Southern Outpost: Life and Dreams of Kherson Residents Two Years After the City's Liberation.

Two years ago, on November 11, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated Kherson and part of the right bank from the occupiers. Since then, the city has been living under constant shelling. RBC-Ukraine shares the stories of three Kherson volunteers who experienced the occupation firsthand, maintained their spirit, and continue to help their hometown.

In the summer of 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine actively struck the Antonivsky Bridge: the Russian air defense was unable to intercept all the attacks. In November, cautious "hints" about a possible liberation of the city began to circulate.

At one point, the Russian command attempted to demonstrate "control" over Kherson while simultaneously spreading news about preparations for the evacuation of civilians. Many collaborators moved to the left bank with the occupiers, and some people were forcibly taken away. The day before the city was liberated, in their retreat from the right bank of the Dnieper, the occupiers blew up the Antonivsky Bridge, destroying several of its spans.

On November 11, residents with flags hurried to congratulate and personally embrace the soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The people of Kherson rejoiced, and so did the entire country. These events will remain in the hearts of Ukrainians for a long time and will be remembered in history as a key milestone in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Today, Kherson faces numerous challenges daily: from shelling to power and water outages.

Yevhen Hylin: "I saw the soldiers and thought: for many of them, this might be the last morning"

The head of the Kherson public organization "Misto Syly," Yevhen Hylin, is an active public figure and a father of four. He helped the city during the occupation and continuously after its liberation. February 24 sharply divided life in peaceful Kherson into "before" and "after," he recalls.

On that day, helicopters flew overhead, there were reports of a landing (at 11:30, Russian troops landed near the Antonivsky Bridge and quickly took control of it – ed.), and explosions grew more frequent. The peaceful life of Kherson quickly turned into a military one – the first casualties among civilians, broken bridges, and fire along the coast were evidence that the city would never be the same.

Stay or leave? The next morning, Yevhen made the difficult decision to evacuate his family.

5Photo: Head of the Kherson public organization "Misto Syly," Yevhen Hylin

"The road was empty. When I saw our soldiers calmly standing by the armored vehicles, I thought: if this continues, many of them may not live to see the next morning," he recalls those moments.

After evacuating his family, Yevhen shifted to volunteer work: attracting as much help and global attention to Kherson and the region became the main goal for him and his team.

In the early days of the occupation, people stayed home, not understanding the situation, making short runs to bring food to neighbors. Over time, everyone realized that especially after the tragedy in Bucha, the occupiers wanted to show that they supposedly treated the residents of Kherson with loyalty.

"In Kherson, they wanted to show that 'good' authority had arrived, that everything would finally be great, that Kherson was now under the patronage of the 'great Russian Federation.' They aimed to induce a desire for cooperation. But it’s good that the people of Kherson did not succumb to this strategy and began to go out for rallies and pickets – protesting against the Russian occupation," says the volunteer.

Many, of course, wanted to leave. The first to try the routes were those truly desperate.

Yevhen's best friend, Anton Kushnin, who died on May 16, 2022, during the early days of the city’s occupation, simply got into his car and drove to Antonivka and Oshenki. He was the first from the region to manage to reach Mykolaiv. He essentially tested these new roads firsthand, relaying important information about the conditions and rules for transit back to the headquarters, and then everyone figured out how to evacuate civilians and bring aid into the occupied territory.

In search of ways to evacuate people, volunteers often faced disappointment.

6Photo: Team of the civil organization "Misto Syly"

Eventually, they found remarkable carriers who evacuated people in their buses. They were offered money, but some refused, while others agreed to cover direct expenses and pay the drivers' salaries. They transported people, risking everything.

"It was a two-way campaign: while evacuating people, the buses returned filled with humanitarian aid. I remember with great gratitude those carriers we involved in this work: Vitaliy Prokopov, Artem Prisyazhny, Oleksandr Demchuk, Oleksiy Hrybko, Oleg Kaminsky, Konstantin Blyznychenko, Yevhen Shtopel, and many others," emphasizes the interlocutor.

"If you don't smoke, there's a high risk you'll start in Kherson"

Today, two years after the liberation, Kherson faces dozens of challenges daily – the city has become a true southern outpost of Ukraine, emphasizes Yevhen Hylin.

"Everything is intertwined here now: peaceful life and military actions. Residents, medical staff, soldiers, utility workers, the UN, solitary volunteers – all these people together sustain the city. Here, one can see janitors in bulletproof vests sweeping the streets despite the shelling. You can see minibus drivers in helmets. They do their work at the risk of their lives," he describes the situation in the city.

As of November 1, 158,000 people live in the Kherson territorial community. Some settlements are deserted. In Veremiyivka and Petrovka, there are only a few residents, and in Maiske and Mykolaivka, there are none at all. In some villages, there are only 5-15 residents, and for them, the daily shelling is just extreme psychological pressure. Kherson itself also suffers from shelling.

Currently, volunteers are considering where to obtain armored ambulances for local hospitals because medics respond to calls in civilian vehicles, but Kherson is an active combat zone. Last week, three medical workers were injured under shelling. One of them died on the way to a call.

Ambulance crews risk their lives visiting all areas of the region where there are casualties. Farmers are forced to demine their own fields, businesses are trying to adapt to new tax conditions, and local authorities face a multitude of challenges.

"Local organizations, like ours, are simply torn between a multitude of needs. Because most of the people who remained are elderly, for instance. They cannot afford to leave their homes and seek another. Local organizations are constantly fueled by coffee, cigarettes, and insane adrenaline. If you don’t smoke, there's a high risk you’ll start in Kherson," adds Yevhen.

7Photo: Volunteers in Kherson work on constant adrenaline

Recently, the city was shaken by an investigation regarding the construction of a radiation shelter. People began asking why this was necessary when the city is under shelling every day.

There have already been numerous scandals surrounding this issue, and the city authorities could not contain the leak of the situation into the public domain. The construction began recently, and immediately, two shells landed there.

"All the completed work was in vain. Accordingly, the money also disappeared. And the people weren't asked if they needed it now. The construction of a school in Kherson, right in a five-kilometer zone from the enemy's line, also faced similar issues. All the windows shattered, walls collapsed in apartments. The reason, from my perspective as a lawyer, is clear – local authorities have no dialogue with the community, and in a wartime situation, such confrontation in the rear is unacceptable," says Yevhen.

A choice between familiar walls and the unknown

Despite all the difficulties, Yevhen is continually impressed by the fighting spirit of the people of Kherson. In the city, elderly individuals are not just waiting for help – they are actively engaging in support. They cook meals for the military, weave camouflage nets, care for animals, and do what they can to help the city. Here, everyone feels their importance and strives to be useful.

"Kherson residents who left for Odesa, Lviv, Spain, or America also faced dangers. Some suffered from natural disasters. They say: 'There’s no place where one can be completely safe – neither here nor there. So why leave? If we leave Kherson, we will face the same uncertainty, only without familiar walls and with additional hardships'," he says.

This logic is reinforced by emotions: for the people of Kherson, their city represents comfort, familiar faces, atmosphere, and love for their native places by the