Spring is a time of worry for field workers, who now care not only about the future harvest, but also about food security. In the current conditions, it is not always easy to do this. But they find time and resources so as not to leave alone with the problems of those who have an even harder time. And these are residents of territories liberated from occupation several hundred kilometers from Cherkasy.
Oleksandr Voskoboinik, director of the research and production firm “Urozhai”, which is part of the MHP group of enterprises, shared his impressions of what he saw in Kherson region and Mykolaiv region.
He did not see a single surviving building on the territory of the Visokopil territorial community in the Kherson region. Even if there are walls, the roofs are damaged. Such, according to the agrarian, are the realities of the community, which became a kind of outpost, holding back the influx of invaders and preventing them from going further to the Dnipropetrovsk region. 600 houses were completely destroyed, and on the mined fields, instead of winter crops, there was last year’s gray grass. Before the Great War, there were 11,000 inhabitants in the villages of the territorial community. On March 13, 2022, the community came under occupation. For seven months, 1,200 citizens of Vysokopil were balancing between life and death, some of them never managed to see the day when the soldiers of the Armed Forces liberated the land from the invaders.
Nowadays, residents are gradually returning to their homes and rebuilding them. So today 4 thousand people live there, 400 of them are children. They need support. First of all, food products. Most of them did not cultivate their own gardens last year, and if they planted vegetables, the harvest remained unharvested, because the occupiers often did not even let people out of the buildings. So these days, together with the employees of “Urozhai” and the “MHP – Communities” foundation, Cherkassy residents brought 40 tons of aid from Cherkassy to Visokopill and Velika Oleksandrivka. These are vegetables, stew, cereals, oil, baby food.
Oleksandr Voskoboinik was probably most impressed by the fighting spirit of the brave people of the Kherson region during this trip. According to him, they are already processing the flower beds, preparing for the warm season. They put order in homes and on the streets. Their characters are strong, like our independent Ukraine.
And last week Cherkasy farmers visited Oleksandrivka in Kherson Oblast. This area became an outpost of Mykolaiv. The dam separating Lake Solonets from the Dnipro-Buzka estuary was the only way to escape from the enemy’s hell. People left by themselves and took out their fellow villagers to save their lives. There was no other way out. At first it was called the dam of life, and later, when the Russian invaders found out about this path, it became the dam of death. Muscovites meanly shot buses and cars, so whole Ukrainian families died here.
“The village is completely destroyed. Only the walls remained of the school, its defenses were held for 21 days, – Oleksandr Voskoboynik shares his emotions from what he saw. — Nezlamna Oleksandrivka lived under occupation for eight months, Ukrainian flags returned here in November 2022. Currently, the village has 340 residents, 45 of whom are children.”
The benefactors decided not to collect the next load of food. According to the volunteers, it is worth helping the residents of the de-occupied territories with construction materials. Therefore, the “harvests” called on all entrepreneurs who can, to share slate, gas blocks, etc., contact the agricultural company and collect charitable assistance together.
The community of Svativ district of Luhansk region agreed with the leadership of the city of Cherkasy on cooperation and support. This was discussed at a meeting of representatives of the Svatovoye community with the first deputy mayor of Cherkasy, Serhii Tyschenko. Oleksandr Mitkevich, head of the Svativ city military administration, and Vyacheslav Garkavenko, a representative of the community, came to the meeting. They talked about the social, military and economic situation in Luhansk region, how local residents suffer from hostile actions.
Before the full-scale invasion, 25,000 people lived on the territory of the Swati community. For now, the return of people to their small homeland is postponed. But the leadership of the communities is already preparing to work in the liberated Ukrainian territories and is planning a peaceful life. They asked for help from the Cherkasy community in case of need.
“We will have to rebuild many things from scratch,” said Oleksandr Mitkevich. – Due to the extremely bad condition of the power lines, we will not have electricity for at least two to three months. Therefore, we purchase generators, batteries, necessary tools, tiles, screwdrivers, nails, paint, etc. Charitable funds helped us with some equipment and fuel and lubricants. It is obvious that after returning, the people of our community will need food, clothes, mattresses, pillows, and bed linen.”
As reported in the Department of Economy and Development of the Cherkasy City Council, the people of Cherkasy are ready to support Svatov and other de-occupied Ukrainian territories if necessary.
“From the first days of the war, Cherkasy became the humanitarian rear of Ukraine. The city received and provided shelter to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons fleeing the horrors of war. The team of the city authorities, together with volunteers, sometimes provided hot three meals a day to almost 13 thousand people, Serhii Tyshchenko noted. — Currently, the Popasnian administration and hub operate in Cherkasy, the centers “I — Mariupol”, “Tavrijsk”.
Helping our people in their time of need is a duty that Cherkassy people fulfill and will continue to fulfill in the future. Residents of the city above the Dnieper are ready to lend a hand to facilitate their compatriots’ long-awaited return to their native land. This is how one of the officials put it: “We want you to call us as soon as possible and inform us that you are already at home in Svatovo.”
