«They tore them to pieces in front of me» – live from the European front of Zaporizhzhia
By: Giorgio Provinciali
Live from Ukraine
ALLA AND I JUST LAUNCHED A NEW FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN TO PURCHASE DRONE DETECTORS
If supported, it may be vital to us
Malokaterynivka — From the checkpoints on the southern access routes to Zaporizhzhia onward, the roads are already protected by anti-drone nets. These long security corridors, stretching for dozens of kilometers, indicate the looming Russian threat to Ukraine’s sixth-largest city. With swarms of Chinese-made FPV drones, the occupation army is terrorizing the Ukrainian civilian population, to such an extent that at the edges of these relatively sheltered lanes lie vehicle wrecks, abandoned lay-bys and service stations, torn and incinerated metal sheets from road signs and advertising, and animal carcasses. Further up, in those very same nets that save our lives, birds and bats are fatally trapped, so many that they are barely distinguishable from the frames of quadcopters. Those operating these deadly vectors now know these passages so well that they manage to infiltrate them by exploiting breaches on the sides or by creating new ones with other UAVs. The consequences are terrifying because coming face-to-face with one at full speed is equivalent to certain death. Horror-movie scenes are a daily experience for residents of the small villages south of Zaporizhzhia.
In one of the few remaining gas stations along those battered roads, I spoke with a young woman who, to keep the station operational, was forced to enclose it with rigid metal mesh welded together, which meant she had to work inside that enclosure for endless days and nights. Barely holding back tears, she told me she had lost both of her homes in Malokaterinivka, along with all the family members inside, when the Russians blew them up. «They tore them to pieces in front of me» she whispered softly, adding that others like her were forced to move to nearby villages like Balobine.
The conditions in Malokaterynivka are incompatible with life.
Sharing even a small part of the footage I recorded for this newspaper’s YouTube channel is challenging because of its content. However, it’s necessary to witness it, as the hell Russia is unleashing on Ukraine is also threatening other European cities, and ignoring it won’t make it disappear.
«The great debate is whether this is the Russians’ war or Putin’s. Unfortunately, it is the Russians’ war. Every Russian, including me, bears responsibility for the crimes committed in Ukraine».
Recurring in our articles, this concept, now stated by Russian dissident Gary Kasparov, prompts a logical and coherent reflection: defending democracy’s front lines is the duty of the entire free world.
First and foremost of Europe, because every European has the responsibility to safeguard the values and lives that Russia is destroying just outside its borders. Not just Ukraine.
Ukrainian public opinion is now strongly critical of Europe and NATO: both on the front lines and in the cities, people feel abandoned and see their sacrifices fade into nothing. Individuals shaken by the war, like the girl who survived her family's massacre in Malokaterynivka, or the dozens of civilians and soldiers I recently spoke with, angrily told me not to talk to them about Europe.
The days when I saw the star-spangled banner flying over the last outpost before Bakhmut are gone. I no longer see soldiers with the European chevron proudly on their arms, shouting, «Here is Europe, there are swamps». Along my journey across the entire southern front of Zaporizhzhia, very few civilians or soldiers failed to remind me that Moscow buys that flood of drones from Beijing with European money, too. Twelve years of billion-dollar checks issued to fund Russian terrorism and the development of infrastructure like Nord Stream 2, when Ukraine was already invaded, have been a disgrace. Rooted in foolish caveats that have prevented these people from defending themselves by attacking their aggressors, as international law demands.
During my recent travels between the front lines and devastated cities, including the one I am currently in, I haven’t encountered a single media worker. The Russians have killed many; others have disguised themselves in hopes of avoiding the same fate; and the vast majority continue to report from afar what too many still call ‘a conflict’. Reading about it on social media, trusting the assessments of think tanks that rely on bloggers’ hype, or relaunching news agencies.
Footage of the European front south of Zaporizhzhia should be shown constantly instead, right on those media where propaganda still penetrates too deeply. The area where I collected these testimonies is a long grey zone that, before fading into a pale color, extends over 150 kilometers. This indicates that there is another, unseen one, separating the rest of the world from this reality.
Through our crowdfunding campaign, we aim to purchase and install drone detection devices on each of our vehicles to protect against drone attacks in hot zones. Anti-drone «РЕБ» devices have proven effective against traditional wireless drones, but are completely ineffective against those connected via fiber-optic cables. We are launching this new campaign to ensure that none of those war machines will hit us when we approach the frontlines where we write our articles. Your support will not only protect us but also the civilians and defenders within the device’s range.
Alla和我发起一项新的募捐活动，购买无人机探测器
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在过去三年里，作为自由撰稿人，我们一直在乌克兰战争的所有前线进行报道，自从大规模……
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他们在我面前被撕成碎片——来自扎波罗热欧洲前线的现场报道
作者：Giorgio Provinciali
乌克兰现场报道
马洛卡列宁夫卡（Malokaterynivka）——从通往扎波罗热的南部通道的检查站开始，道路上已经装设了反无人机网。这些绵延数十公里的长安全走廊表明，预示着俄罗斯对乌克兰第六大城市的威胁日益逼近。俄占领军用成群的中国制造的FPV无人机恐吓着乌克兰平民，甚至在这些相对隐蔽的车道的边缘都躺着汽车残骸、废弃的停靠点和服务站、被撕碎和焚毁的路牌和广告牌金属片，以及动物尸体。更远处，在这些救命的网下，鸟类和蝙蝠被死死困住，数量之多几乎与四轴无人机的机身框架难以区分。操作这些杀人武器的人员现在非常了解这些通道，他们设法利用侧面漏洞潜入，或用其他无人机制造新漏洞。结果令人胆寒，因为面对一架全速无人机，几乎等于死路一条。这些恐怖电影场景般的噩梦是居住在扎波罗热南部小村庄居民的日常体验。
（图：我身处被防网保护的安全通道内，身后是一座加油站的残骸——版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
在那些受损公路上剩下的为数不多的一个加油站里，我与一位年轻女子交谈。为了保持加油站的继续运营，她被迫用焊接而成的刚性金属网将其围起来，这意味着她不得不在这个围栏内无休止地工作。她含着泪告诉我，她在马洛卡列宁夫卡的两所房子都被俄罗斯人炸毁了，里面的所有家人也都遇难。她低声呢喃：“他们在我面前把他们撕成碎片”，还说像她这样的其他人都被迫迁往附近的村庄，比如巴洛宾。
马洛卡列宁夫卡的条件已不适合生存。
因为这些内容敏感，分享我为本报YouTube频道录制的影像片段也变得非常困难，但见证这些是非常必要的，因为俄罗斯在乌克兰制造的地狱，也在威胁着其他欧洲城市，忽视它并不会让它自动消失。
“关于这场战争究竟是俄罗斯的战争还是普京的战争，存在着激烈的争论。不幸的是，这是俄罗斯的战争。每个俄罗斯人，包括我自己，都需要为在乌克兰犯下的罪行负责。”
俄罗斯异见人士加里·卡斯帕罗夫发表的这番话，在我们的文章中反复出现，促使我们进行合理而连贯的反思：捍卫民主前线，是整个自由世界的责任。
首当其冲当然是欧洲，因为每个欧洲人都肩负着保护那些俄罗斯正在别国境内摧毁的价值观和生命的责任，这不只是乌克兰人的责任。
（图片来源：罗曼·舍列梅塔在Facebook上的照片）
乌克兰公众舆论对欧洲和北约的批评越来越强烈：无论是在前线还是在城市，人们都感到被抛弃，牺牲似乎变得毫无意义。那些被战争重击的人，比如在马洛卡列宁夫卡从家人被屠杀中幸存的女孩，或者我最近采访的数十名平民和士兵，都愤怒地告诉我别再谈论欧洲了。
在巴赫穆特被毁之前，我曾看到星条旗在最后一个前哨上飘扬。我再也看不到士兵们自豪地在臂章上佩戴欧洲徽章，喊着“这里是欧洲，这里有沼泽”。在我穿越整个扎波罗热南部前线的旅途中，几乎所有平民或士兵都提醒我，莫斯科是用欧洲的钱从北京购买大量的无人机的。乌克兰已经被入侵十二年了，在这期间（欧盟）用于资助俄罗斯的恐怖活动以及如北溪二号等基础设施建设的资金达到数十亿美元，这是一大耻辱。深入人心的愚蠢的观念阻止了这些人按国际法的要求自我防卫，攻击侵略者。
（图：这是我在乌克兰马洛卡列宁夫卡附近，拍摄的一段视频报道的一部分，正是在写下这份快讯的前一刻——版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
在最近从前线和被破坏的城市之间的行程中，包括我现在所在的城市，我没有遇到过一个媒体工作者。俄罗斯人杀了许多记者；有人伪装身份，希望避免遭遇同样的命运；绝大多数人继续远距离报道这一被许多人仍然称为“冲突”的事件。在社交媒体上阅读相关报道，信任那些依赖博主炒作的智囊团的评估，或者仅仅转发新闻机构的报道。
南部扎波罗热欧洲前线的影像，应该在那些政治宣传渗透得很深的媒体上不断播放。那些我收集这些证词的区域，是一片长长的灰色地带，在逐渐淡化为淡色之前，延伸超过150公里。这表明，还有另一道未被看到的屏障，将这个世界的其他部分与这片现实隔开。
（图：我在乌克兰扎波罗热巴拉宾——版权所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
