February 7 2022 – MARIUPOL, Ukraine:
Soldiers on the frontline near Mariupol and the Sea of Azov described the current state of the conflict with Russia. When asked about the residents claiming that they want to be part of Russia, a soldier said “If they want to be a part of Russia, let them go to Russia.”
He sat at a table in a dark and muddy bunker, surrounded by machine guns and rifles, behind him a wall covered in drawings from school children.
“Here no one will give up their territory for nothing, there will be a lot of blood.”
The nearby village is completely destroyed. The houses have been shelled and are riddled with bullet holes and mines, they’ve been abandoned for years. “It’s very difficult. I wouldn’t want everyone to see it, it’s enough that I see it,” said a soldier, who spoke as a litter of new born puppies yelped at his feet, “it saddens my soul.”
Another soldier, holding a kalishnikov rifle and standing in an outpost asked, “what’s the point of all this? We lived peacefully, why couldn’t we continue to live like that?”
Video by Oliya Scootercaster and @NewYorkCityPeople (FNTV freedomnews.tv)
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