The entire front line has been closed to everyone for over two weeks, indeed shrouded in secrecy. After days of negotiations, the army backed down and allowed Sky News to get to the front line in Kherson to see what has happened and what is happening. Liberated cities in the northern campaign have revealed potential war crimes, but have also seen a return to some normal life. “War crimes have been committed” – most recently in Ukraine My first impression as I drive into the outskirts of Vysokopilia and pass checkpoints manned by soldiers sheltering under trees instead of more formal and more conventional shelters, is that this battle is proving to be fierce and far from over. Soldiers are still at too great a risk to set up regular checkpoints. The Ukrainians may have taken Vysokopillya back and pushed the Russians back on the road, but it’s only three miles away – battlefield-wise, that’s a very marginal change. The city is broken, it’s that simple. Small numbers of people wander around, pushing bicycles through streets littered with glass, rubble, shrapnel, burned cars and trucks, and streets lined with bombed-out houses. The center of town is eerily quiet except for the thump and boom of artillery a short distance away. The wings of the unexploded rockets look like the metal leaves of a potted plant buried in the ground. Interesting, but deadly. Ironically, just down the road, the Russians are overseeing a referendum on whether the Kherson region should become part of the Russian Federation. By September 5, the residents of Vysokopilia would also be forced to vote. Now the people we spoke to are dismissing the referendum as ridiculous, and certainly not for them. Image: Halina insisted that she will not take part in the referendum Halyna, 65, was hard to miss, walking down the street with her bike and dog and wearing a red robe. She looked traumatized but wants to talk about life here and the referendum being held a few miles away. “The referendum;” he said, before I could finish my question. “I would never vote for it! I don’t need any ‘Russian people.’ “People there live normal lives in Moscow, Leningrad and other such cities, but in their villages, I don’t want that life.” Read more: Ukrainian mothers desperate for children Will Russia use nuclear weapons? Five Britons freed in prisoner swap return to families The Russians said they would never leave. Residents who stayed or returned speak of terror and above all of systematic widespread looting. Image: A Ukrainian flag flying in Vysokopilia On the road where the Russians retreated, we filmed a burnt out van that appeared to be full of motorbikes, believed to have been stolen. One of the residents, Bohdan, spoke to me at the gate of his house that had been badly damaged by the bombings. He told me that stealing and pillaging was standard procedure for Russian soldiers. Click to subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries wherever you get your podcasts “They were stealing everything, cars, even bikes, all the technical stuff… everything,” the 71-year-old said. “If they couldn’t start a car, they’d tow it and leave nothing behind. They’d just burn and wreck and smash everything.” Image: Vasyl and Nadiya returned to Vysokopillya Husband and wife Vasyl and Nadiya also lived in possession. They managed to get away for a while, and now they’re back, but they’re struggling with what they’ve been through. “They abused people, they beat them, it was horrible. They didn’t let us leave our homes,” Nadiya explained. “As soon as we tried to leave, they shot over our heads with machine guns, so we had to hide. They were afraid to see where they hid their machines and weapons, they even had “ranks” there, so we just stayed in the basement, because we were afraid to leave.” “It was so humiliating, I have no words to describe it…” added her husband Vasil. The hospital in the area was used by the Russians as their headquarters. In front of him, a blue car with the now infamous “Z” on the side. There are two rows of new graves in the city cemetery for people who died during the occupation and liberation. Volodya Kostenko showed us inside. He explained that he had joined a group that collected the dead and buried them. Wept softly at the graves of a family. Volodya had used his car and trailer to pick up the bodies. He told us he brought 13 to the cemetery and buried them himself. Most of those who died were old or sick. But he revealed that one was a family that he says was shot and killed by the Russians. He has no idea why. As he spoke, he broke down, turned away and cried. Few will survive this war.
