A group of Ukrainian infantrymen were in a warehouse in southwestern Ukraine when they were shelled by Russian artillery. Sergej was hit in the face by shrapnel. He and his friend Gennadij took a photo holding the part of the shell that did not hit them.
Moments later, Russian tanks appeared on the hill opposite and opened fire on the countryside ahead, including the warehouse. Gennady and the rest of the group - all originally from the Zaporozhye region - were also hit by shrapnel and all suffered hearing damage.
“They had three tanks on the hill and they were just shooting at us. We only had rifles," Gennadij told the British "Guardian". "We had some equipment given to us by the Americans and the Poles, but it was not enough to fight".
They said that they escaped from the warehouse under clouds of smoke and went to the neighboring village, from where they were taken to the military hospital in Zaporizhia.
Guardian reporters were granted access to the military hospital to speak with the soldiers on the condition that they not identify specific locations of the fighting and not publish the full names of the soldiers interviewed.
"There are a lot of people who are motivated to fight," said Sergej, who was hospitalized with others from the company who escaped from the warehouse. "But we are underarmed and desperately trying to hold off such a mass (of the Russian army)."
"Besides, there is simply not enough time to train everyone who wants to fight," added Dmitro, another member of the company, who was lying on a hospital bed.
Ukraine has criticized the West for being slow to send weapons, and President Volodymyr Zelensky appeals almost daily that his country cannot produce the weapons or ammunition it needs to fight the Russian invaders. The requested equipment ranges from fighter planes and tanks, which the West is reluctant or slow to send, to artillery and armored vehicles, to all kinds of weapons and ammunition.
The US announced on Thursday that it will deliver additional weapons worth 800 million dollars, including 72 howitzers, bringing the total value of its weapons since the start of the war to more than XNUMX billion dollars, according to US President Joe Biden. However, even when the weapons are secured, it can take two weeks or more to reach Ukraine.
Other major countries are slower or less ready, especially Germany, which has reportedly shortened the list of heavy weapons it is ready to offer to Ukraine.
When asked why Germany is not sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that NATO must avoid a direct military conflict with Russia that could lead to the third world war
Germany must do everything in its power to help Ukraine win the war against Russia, but not to jeopardize its own security and NATO's defense capacity, said Finance Minister Christian Lindner yesterday.
He rejected criticism of Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the government's apparent reluctance to deliver heavy weapons, such as tanks and howitzers, Reuters reported.
"Olaf Scholz is a responsible leader who makes decisions carefully," said Lindner.
A day earlier, when asked why Germany is not sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, Scholz said that NATO must avoid a direct military conflict with Russia that could lead to the third world war.
The speed with which Ukrainian forces are using weapons and ammunition has also surprised the West, which has begun ramping up industrial production in an attempt to help Kiev defend itself.
President Zelensky said on Friday that the allies are finally delivering the weapons that Ukraine has requested, adding that they will help save the lives of thousands of people.
Ukrainian forces are currently resisting in a strip stretching hundreds of kilometers from Kharkiv in the northeast to Mykolaiv in the southwest.
Sergei, who has shrapnel cuts on his face, was happy to pose for a photo for a British newspaper despite being warned by the military press secretary about the risks of being captured by Russian forces. "We are not afraid of anything," said Sergej.
Earlier that day, this group of Ukrainians had dodged fire from a Russian plane. "The plane flew over us and bombed us a bit. It was a little uncomfortable," said Sergej with a smile. "Well, actually, not a little, but extremely unpleasant."
Another member of the group who escaped from the warehouse, Nikola, said that the Russians had drones and knew exactly where their positions were.
"The situation is very difficult," Nikola said. "I can only speak about our situation. I don't know how the other (battalions) are doing.”
Of all the cities in central and eastern Ukraine, it seems that life in Zaporozhye is the closest to that of before the war, but Russian forces have occupied more than 70 percent of the Zaporozhye region, "The Guardian" writes. Twenty percent of that area is the southern front of Ukraine and is a battle zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
New restrictions were introduced for the movement of journalists south of the city of Zaporozhye, and the military press secretary for the Zaporozhye region, Ivan Arijevjev, said that this was not due to the worsening of the situation, but because the active phase of the war on the southern front had begun.
The group of soldiers visited by "Guardian" reporters in the Zaporozhye region was about 12 kilometers from the Russian positions. They did not expect the fighting to reach them quickly and said the lines further south would hold - even though shells were falling a few kilometers away.
They also said that they lack medical equipment. For 23 people, they had only six helmets and six tourniquets - some of them hand-stitched by civilian volunteers.
While the helmets were on their way from Poland, volunteers and suppliers struggled to find tourniquets even abroad.
Wounded soldiers in the hospital said that they received an extremely warm welcome from the local villagers, who often bought them food. During the retreat, they removed the number plates from the cars they were using so that the Russian soldiers could not identify the locals who had lent them the vehicles.
"The Guardian" states that there have been numerous reports that Russian forces have tortured and even killed local residents who are suspected of helping the Ukrainian army.
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