Destroyed houses and school: Russian forces raze small village in Kherson Oblast to ground
YANA OSADCHA – 10 NOVEMBER 2022
Russian occupation forces have all but levelled the village of Potomkine, which was home to 380 people.
Yaroslav Yanushevych, Head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration, said that not a single house has been left undamaged by Russian attacks, and the village’s critical infrastructure has been destroyed.
Nina, a resident of Potomkine, has invited Yanushevych to come to the village during his visit to the neighbouring town of Vysokopillia. Nina’s house has been destroyed, forcing her to leave the village that she called home.
"We are hurting. We want to go home. If we were told that we would be given land and houses elsewhere, we wouldn’t agree to that," Nina said.
Nina’s house stands in ruins now, just like all the other houses in the village. The roads are dotted with enormous craters from shells and rockets.
"Whenever there was a strike, we’d clear away the debris, fix the doors with cello tape," residents of Potomkine said.
Before the war, Potomkine had a school, attended by 34 kids, and a kindergarten. Russian forces have destroyed both.
However, Yanushevych said that residents of Potomkine have already started returning to the village following its liberation and are now working to restore their homes.
He promised the residents of Potomkine that the Ukrainian government will not force them to move; instead, it will help ensure the village’s restoration.
Background: On 9 November, Sergei Surovikin, the new commander of the Russian occupation forces in Ukraine, announced that the Russian Federation was transferring its troops to the left bank of the Dnipro River, which meant that the Russians were leaving Kherson. Meanwhile, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukrainian forces had liberated 12 villages in Kherson Oblast over the course of 9 November.
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