in the heart of the city of Izioum, taken over by the Ukrainians

In the reconquered city of Izioum (Ukraine), since Sunday September 11, the Ukrainian soldiers displayed a broad smile, the raised fist, on their tank. All over the city of 45,000 inhabitants, traces of the battle are still visible. Russian forces occupied Izium for five months, but barely resisted the Ukrainian offensive. Behind them they left the spoils of war. The men of a Ukrainian regiment recovered Russian armor, tagged with the “Z” of Moscow, and ammunition.

A brand new heavy machine gun was also found. “She was never used,” said a Ukrainian soldier. “We saw two Russian soldiers who were lost. They asked us for directions. We said to them: ‘You guys have arrived!’ And we took them prisoner”, he explains. But in Izioum, barely liberated, it’s already time to settle scores. In a square, residents came to challenge the mayor of the city, who fled when the Russians entered. “The mayor betrayed us, he abandoned us, without water or electricity”, laments a woman. During the occupation, the town hall served as the headquarters of the Russian forces.