Our last day in Donbass. On our last day, we will evaluate a special opportunity provided for us. Today we will go to the Nuclear Power Plant, which is on the Ukrainian border line and constantly targeted. But first of all, we stop by the hospital in Vasylivka which has been the target of artillery fire by the fascists although there are patients inside for many years.
We traveled a long way to get to the Central City hospital. During this journey, we observed that there were many positions and military vehicles on the road and on the large lands on its side. After seeing these, we realize how live the front line is. There were many checkpoints and lines such as the border drawn with concrete barriers in the fields. Soldiers are deployed at every position.
We arrived at the hospital with the sounds of howitzers and artillery around us, sounds which us in the Anti-Fascist Caravan heard and got used to for the past days. We were greeted by someone on behalf of the hospital administration, the staff and the local press. And here, too, we paid attention to the increased security for us. Now the people around us were walking around with guns and helmets at every step we took. On the one hand, we document the attacks of the enemy with our cameras, on the other hand, we are protected with weapons against the attacks of the enemy.
The hospital staff greeted the AFC delegation at the door and mentioned general information about the hospital at first. By inviting us inside, they showed the crimes of the fascist Ukrainian regime. The first place we enter is the room where the wounded were treated. The rooms in this hospital treated twenty-six thousand people under these conditions during these conflicts. They show us the damage caused by the shrapnel that hit the bed as a result of the attacks in the room. The hospital staff also conveys information that the hospital was bombed while they were operating on a child in that very room.
They have everything they need in terms of medical supplies, but they do not work in a safe environment. Even in war conditions, hospitals cannot be targeted in accordance with international norms. But the hospital has literally been caught in the middle of conflicts and still continues to serve. When we go to the upper floor, we see the reconstruction works as part of the building has been completely demolished. There are still smell of burned pieces and broken glass on the floor. Since the patients here were evacuated beforehand, there were no casualties in this attack. When we go outside, we see that the previously destroyed section is even more seriously damaged. The upper floors have been completely rebuilt. Despite this, the hospital became a target again.
As we pass to another section, military armored ambulances draw our attention on the side road. They are stationed in a section away from civilians. We witness many large and small damages in the hospital area. At a point far from the main building, we come to the area closer to the front line. One-story buildings were then completely destroyed. Soot odors coming from inside burn our noses. It’s an image where there is a complete life market. We specifically documented this section. Punishment for the crimes of fascism will not run out of time. We still hear the sounds of bombs while we are in the hospital.
While ending our visit, the hospital official said that the health workers were heroes because they did not leave the hospital and the people despite all the attacks and made a call to everyone that “Everyone should come here and see the crimes committed with their own eyes”. Yes, we have witnessed it and we will show it to the whole world with what we have documented. We quickly walk away from here to see the destruction of a hit building in the back alley. Only civilians lived in the building, which was hit by HIMARS and other heavy weapons on January 4, 2023. Seven people died here and dozens were injured. A very deep crater is on the side of the existing building. In front of the building, we conducted our interview with Vasylivka Head of Management Natalia Alexandrovna Romanichenko.
We are now leaving the region with the instructions of the officials, thanking the people of the region and the authorities. Our vehicles passed very quickly as they were passing through the border line. This is because the border line is right along the Dnieper river, which connects Ukraine and the Donbass highway and separates the two sides. Our current stop is the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the tenth largest in the world. Before we enter the city, we stop at one point and take other members of the press into our vehicle and leave our other friends. Our friends, who are not members of the press, are going to the city center and one of our friends is advancing rapidly in a convoy with the police and other vehicles to go to the power plant. We pass all the checkpoints without stopping. Soldiers at every point greet us with victory signs and fists in their hearts.
The manager of the plant greets us at the door and we look forward to visiting the area. First, we see the area that was attacked lately. And we are the first press members to see this place. They show the points damaged by attacks in certain areas. The aim of these attacks in certain areas is to cause a major catastrophe with the intended chain effect at the power plant. Because the Ukrainian army knows that it cannot damage the reactors of the power plant.
The reactors are protected by a wall built with a very thick and strong layer. Before this, the Ukrainian army carried out small-scale attacks here, and its remains are still there. The cables supplying electricity were destroyed so that the power plant could not function normally, thus causing an explosion as a result of a technical failure in every section connected by a chain. When diesel-powered generators came into operation, these were targeted this time. We saw two rockets which has crashed into the field. It has been left as it was since it was first shot. The damage caused by the shrapnel scattered around is still visible.
The power plant is regularly controlled by atomic energy institutions and the European Atomic Energy Agency officials still carry out regular checks in the area. There are soldiers around the power plant just to protect the area. And the official says that the system works regularly and that there are members of the military assigned to prevent any danger, and that they are already fulfilling their duties under the supervision of international authorities. Authorities reject the allegations that an atomic bomb was produced, they said these allegations were used to legitimize a provocative attack against them. That’s why he states that they can control the power plant if they want.
After completing our interview and impressions here, we meet with our friends who go to the city center. When we wrote this article, we received the news that the nuclear power plant was attacked by rockets again on 9 March. The external power supply of the station is damaged and if it is not renewed as soon as possible, an accident with radiation consequences for the whole world may occur.
Impressions of our friends visiting the city.
Before visiting the city centre, we arrive at the central office of the nuclear power plant. A large team welcomes us when we enter. All of the people who greeted us work at the nuclear power plant. They set up a model of the nuclear power plant on a table. One side is facing Ukraine and the other side is Russia. In other words, as we understand from the model established, the nuclear power plant is between Ukraine and Russia. They gave us general information about the nuclear power plant on the model. For example, about the energy obtained daily, its location and importance. They also told us which areas were attacked.
A hundred meters from the center of the nuclear power plant, Ukrainian fascists fired rockets. They had set up the parts of this rocket on a table. They showed us on the television pictures of the places attacked and damaged property and houses one by one. They had set up a table next to it. On this table, we saw the remnants of missiles and rockets sent by imperialism under the name of “aid”, rocket remnants-shrapnel fragments made in Turkey. Other than that, while continuing to tour the table, materials belonging to the fascist Azovs and other different fascist formations and seized in the raids were exhibited.
There were books on the table too. These books were the books that made the propaganda of fascism. Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf-My Struggle” was translated into Ukrainian and placed in the library. There is also a book praising and innocentizing the Ukrainian Nazi soldiers. When we open the pages of this book, we see Neonazis cooking, playing the guitar, animal lovers and even soldiers posing with a cat in their lap. In other words, fascists use every field to make themselves look innocent and their animalistic behavior. They use art, literature, badges, scarves, and so on. Nuclear power plant workers had shown many examples of these before us. Even after the second world war, the Nazis continue to establish their own ideology and hegemony, and the imperialists allow it. This is only a small and limited part of what we have been seen and heard. A woman who greeted us talked about the rocket that hit her mother’s house. The fired rocket falls into the garden and its fragments penetrate the walls and enter the house. A small piece of rocket is in the toothpaste. Another piece hits the woman’s stomach just as she is closing the window.
We mentioned above that a rocket crashed a hundred meters away from the center of the nuclear power plant. We set off on foot towards this nearby crime scene. On the way, we first stop in front of a market. The windows of the market are broken and taped. The missile that fell to the ground from behind hit the roof of the market and then fell in front of the market. Next, we arrive at the houses where civilians live. Burnt cars are standing in front of the houses. Missiles and rockets falling in the environment caused the cars to burn and the houses around them to be full of holes. A man living in one of the damaged buildings comes and shares his experiences with us. He begins to explain; while trying to close the window, pieces of shrapnel enter through the window and he escapes by jumping to the side in front of the window. There are also schools where the houses are dense. In other words, missiles and rockets are deliberately fired at areas where civilians and children are present. Imperialism and the army of murderers are fascists who are deliberately trying to murder people. It sucks the blood of the peoples of the world to prolong its own life.
As the last stop, we go to the nuclear power plant. Even if we can’t go inside, we can see it from the outside. We are on our way to the center to meet the other group. Here we end our program for today. Now it’s time to part. From the beginning to the end and after the third day in this region m, we are having dinner together for the last time with our friends in the city center. Security is increased for us here and there are more vehicles around. We are tasting Russian food for the last time together. We embrace one by one with the whole team and set off for Moscow. When we say that we will come again, our friends send us off with cries of happiness and excitement saying “yes, we will meet in the newly liberated areas next time”.
We will periodically publish the interviews, videos and pictures we made during our visit to Donbass and present what we saw and witnessed. We are extremely happy to take such a responsibility to document the facts and events against the disinformation and warmongering news of imperialism and NATO’s lie detector media and to show solidarity with the people of Donbass. Wherever there is an oppressed people, we will continue to be there with our internationalist identity. It is our historical duty and a honor to stand by the peoples who resist fascism and imperialism. Those who carry this honor will never surrender.
