War in Ukraine: “We are grateful to our boys”, testify refugees who hope for the resumption of Kherson – franceinfo

They emerge from eight months of Russian occupation. Two sisters, refugees from the Kherson region, confided in franceinfo as Ukrainian forces arrive at the gates of this city in the south-east of the country. Article written by Published on 24/10/2022 09:01 Updated on 24/10/2022 09:03 Reading time: 1 min. Sitting on her bed, in her blue bathrobe, Valentina raced against time. “We knit socks for Ukrainian soldiers. For them to put on the front line when it’s cold.” Together with her sister Anna, Valentina lived under Russian occupation for eight months before her village of Mykhailivka was liberated. franceinfo met them as Ukrainian forces are about to retake Kherson. The liberation of the city would be kyiv’s biggest victory since the start of the conflict. The two sisters are in Kryvyi Rih, one hour from the front, in a reception centre. “We lived all this time with fear in our stomachs. Life was unbearable. We couldn’t sleep, we were like zombies, remembers Anna. They were looking for alcohol, they were drinking, they were smoking cannabis. They were shooting machine guns at night for nothing.” The primary school in Kryvyi Rih, where Ukrainians from the Kherson region like Anna and Valentina are housed. (GAELE JOLY / RADIO FRANCE) Anna and Valentina now see the advance of the Ukrainian troops and hope that the worst is behind them. “We try to forget what we went through, we hope it will get better, we are grateful to our boys, to our army. We have deep respect for them to be still alive,” says Anna . His sister continues: “If Kherson is freed, we will be free too. We believe and hope that this will all be over.” “Glory to Ukraine”, launch Anna and Valentina. Their first package of socks should go to the front in a few days, before the temperatures drop. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share by email Share link