Battle for the South of Ukraine

things are really ramping up here now there's just been civilian after civilian pouring into this hospital [Music] foreign [Laughter] [Music] this local hospital is in ukraine's southern port city of mikalai less than 70 miles from now russian occupied herson staff work around the clock knowing that in recent days hospitals have also become a target [Music] m foreign alexandra's husband passed away a few days later [Music] oh hi i ever saw you earlier how are you doing yesterday what did you [Music] oh what a horrendous birthday i'm sorry for weeks russians have been pummeling mikalive's residents in a bid to push through the south of the country this city is crucial to russia who aim to take mick alive then odessa and block ukraine's access to the black sea the casualties we met at the hospital came from just one single attack lasting a matter of seconds the blast shattered through a supermarket and a nearby apartment block which we visited just an hour later all the people were staying in the queue to the shop they were waiting to go to the supermarket yeah the supermarket to buy some food mklive's mayor alexander sienkovic had just arrived to assess the impact this is really an apartment block is it a recent thing that you've taken to carrying a gun around yeah i guess that was not in your job description before for sure but yeah i was ready for that but i wasn't expected that i will have to do it this is the place where the bomb oh wow yeah you can see that so this is the cluster bomb this has his corpse and those small bombs are here we showed the remnants to several ammunition experts who confirmed this is a cluster bomb these bombs spray dozens of bomb nuts across an area the size of an american football field some don't explode on first impact and act like land mines if they're stepped on they're banned by most countries around the world given the high number of civilian casualties they cause in this case 13 civilians were badly injured nine more died and it's not an isolated incident there's also evidence of cluster bombs being used in at least two other attacks across the city and is this an unexploded one in the ground yeah there is one explode unexploded just hid down oh please don't touch must be very difficult for you as a mayor who you know has this big responsibility it must be personally very difficult for you yeah sure but i'm trying not to think about it it's war here as you see and what if the russians come what then we'll fight with them we'll fight with them we will kill him because they are trying to kill us our families our women now our parents our children are you trying to get as many people evacuated as possible yeah for now the evacuation is oh my god that sounded really close where can we go so we're having to move out of here because that bombing sounds really really close um and the only thing that's left here are these bodies on the ground that they're not able to remove right now because of the situation let's go [Music] foreign [Music] has just lost her 25 year old son yaroslav who is fighting in this war she's come to the morgue to retrieve what's left of her son's body the ukrainian flag do you know what happened to him how did he die [Music] [Music] this is horrific there are just so many dead bodies it seems like they've got nowhere left to store these bodies and they're just piling them up on the ground here wherever they can how many fatalities have you seen in the last few weeks since the war started here we will choose national party what is the psychological toll on you how are you handling this foreign [Music] oh my gosh [Music] [Music] yes yes you must be so worried about him as well sir me [Music] no one knows how long this war will last most don't want to risk their lives to find out over half of my life's residents have already fled but not everyone can go anna and maxine are staying to help with the war effort they're sending their daughter olya far away from here how old are you four years old this is your mum [Music] that must have been just an incredibly difficult decision to send your daughter with your parents to another country [Music] [Music] right [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign for those who stay they're left with homes shops and schools now in ruins 25 year old olya is or was an animator [Music] now she ferries her grandfather up and down from their basement to hide from bombardment [Music] what happened so this is where it was struck wow like many people in this region she has close family in russia every few days she calls her aunt's father [Music] about thousands of people are being killed a lot of people are being injured millions of people are being separated from their family members do you still support president putin foreign how does it make you feel that they don't believe your side of the story [Music] for olya and many ukrainians the disbelief from their own family members just across the border is in bitter contrast to the devastation they're experiencing [Music] all they can do is pin their hopes on the ukrainian armed forces who are putting up a good fight at the start of the month russia advanced but according to satellite imagery and online sources the last two weeks have seen the ukrainians push the russians out of the airport and further back towards curson we joined the 79th brigade on the outskirts of the city so we're on the very front lines of the ukrainian defense right now these guys are constantly having to redig their trenches and to move their positions because the russians are now attacking the city from the north and from the south just the last few days these positions have been consistently bombarded so it's under pretty high alert right now these guys have just been able to get hold of a russian tactical vehicle just a few weeks ago andre was working as a security guard on the day broke out he signed up know what premiere premiere putin has called this a military operation he said that it's to denazify and demilitarize the country does he have a point in the road moments later someone from the military suddenly spotted a russian aircraft overhead what's happening [Music] wait two days later not far from this position dozens of these ukrainian soldiers comrades were bombed to death while sleeping in their barracks one of the single deadliest attacks since this conflict began is just one more mother living through this heart-wrenching reality of war and loss um [Music] [Music] [Music] no mother should have to go through this [Music] [Laughter] [Music] foreign what is your message to president putin [Music] is [Music] are you ready [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: VICE News

Views: 6,966,742

Keywords: VICE News, VICE News Tonight, VICE on HBO, news, vice video, VICE on SHOWTIME, vice news 2020

Id: hhBfNDVs-PY

Length: 21min 32sec (1292 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 27 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/AutoModerator]

Please remember the human. Follow reddit rules and the subreddit rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/ChibolaBurn]

Isobel even was in syria and marawi and a host of other rather dangerous places.that reporter women is hardcore. I implore anyone to watch anything she ever produced with them.The best Vice has to offer right now imoh.

[u/chocomilkz]

These Vice News videos the past days have been very good. Thanks to these brave journalists and fotographers the horrors of this war is documented and presented to the world.

[u/Trollnald_J_Dump]

Respect to all the journalists putting their lives on the line to show what heart wrenching trouble the Ukrainians go through. Our heart are with all of you

[u/Over-Nothing-3151]

Thanks, I just cried for 21 minutes and 32 seconds.

When that young girl called her relative in Russia I really thought the relative would understand what was going on, then she opened her fucking mouth and talked about Nazis and child rapists. Fuck her.

[u/scorpion040]

all I want to say is Fuck you Putin. You are a demon.

I feel sorry for those children.

[u/Fit_Extension_7422]

I hate that they banned Russian users to view this particular video, i had to use VPN in order to watch it. Like, i understand this sentiment towards Russia and Russians, I hate the government and what it is currently doing in Ukraine, but denying access to such valuable information is outrageous to be honest. There is a big percentage of people in Russia who doesn't support it and we are being oppressed by the government, they are blocking all independent media sources, and channels such as VISE and videos like this become the only source of information for us.

Anyways, stay strong Ukraine!

[u/poor-hun-girl]

I’m sobbing … 😢

[u/Super-Brka]

Ah, „liberated brothers“, only the brothers don't want to be liberated…

Slava Ukraini