Ukrainians Are Merely Targets In A Shooting Range - September 7th 2023

September 7th 2023

Yuriy recounts the tragic missile strike on Kostyantynivka, shedding light on the devastating impact of the Russian goal of pure Ukrainian annihilation, where civilian lives are intentionally targeted, and he reflects on the failure of civilization in the face of such brutality.

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TRANSCRIPT: (Podbean app users can enjoy closed captions)

Yesterday, Russian forces launched a ballistic missile strike on the city of Kostyantynivka, which is located just a few miles from the front line in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. 17 people lost their lives in this tragic event -shoppers and sellers at the local market while dozens smore, we are injured. I have a deep familiarity with this market. I visited it many times after the start of a full scale Russian invasion when my unit was stationed on the Bakhmut front. Kostyantynivka was the closest town to our positions. We went where to buy food. We sold the best kebs in the world and really sweet local apples. We also bought there spare parts for our vehicles warm socks and everything else needed for war.

For several years now, constant Inka has been a town on the front line after their initial Albe Limited invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the Russians briefly captured the town, but we were eventually pushed out. Before the full scale invasion. It was a relatively large town with a population of around 80,000 people. Restaurants, stores, and new businesses were thriving. However, everything changed one and a half years ago. The town found itself on the daily shelling. I vividly remember my stay there last winter. Explosions were heard every few hours. The Russians were systematically destroyed civilian infrastructure, trying to make the town uninhabitable forcing people to live with intention of capturing the ruins and reporting in another concrete settlement. 

I want you to understand why strategy bombing cities, destroying infrastructure and creating a dire humanitarian catastrophic is what the Russians refer to as "helping the people of Donbas." Russians officially claimed Kostyantynivka along with the entire Donetsk region as their territory and even made changes to way Constitution to include it. Then they began to systematically destroy it. Yesterday they outdid themselves by deliberately launching a missile into the most densely populated area of Kostyantynivka- the market. After the full scale invasion, some local businesses closed down or left the town while others were destroyed by rockets and artillery strikes. The market on one of the town squares became the focal point of economic activity in Kostyantynivka. That's where the Russians aimed. 

It is clear that their intention was to strike civilians and kill as many people as possible. Missiles, especially ballistic ones, don't get launched without reconnaissance, targeting, and ation with commanding officers. They don't randomly land on a square. This is a crime and dozens of people were complicit. Those who selected with target, those who approved it, and those who aimed and fired the missile. They simply killed nearly two dozen innocent people. No one of them protested against this, and no one tried to stop this massacre because for them, we are not human beings. For them, Ukrainians are merely targets in a shooting range that they intend to destroy. 

Kostyantynivka is just one example of how Russians view us. There are many Kostyantynivkas throughout Ukraine numbering in the hundreds. Rockets, shells, and drones rain down on peaceful towns and villages every day. There hasn't been a single place where I served since the beginning of this full scale war that hasn't been targeted by deadly Russian "gifts".

This is a war of annihilation, with no other objective for Russians except our complete destruction. Yes, it's the 21st century, it's Europe, and yet we are facing the war of extermination against an entire nation. It seems to me that somewhere along the way, civilization failed.