Nikopol, the martyr “victory town”

In Ukraine's Dnipro region, there are thousands of destroyed and damaged houses, shops, offices, schools, hospitals and kindergartens. Most of them are in and around Nikopol. Every day and every night, sirens blare for hours. The residents of Nikopol live in constant peril, and a quiet night is a rarity. But shelling is not the only danger.

On the other side of the dried-up Kakhovka reservoir is Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, and mined by the occupiers. This is the reality Nikopol has been living in for more than a year and a half: under enemy fire, without water and under the looming threat of a nuclear disaster.

Living in the shadow of the enemy

For more than a year now, Nikopol has been in all Ukraine’s news feeds. Even when Telegram's air-raid maps are clear for a while, Nikopol remains marked in red. The Russian army shells the city constantly, day and night. Historians say that the city was built to be a fortress in the days of the Cossacks. In the 21st century, Nikopol, with a Cossack on its coat of arms, is once again looking an enemy in the eye.

In March 2022, Russian troops occupied Enerhodar in the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, with its nuclear power plant. The enemy deployed a large number of soldiers and equipment at the plant and in the surrounding villages. Then, hiding behind the nuclear site, the terrorists [the Russian troops](1) cynically and mercilessly began shelling Nikopol, across the Kakhovka reservoir.

The distance between Nikopol and the enemy positions was only 8 kilometres by water. After that, the occupiers began to terrorise civilians with constant strikes from Grad multiple rocket launchers and cannon artillery. Later, regular drone attacks began. Since July 2022, the people of Nikopol have had no peace at all.

It is impossible to live under such sustained shelling. Residents of Nikopol began to leave their homes.

Yevgeniy Yevtushenko, head of the Nikopol district military administration, outlines the situation: "According to the finance ministry, 105,160 people lived in Nikopol as of 1 January 2022. Today [September 2023], about 40 percent of the city's residents remain in the city. Most of the people are moving deeper into the district, i.e. to places not located in direct line of fire. These include Tomakivska, Pershotravnevska, Pokrovska, and the more remote Myrivska villages. They are also travelling to the west of Ukraine and abroad."

Olena, a Nikopol resident, recalls how it began: "Although more than a year has passed, I remember the first shelling. The siren didn't let us time to go off because it only takes a few seconds for a shell to reach us from Enerhodar. At first, we hid in the corridor. I covered the children with a blanket to prevent them from getting hurt by shrapnel. Mentally, it was almost unbearable. We all lived in anticipation of the attacks. And they were coming more and more often."

When it was warm, she and her family would go to remote villages to spend the night, sleeping in a tent or in the car. Olena says that whole tent cities began to grow near Nikopol. Staying there were people like her: those who were unable or unwilling to move away from their hometown.

"We would wake up around 5am, drive back to Nikopol, take a shower, have breakfast and go to work", says Olena. "This lasted until the first cold weather. Then it became physically impossible to live in a tent or car, so I moved with my family to my mother's village. It is far from Nikopol, about 40 kilometres away. Now it is our home. My husband and I go to work from there every day. And the kids are with their grandmother, safe and sound."

Everyday life in the crosshairs of the enemy

Another thing that made people scared was the fact that an attack might come at any time of the day. Every day the terrorists continue to disfigure Nikopol, once a beautiful place. There are hundreds of damaged houses, pierced roofs, shattered windows and walls. The enemy has destroyed kindergartens and schools, shops, cars, farm buildings, factories and offices with its artillery. It continues to do so.

Locals say that there is no longer a neighbourhood that is not damaged. Despite this, the city tries to live as it did before the war. Pharmacies, shops and markets are open. Public transport is running, and one can even go into the town centre for a coffee.

Yet the city is finding it increasingly difficult to withstand the enemy's pressure. Recently [early September], one of the largest local businesses, the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NAF), stopped operations due to shelling by Russian artillery. Despite the shutdown, the company continues to carry out repair work to its equipment and power lines, which have been repeatedly damaged by Russian shelling. But we must be honest: the closure of a plant of this magnitude has put this particular industry in jeopardy, and not just in Ukraine. Before the war, NAF was the largest ferroalloy plant in Europe.

Russian’s shells have been killing and injuring Nikopol residents while they walk their dogs, go to work or buy groceries.

Destroyed houses –  and futures

The locals have got used to living in the crosshairs of Russian terrorists. Or, more precisely, they are adjusting to it. In the afternoon, life in Nikopol slows down. No one is in a hurry to go out after 4pm. Street lighting is forbidden. People monitor Telegram channels. These inform them when the enemy hardware on the other side is getting into position. At this point, there is still a little time to take cover or hide behind walls. Then there will be a shelling, and perhaps someone's life will be ruined.

Mykhailo Furgal, a native of Nikopol, moved to a village in the Nikopol district with his youngest daughter and grandchildren. He managed to find a house there and now runs a farm, but he also visits Nikopol all the time.

"I have a large family. I have two sons, two daughters, grandchildren, and I'm expecting a great-grandson. All of us are natives of the city." That's how Mykhailo Oleksandrovych introduces himself to us.

Fate has dealt his family many trials and tribulations. With tears in his eyes, this grandfather talks about the death of his grandson, who was the child of his eldest daughter. The young man gave his life in the battle near Bakhmut. He was buried in September 2022.

Mykhailo Furgal shares his experiences: "I was born and baptised in Nikopol. I worked at a factory making construction materials. Later, I got a job at the city's maintenance department. I worked there for 11 years. Then I worked at a pipe plant, before retiring. My eldest daughter stayed in Nikopol and works at that plant. My younger daughter has three children: two boys and a girl. With them I moved to a safer place. I have an apartment in Nikopol. It's still almost intact, although the glass in the windows has been blown out and the air conditioner was hit by shrapnel after a Grad shell hit the house. There is also a cellar near the house, but the entrance door was blown off. I'm in no hurry to repair it, because I don't know when it will be hit again."

The dacha is Mikhail's real comfort. It is also in the shelling zone, but produced a good harvest this summer. There are destroyed houses in the neighbourhood. Some of them are being repaired, some are not.

Maria Blizno fled from the shelling with her two children. Until 24 February 2022, the day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, her family lived a normal, happy life. A husband, children, a cosy house, plans for the future. Then the war came. Her husband went to defend the country. Masha did not want to leave her hometown, but when the shelling became more intense, she had to. Her husband and mother-in-law insisted on it.

"My husband and I have two children: the older one is 6 years old, the younger is 18 months old," she says. "Now my husband is at war. He went without hesitation for the sake of our children's future. We have our own house in Nikopol. It is still standing, thank God." The young woman is a native of western Ukraine, from the Ternopil region. They moved to Nikopol 16 years ago. Now Maria's mother-in-law lives in the city, in her own house. "At first, we fled to Ternopil from the shelling, before returning to our town. But when the shells started flying almost every day, we left again. This time, we stayed closer to Nikopol."

When asked why they returned to a place of danger, the woman offers a short answer: "I really wanted to go home." She says that rustic living conditions do not scare her, and that she is happy her children are safe. After all, there are people who have lost everything in this war.

A few days after we spoke with Maria, we learned some terrible news. Her husband was seriously wounded and is being treated in a hospital in the Kharkiv region, and her mother-in-law's house was destroyed by an enemy shell. The enemy managed to ruin the lives of multiple generations almost at once.

Journalists who work against all odds

Local journalists in Nikopol have not been spared by enemy shells. On the night of 18 September 2022, a shell hit the office of Pivdenna Zorya, a newspaper which has a 90-year history and survived the Second World War. Clearly, it is extremely difficult to publish a newspaper during a war. But despite the constant threat to their lives, and low circulation, the team has never stopped working.

On 9 March 2023, it was the turn of the Nostalgia radio station to come under the occupiers' guns. Its office was damaged and some of its equipment was destroyed. But the local radio station managed to resume full broadcasting. This was made possible by support from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and international donors. In particular, they provided a special charging station which allows for uninterrupted power supply to the studio equipment.

Where the sea used to be

On 6 June 2023, Nikopol suffered another disaster. In the morning it became known that the enemy had destroyed the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. In some places the floodwater caused terrible destruction. The Kakhovka reservoir became shallower by the minute, and within a few days it was almost empty. Nikopol's pumping stations stopped working, and people had no water from their taps. But water distribution points were quickly set up throughout the city.

People in Nikopol are good housekeepers, and resourceful. Almost every garden has a greenhouse with seedlings, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. And who hasn't tried Nikopol strawberries? Before the war the greenhouses produced delicious, nitrate-free food. Now things are harder. Nikopol residents who live next to the reservoir must stand in queues for water. They are coming up with various ways to collect the precious water when it rains.

Of course, Nikopol has not been left alone in its misfortune. The authorities at various levels have been tackling pressing issues. At the end of June, water started to reappear in local taps.

Currently [mid-September], a major project is underway to rebuild a water main in Nikopol. Neither the weather nor the constant shelling have prevented the construction work. A total of 1,250 workers are toiling around the clock in three shifts. The foundations have already been laid, the walls are being waterproofed, pumps are being installed, and walls reinforced. However, Russian troops are continuing their efforts to deprive Nikopol residents of water, so the city authorities must remind citizens to stay vigilant and keep a supply in reserve.

The locals are convinced that they will pass this terrible trial with dignity. And they will celebrate the victory in their native Nikopol. It cannot be otherwise. After all, they were born on Cossack land. And the city will not betray its name: translated from Greek, "Nikopol" means "city of victory."

1) The author uses the term ‘terrorists’ to refer to Russian soldiers. We have decided to leave it in for the sake of translation fidelity and so that readers can get an idea of the tone of the article.

👉 Original article on Vijesti

This article was published in partnership with the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, within the Voices of Ukraine project by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and the German foreign ministry.

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