In Mykolaiv, Russian Terror Looms Even When Everything Seems Normal
By: Giorgio Provinciali
Live from Ukraine ????????
Mykolaiv As often happens, the air raid warning sounded while we werefilmingdowntown. Not long afterward, Ukrainian anti-aircraft guns shot down a Russian drone, then another, clearly visible on the horizon, so much so that we could feel the pressure wave generated by its explosion even while inside our car. Soon after, another Russian UAV with high explosive potential fell into a large civilian area in the Voskresenk community, injuring about ten people: a 40-year-old woman and two girls aged 13 and 15 were seriously hurt, and six children sustained moderate injuries. A fourth drone shook the buildings in Mykolaivs regional center once again, similarly to what wedescribedon February 26th.
After the alarm ended, the streets of Mykolaiv started to fill up again, carried by a spring breeze tinged with the sharp, chemical, and metallic smell of burning plastic on the sheet metal, kerosene, and gunpowder.
All the squares returned to life, except the one in front of the train station. Another Russian drone aimed directly at an empty train under repair, injuring a worker from Ukrzaliznytsia who had come to maintain it. The night before, the Russians had tried to attack a passenger train on the Dnipro-Kovel route with a drone, and then targeted a locomotive on a train headed for Kherson, shattering the stations windows and temporarily disrupting the line. When we arrived, Ukrainian workers had already replaced the broken windows with large plywood panels, and the monitors displayed the next train to the Ukrainian capital closest to the Russian occupiers, but the station was still empty. Soon after, sirens began wailing again.
Amid a contrast between apparent normalcy and ongoing violence, Russian terror still cast a heavy shadow even as everything seemed to be returning to normal.
This was true all day, not only in Mykolaiv but also in Nikopol, Marhanets, Hrushkivka, Synelnykove, Petropavlivka, and other communities in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk oblast, where Russian drones and aerial bombs appeared nearly 20 times in less than 24 hours.
Setting a new macabre record compared to previous attacks, in the past week alone, the Russian Federation has launched over 3,000 high-explosive drones, approximately 40 other missiles of various types, and used more than 1,450 glide bombs against Ukraine.
In March, Ukrainian defenses downed well over 30,000 Russian long-range missiles, while those deployed on the front numbered over 220,000: an increase of over 20% compared to February.
This representsan unprecedented density of drone-centric firepower.
Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces, Pavlo Yelizarov,explainedthatabout half of the enemys long-range unmanned vehicles are destroyed either at the border with Russia or within the Ukrainian territories it illegally occupies. He alsomentionedthat to break through the ППОs defenses, the Russians are changing their tactics:They attack with large groups of Shahed/Geran, launching them like a pack of wild boars.
Clearly, they are stress-testing the lock-on and recharge times of Ukrainian batteries. This is why Yelizarovrevealedthatthe military command is preparing a response on such a large scale that in size alone it will make the Israeli Iron Dome look like a small smudge.
An interesting but technically complex hyperbole, comparing two different systems that each aim to fulfill what the other lacks: the Iron Dome is optimized for short-range ballistic parabolic trajectories, while the Ukrainian system is a multi-layered setup for loitering drones with low radar signatures and guided glide bombs that have very different flight profiles.
Drone warfare not only destroys things but leaves a psychological scar that extends the impact well beyond the moment of impact.
Windows are replaced, services are reactivated, butthe perception of danger remains.
This persistent pressure on societys organizational structure ultimately pollutes daily life, shaping new times and habits that not everyone can adapt to.
That is why three more women were injured yesterday in Zaporizhzhia during an attack on 41 settlements in the region, where the Russians carpet-bombed them with 780 missiles, including 440 drones.
Four years ago, we would have typically explained that each of those targets like the others mentioned in this article representsa systematic violation of International Humanitarian Law, especially the principle of distinguishing between civilian and military objectives (Article 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions), with the added factor ofthe intentional psychological harmas a breach of the customary norm that prohibits acts or threats of violence primarily meant to spread terror among civilians.
Since all this is now just a memory, we find it more useful to remind the West of the importance of supporting the defense of those who are still being attacked.
We are doing our best to provide genuine, first-hand reports from zones where almost no press dares to go. This means living constantly in a kill zone. We take the risk, but without your invaluable support, our voices would remain unheard and silent. Without brave people sharing our articles from afar, they would remain unread. Our reports would go unseen, and our efforts would be lost. Theres still a lot of work to do here, as the people around us are also in no better situation.
Were renewing our fundraising campaign and thanking everyone who joins us in helping to restore what Russia is destroying. Moving forward with only a small reimbursement for each article from a brave newspaper that believes in us is extremely challenging. Thats why we are grateful to all the kind people who support us and trust in our mission.
Even a small donation helps.
Well keep you updated on developments.
Thank you all, dear friends ????????
尼古拉耶夫：即使一切看似正常，俄国恐怖仍然笼罩
作者：Giorgio Provinciali
翻译：旺财球球
乌克兰前线报道????????
尼古拉耶夫像往常一样，我们正在市中心拍摄时响起了空袭警报。不久之后，乌克兰防空火炮击落了一架俄罗斯无人机，随后又击落了另一架，地平线上清晰可见，以致我们即便在车内也能感受到其爆炸产生的冲击波。紧接着，又有一架具有高爆威力的俄无人机坠落在沃斯克雷森克社区的一型居民区内，造成约十人受伤：一名40岁妇女和两名分别为13岁与15岁的女孩重伤，另有六名儿童中度受伤。第四架无人机再次震动了尼古拉耶夫地区中心的建筑，情况与我们在2月26日所描述的类似。
（图：Alla与我一同在乌克兰尼古拉耶夫报道????????版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
警报解除后，尼古拉耶夫的街道又逐渐恢复人流，春风里夹杂着板金上烧融塑料、煤油与火药混合后的刺鼻的化学与金属气味。
所有广场都恢复了生机，唯独火车站前的广场例外。另一架俄无人机直接袭击了一列正在维修的空置列车，一名前来检修的乌克兰铁路工人因此受伤。前一晚，俄方曾试图用无人机攻击第聂伯科威尔线上的一列客车，随后又攻击了开往赫尔松方向的一列机车，震碎了车站的玻璃并导致线路短暂中断。我们抵达时，乌克兰工人已用大片胶合板替换了破碎的窗户，显示屏显示下一班开往最接近俄方占领区域的乌克兰首都的列车，但车站仍空无一人。不久，警报再次响起。
在表面回归常态与持续暴力并存的反差中，俄国的恐怖即便在一切看似恢复正常时，仍投下沉重阴影。
（图：Alla与我在乌克兰尼古拉耶夫拍摄了这些影像版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
整天都如此，不仅在尼古拉耶夫，还有尼科波尔、马尔哈涅茨、赫魯什奇夫卡、西內利尼科韋、彼得羅帕夫利夫卡以及邻近第聂伯罗彼得罗夫斯克州的其他社区，在不到24小时内，俄方无人机与航空炸弹几乎出现了近20次。
仅过去一周，俄联邦对乌克兰投放了逾3000架高爆无人机，约40枚其他类型导弹，并使用了超过1450枚滑翔炸弹，再次刷新死亡纪录。
在3月，乌克兰防空击落了远超3万枚俄远程导弹，而前线部署的导弹总数已逾22万枚：比二月增长超过20%。
这是一种前所未有的、以无人机为核心的火力密度。
（图：我与Alla在尼古拉耶夫火车站报道版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
乌克兰防空部队副司令帕夫洛叶利扎罗夫解释称，约一半的敌方远程无人机要么在俄边境被摧毁，要么在俄方非法占领的乌克兰领土上被击落。他还提到，为突破乌克兰防空系统的防御，俄方正在改变战术：他们用成群的沙赫德/格兰无人机发动攻击，像一群野猪一样扑来。显然，他们在对乌克兰电池的锁定与充能时间进行压力测试。因此，叶利扎罗夫透露军方正在准备一项规模巨大的反制措施，从规模上看足以使以色列铁穹显得微不足道。
这是一种有趣但技术上复杂的夸张类比，将两种各自试图弥补对方短板的不同系统进行对比：铁穹针对短程弹道抛物线轨迹进行了优化，而乌克兰的多层防御体系则是面向低雷达特征的徘徊式无人机与制导滑翔炸弹，它们的飞行特性完全不同。
（图：我与Alla从被俄联邦摧毁的尼古拉耶夫市中心一栋民用建筑报道版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
无人机战争不仅摧毁实物，更留下心理创伤，其影响远超爆炸瞬间。
窗户可以被更换，服务可以恢复，但危险感依旧存在。
对社会组织结构的持续压力最终渗透进日常生活，重塑节奏和习惯，但并非人人都能适应。
这也是为什么昨天在扎波罗热又有三名妇女受伤，当天俄军对该地区41个定居点进行了地毯式轰炸，使用了780枚导弹，其中440架为无人机，。
（图：我身后是位于尼古拉耶夫中心的一处掩体版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
四年前，我们通常会强调，每一个攻击目标以及本文提到的其他目标都构成对国际人道法的系统性侵犯，尤其是关于区分平民与军事目标的《日内瓦公约》第一附加议定书第52条，并因故意造成心理伤害而违背了禁止以散布恐怖为主要目的的暴力行为或威胁的习惯法规范。
但如今，这些已成为记忆，我们认为更有意义的是提醒西方：支持那些仍在遭受攻击的乌克兰防御力量。
（图：我与Alla在舍甫琴科韦的杀伤区报道，该镇位于赫尔松与尼古拉耶夫州交界????????版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
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