By Natalie Thomas
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – At a morgue in the shipbuilding city of Mykolaiv, the cost of Russia’s invasion can be counted in Ukrainian bodies.
A line of cars and trucks passed through the morgue’s gates on Wednesday, dropping off dead soldiers and civilians and collecting others for burial.
Among the relatives standing forlornly outside was Vladimir, waiting for the body of his 37-year-old son Sergiy.
“He was so friendly. He had a lot of friends and got on well with everyone. If someone needed help he never refused,” said the grieving father.
Yet some of Vladimir’s relatives in Russia refuse even to believe that a war is raging. From hundreds of kilometres away, they call him to say that they know more about what is happening in his city than he does.
“They still don’t understand what is happening here, they call and say ‘Why are you lying? Everything’s calm and everything is fine!'” he told Reuters. “What else can I say? A son is a son.”
The centre of the city is quiet: most shops are closed and many residents have left. The sound of shelling can be heard intermittently.
The city’s mayor, Vitaly Kim, says he and others will stay and fight until the end.
“The size of the Russian army is not infinite. They also lack morale, and their resources are limited,” he told Reuters.
“The only option they have is to wipe this city off the map and only then they will be able to pass. In theory that is possible, but we will try our best not to allow it.”
At a city hospital, wounded soldiers lay in beds, telling stories of missiles suddenly landing among them, and narrow escapes from Russian tank convoys.
One traumatised surgeon, who gave his name only as Dimitry, was exhausted.
“I have been working non-stop since Feb. 24. I live and sleep at hospital. I haven’t been at home since that time,” he said.
“There are a lot of deaths,” he added. “We took care of a defender with two severed legs and one severed arm.”
In Mykolaiv some of those who once fought for Moscow in Afghanistan are banding together to defend their home.
Oleg Krechoun was among a group of men over 60 who were preparing to defend a neighbourhood close to the river that winds through the city on its way to the Black Sea just to the south.
“These are our children, these are our grandchildren, this is our country, this is our pride. It’s us,” he said. “This is an encroachment on our lives. So we will fight until victory.”
(Reporting by Natalie Thomas in Mykolaiv; Editing by Stephen Farrell in Lviv and Mike Collett-White)
