Mykolaiv, Ukraine

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No one could have anticipated this horrible invasion of Ukraine, but on February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded from the north, east and south. The southern invasion started out of Crimea, which had been illegally invaded in 2014 by Russia, and wherein the world had turned a “blind eye” to this initial invasion, which was nothing more than a “testing of the waters” by Russia to see how the world would respond.

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In any event, the southern invasion entered peaceful Ukraine through the Isthmus of Perekop, advanced north to the major capital city of Kherson, Ukraine, crossed the Dnipro River (home to the Kakhovka Dam…now blown up by the Russian Federation. From there, the invasion plan was to advance through Mykolaiv, Ukraine, cross the wide Pivdennyl Buh River at the first northern bridge in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and thus proceed to Odessa, Ukraine completely cutting Ukraine from the Black Sea.

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This advance was thwarted by the citizens, police, security forces stationed in Mykolaiv, etc. It was heart breaking to listen to Major Oleksandr Senkevych give video updates, as well as other citizens in the fight to stop the Russian advance. Yes, it was as though such videos would be their last communication. The citizens of Mykolaiv were barricading the streets with tires, dirt, or anything they could find. But this was their home, and the peaceful community members were there until the end to protect their city.