Ukraine: a war of liberation waged at the front and in the rear

2023-06-29 21:43:04

By Oksana Pugach

While Ukrainian soldiers, mostly workers who were not part of the army until a year and a half ago, advance to the south and east as part of the long-awaited counteroffensive, the Putin regime unleashes its anger on the rear, destroying homes, schools, factories, killing or maiming children and civilians of all ages and in all cities of the vast Ukrainian territory.

We had to live together and share the anguish of the inhabitants of Krivyi Rih at the sound of the day and night anti-aircraft alarms. And the pain in front of the smoky remains of what until recently were low-income housing in Barracks 98 in a central area.

In addition to destroying popular homes, the invading army blew up the New Kakhovka power plant, on the Dnipro river, on June 6. It did it in the only way possible, from within, since it is occupied by Russian forces. Deaths and destruction on the two banks of the river below, affecting the riverside communities, 600,000 hectares of agricultural production and disastrous environmental impact that reaches the Black Sea. Upstream, the emptying of the gigantic lagoon with an impact on the water supply.

The cuts and the lack of water seriously affect not only daily life, but also the harvest, in Kherson and Zaporozhye, of seasonal fruits and fresh vegetables that the people have been waiting for all the long winter.

For the same reasons, all the large industrial companies that consume large volumes of water take the opportunity to justify lowering their production to a minimum, and send the workers home with wages reduced by half. And that for 2 months maximum. And then they are SUSPENDED WITHOUT SALARY for 3 more months. If they do not accept it, they can resign and ask for their liquidation.

This puts additional financial pressure on them to “voluntarily” enlist in the armed forces. In case these incentives are not enough, especially for the youngest (under 22), the control of evasion and the reasons for exemption from the service were intensified.

However, it must be noted that the will to fight is in the majority. With each missile that hits, the hatred of the invading enemy increases exponentially. And the thirst for revenge makes many of the wounded and mutilated at the front ask to return to combat, as soon as they get a prosthesis.