Ukraine's Nikopol: 'We're being shot at day and night'

There are hardly any vehicles, civilian or military, to be seen in the outskirts of Nikopol, located on the northern bank of the Dnipro River. The lush green trees on both sides of the street obscure the view of buildings destroyed by the war. The six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, which is occupied by Russian troops, can be seen around 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away, on the other side of the wide river.

From time to time, the sound of explosions reaches us from different directions. "That's our soldiers and the occupiers shooting," says 37-year-old Oleksandr, who lives in the city. He quickly fills up his car at the gas station before going on his way. He advises us not to stay in Nikopol too long. "This morning was fairly quiet. But it takes a missile only between 15 and 30 seconds to get from there to here," he warns.

The Russian artillery is firing at Nikopol from the Zaporizhzhia power plant. Since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, 44 people have been killed in Nikopol and 210 injured. When the Russian occupiers recently announced the evacuation of the city of Enerhodar, where the power plant is located, Nikopol came under even heavier fire. Eyewitnesses say it was predominantly residential areas near the river that were hit.

Before the war, Nikopol had a population of around 100,000. The authorities say around 40–50% remain in the city.

Everyday life during wartime

Workers from municipal companies spend all day clearing away mounds of shattered bricks, broken glass and window frames using tractors and trailers. In some streets, technicians are repairing electricity cables. "We're being shot at constantly, day and night. We're restoring power so that when we are victorious there will be light everywhere!" said a technician called Viktor, brimming with optimism.

The authorities report that a large area has been affected by destruction — in the city itself, it stretches the whole length of the riverbank. Yevhen Yevtushenko, the head of the military administration here, says that, since the start of the Russian invasion, almost 3,000 residential buildings have been partially or totally destroyed.

He does not believe that the recent announcement by the invaders that they were evacuating the civilian population from Enerhodar and other occupied districts in the Zaporizhzhia region means Russian troops are withdrawing, or that they will stop shelling.

Another man named Oleksandr, this time a worker at the Nikopol ferro-alloy factory, was on a night shift during the latest bombardment. When he got home, the roof of his house had been destroyed; the walls were damaged, as was his car. His dog was dead.

"Here, everything can be destroyed in a split second. Luckily none of my family were injured. My wife was able to run down into the cellar when she heard the first explosions, and then a mine hit," he says. He still can't take it all in.

Oleksandr is grateful to the municipal services, who swiftly came to his aid: They stretched a special plastic sheet over the house and helped to remove the debris.

Nikopol has water, gas and electricity; public transport is working, and the hospitals are running. Businesses and markets are open in the city center, and here, in contrast with the empty streets on the outskirts, there are lots of people out and about. In a park, a man presents a young woman with flowers. They kiss and smile.

Suddenly the air raid sirens start to wail, but neither the couple nor a woman with a little girl react. Asked why they don't run away, the woman says there won't be any shelling. "There's a Telegram channel where they post information from Enerhodar. They're just moving equipment about on the other side today," she says.

'You can't panic'

Natalia is gardening in a flowerbed opposite the entrance to the business where she works. When asked why she is doing this during an air raid warning, the 39-year-old says that many of the city's residents have grown accustomed to this situation.

"I'm calm, because I believe there will be a victorious counteroffensive by the Ukrainian army. What's more, we all do. We've even finished planting our vegetable garden. So our gardens and courtyards are all in order," says Natalia. She stresses that you can't panic, even when you're this close to the front.

Viktoria, 69, is less brave. "I'm very afraid, all the time. I can't bear the noise when something comes flying in and explodes," she admits. She shows us the yard outside her building, which has already been hit by several shells, and tells us that she and her husband sleep in the cellar almost every night because their apartment is on the top floor. "You can see the nuclear power plant from the upper floors of almost all the buildings, and how they're shooting from there. All these upper floors are directly in the line of fire," the pensioner says.

Viktoria says the war has changed her a lot. She has lost a great deal of weight and has been seriously ill on several occasions in the cellar, and the war is a huge psychological burden. "I was a completely different person before the war," she says, weeping. She was cheerful, used to help others, and thought she would be able to grow old happily, she says.

'We're hostages of the situation'

Yet, despite the bombardment, Viktoria does not want to leave Nikopol, because she wants to be at home and near her daughter, who is reluctant to give up her job. Oleksandr, the worker at the ferro-alloy factory, doesn't want to go, either — in spite of the bombardment and the threat to nuclear safety posed by the Russian occupation of the nearby power plant.

He says he cannot imagine living in a different part of the country, let alone abroad. "Who still needs us, people who are about to retire?" he asks. "And as for the nuclear danger: People still live in the zone around Chernobyl."

A few months ago, the people of Nikopol were given iodine tablets to take in the event of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant. In March, the local authorities announced the voluntary evacuation of the city. This recommendation has not yet been rescinded.

All the residents of Nikopol to whom DW spoke fear that when the Ukrainian army launches its anticipated counteroffensive, there may be a significant increase in shelling from the Russian troops.

"I hope the fate of Bakhmut won't be repeated here. We're hostages of the situation, because the Ukrainian army won't be able to fire at the nuclear power plant from Nikopol," says an elderly man called Mykola, in a shop in the city center. The air raid siren has fallen silent now, and he's busy stocking up on several days' supply of milk and bread. "Just in case," he says.

This article has been translated from Russian.