New Laws of Commercial Registration and Trade Names take effect on Thursday    Civil Defense warns of heavy rains across Saudi Arabia until Monday    Saudi Exchange suspends trading of seven companies over financial disclosure delays    New fleet of 76 public transport buses starts operation in Jeddah on Tuesday Environmentally friendly electric buses introduced for first time    Foreign investors are allowed to engage in real estate business outside Makkah and Madinah Commercial speculation should not be the purpose of real estate transaction    EU preparing 'further countermeasures' to protect its interest, von der Leyen says    Tesla sales plunge after backlash against Elon Musk    Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry    Israel announces expansion of military operation in Gaza to seize 'large areas' of land    US cancels visa of Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias    Danish prime minister refutes US claim on Greenland on visit to the Arctic territory    Aubameyang fires Al Qadsiah into King's Cup final with stoppage-time winner over Al Raed    Cristiano Ronaldo joins Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves    Saudi Arabia welcomes trilateral border treaty between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan    Swedish table tennis legend Jörgen Persson appointed head coach of Saudi national team    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



The small town which managed to block Russia's big plans
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 23 - 03 - 2022

It was one of the most decisive battles of the war so far — a ferocious two-day struggle for control of the farming town of Voznesensk and its strategically important bridge.
Victory would have enabled Russian forces to sweep further west along the Black Sea coast towards the huge port of Odesa and a major nuclear power plant.
Instead, Ukrainian troops, supported by an eclectic army of local volunteers, delivered a crushing blow to Russian plans, first by blowing up the bridge and then by driving the invading army back, up to 100km, to the east.
"It's hard to explain how we did it. It's thanks to the fighting spirit of our local people and to the Ukrainian army," said Voznesensk's 32-year-old mayor, Yevheni Velichko, standing in body armor with his guards outside the town hall.
But almost three weeks after that battle, the mayor warned that another attack by Russian forces was probably imminent and that the town's defenders lacked the weapons to hold them off a second time.
"This is such a strategic location. We're not only defending the town, but all the territory behind it. And we don't have the heavy weapons our enemy has," he said.
As on so many frontlines in Ukraine, British-supplied anti-tank missiles proved crucial in turning the tide against Russian armor in Voznesensk, leaving the town littered with up to 30 tanks, armored cars and even a helicopter.
"It's only thanks to these weapons that we were able to beat our enemy here. And we say thank you to our partners for their support. But we need more. The enemy's convoys will keep coming," said Velichko.
Voznesensk's strategic significance became clear soon after Russian forces failed to capture an even larger bridge, further to the south, across Ukraine's second-largest river, the Southern Buh.
Today, Voznesensk is not quite a ghost town, haunted by regular air raid sirens. But thousands have left in recent weeks, by train or on pot-holed country roads that wind through vast, rolling fields of wheat.
Many of those who have chosen to stay behind still seem eager to talk about their remarkable victory.
"It was a colossal effort by the whole town," said Alexander, a local shopkeeper who filmed himself on the frontlines with an AK47, screaming "Come on my little beauties!" as another volunteer fired a rocket-propelled grenade towards Russian positions.
"We used hunting rifles, people threw bricks and jars. Old women loaded heavy sandbags.
"The Russians didn't know where to look or where the next attack would come from. I've never seen the community come together like that," he said, standing by the twisted wreckage of the bridge, which Ukrainian forces destroyed within hours of the first Russian attack.
The matted swirl of Russian tank tracks still mark Svetlana Nikolaevna's garden, in the village of Rakove, on the southern edge of Voznesensk, where some of the heaviest fighting took place.
Bloody bandages and Russian ration packs litter the hedge rows. The 59-year-old pointed to her husband's tool shed, explaining that two captured Ukrainian soldiers had been held there by the Russians and were only saved from execution by a surge in fighting.
"Look at the blood stains on my door," she said, inviting visitors inside her ramshackle cottage. While she and her family took shelter in a nearby cellar, the Russians converted her entire home into a makeshift field hospital.
"I came back to get some clothes on the second day. There were wounded people lying everywhere. Ten of them, I think. I've cleared up most of the blood," she said.
"They left in a hurry, one night. They left everything behind - boots, socks, body armor, helmets - and just loaded up their dead and their wounded and ran away."
It fell to the local funeral director, Mykhailo Sokurenko, to hunt in the fields for more Russian bodies and then load them into a train wagon.
"I don't consider them human beings [after what they did here]. But it would wrong just leave them out in the field, still frightening people even after their deaths," he said.
"These Russians are sick in the head, so we'll have to stay on guard. But victory will come, and we'll push the Russians out of all our lands." — BBC


Clic here to read the story from its source.