 road to Mykolaiv, tales of strikes, ruins, torture and kidnappings

Arkady drives his car on the 130 km of the essential and strategic M14 road, which connects Odessa to the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south of the country, in Mykolaiv. The car radio plays Ukrainian pop and on the side of the road, truck drivers are taking a break.

One of them, Fedyr, is 37 years old. He transports wheat to Odessa, and recounts the war, how the bombardments have become a habit: “There are knocks on the road, he describes. The most recent was five days ago in Mykolaiv: he made a hole in the middle of the road. And at any time, behind the truck, in front of the truck, another strike can occur. The risk is always there.”

Arkady’s car started up again, to the tune of a curious Ukrainian reggae. 100 km from Mykolaiv, a sign on the lower side warns that the area is mined. The kilometers go by, the houses in ruins too.

“It hit hard here a month ago”, explains Arkady, who translates the words of a man met around. “Before, here, it was a house, what we have in front of us!he exclaims, pointing to the rubble. A man and a guard were killed. This is war: Mykolaivit’s a sight I see every day.”

Less than ten kilometers from the city, the car is stopped at a checkpoint: soldiers check the papers, then let the car leave. A little further, Igor, 28, came to evacuate friends who remained in Mykolaiv. He is from Kherson, a city of 280,000 inhabitants before the conflict, taken by the Russians at the start of the war on February 24, and now the target of the counter-offensive. “I am from Kherson, he explains.

“I left this town on August 19, he explains. I knew the occupation there for five months: everything is sad, Kherson is dying little by little under the control of the Russians. There’s hardly anyone on the streets, not a car.”

“I’ve seen people get arrested, Igor continues. A friend of mine, who did his military service in 2014, was kidnapped and then detained by the Russians. They took him like that, in the middle of the street, with his wife.”

“I know several people who were tortured: they were interrogated to find out their relations, to find out if members of their family were soldiers. They beat them up just for fun.”

Igor says he is going to join the Ukrainian army. According to him, there were strikes at Mykolaiv last night. Also, you have to turn around. On the return to Odessa, the car radio returned to Ukrainian pop, almost cheerful, like when there was peace.