Russian troops shelled the Kherson region 29 times in a day, there is a victim

On January 24, Russian invaders shelled the territory of Kherson Oblast 29 times, one person died as a result of the shelling, reports the head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration Yaroslav Yanushevich.

“According to the information of the Kherson regional military administration, the Russian invaders shelled the territory of the Kherson region 29 times. Last day, 1 person died due to the Russian shelling,” Yanushevich said.

According to the head of the regional military administration, the enemy continues to attack peaceful settlements of the Kherson and Beryslav districts, and that the occupiers fired artillery, MLRS and mortars.

The enemy is shelling the Kherson territorial community daily, destroying infrastructure and residential buildings.

A commission for surveying damaged and destroyed property as a result of the military aggression of the Russian Federation works at the Kherson City Council.

The commission goes to the place of destruction and damage of objects, carries out inspections and surveys of damaged or destroyed objects with photo and video recording. Then it prepares inspection reports, which will be provided to the holder of the State Register of property damaged and destroyed as a result of hostilities, acts of terrorism, sabotage caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation, for further resolution of the issue of further compensation.

According to the commission, as of January 23, 2023, 1,071 buildings were damaged in the city, including 395 apartment buildings, 669 private and 7 dormitories, 49 educational institutions, 17 health care institutions, and 44 infrastructure facilities.

There are 1,836 apartment buildings and 151 educational institutions in the city.

We note that information about damage to buildings is not always received on time, and therefore the city is not always able to quickly send a commission to inspect real estate objects. Also, sometimes due to the large number of damaged objects and the need for a primary response to hits on critical infrastructure objects, it is impossible to go to the place in a short time.

The widely advertised large-scale campaign for the rehabilitation of children in the Kherson region in Russian camps, in fact, turned out to be nothing more than a criminal kidnapping of underage residents of the region.

However, the Ukrainian authorities announced this as soon as the occupiers took the children out. But now, when, months later, the children still remain on the territory of the Russian Federation, this has already become obvious to everyone. Until September 2022, up to two thousand children were taken from the Kherson region to Evpatoria, where they were placed in Ukrainian children’s camps, after 2014 “nationalized” by the new Crimean authorities. The Russian authorities mentioned the fate of these children only once, indicating that 128 children allegedly decided to stay in Evpatoria and that they were involved in the educational process. Where the rest of the children are is unknown.

There is no information that they were returned to the Kherson region, including the occupied territory.

Russian barbarians cynically shelled Oleshki, despite the fact that the city is located on the left-bank territory of the Kherson region, which is currently under the control of the army of the aggressor state. The details were reported by the legitimate chairman Oleshki Evgeniy Ryshchuk.

According to him, a multi-storey residential area of ​​the city was shelled. Olin from enemy shells exploded between houses No. 14 and No. 12, the second – at house No. 17. As a result of the blast wave, windows flew out in several houses. In addition, during the shelling, the invaders hit the building of one of the city’s schools. As a result, it was significantly destroyed. One of the spans of the 3-story building of the school complex collapsed, windows, ceilings, roof, walls, etc. were damaged.

At the same time, the occupying authorities blamed the Armed Forces for everything.

The tourist gem of the Kherson region, the Knyaz Trubetskyi winery, is now at zero. Russian occupiers stand a kilometer away and fire at a historic chateau on the right bank of the Dnieper.

How the company survived the occupation, what the Russian occupiers left behind and whether it plans to resume grape growing and wine production, the leading managers of the winery told.

From the vine to the glass

” Knyaz Trubetskyi” winery is a classic French chateau with vineyards, a restaurant, a hotel, a museum and cellars. It was visited by up to 30,000 tourists every year.

As early as February 22 and 23, the team was making plans for the next 10 years and was preparing to send its products to a prestigious exhibition, said the general manager of  “Knyaz Trubetskyi” Winery, Andriy Strilets.

“We were going to release new varieties of wine that were not yet available on our market. After all, we have such a composition of vineyards as in the great wines of France – Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Shiraz. We had a box of finished products ready to be sent to London for the prestigious Decanter exhibition. They were going to send it on February 24, but they couldn’t. Two weeks before the war, we won gold medals in Berlin,” recalls Andrii Strelets.

Occupation

Morning of the 24th. Explosions in Nova Kakhovka. Notification of the beginning of the war. Andriy left for his family in Kyiv. Within 3-4 hours, the workers of the winery reported that the Russian troops were at the gate. During the occupation, they decided not to maintain contact with the workers – for their safety. What was happening at the winery, the manager found out from photos of local residents and from videos of the Russian military.

“We know that the occupiers came to the winery, they saw the video, which they posted on the Internet – how they were robbing and taking what was stored in us. The heart bleeds — it’s the work of so many people and several years, and those barbarians don’t even understand its value,” says Andriy Strelets.

In the photo, which was passed on by local residents, you can see the holes from shelling – just in the historic building.

“As soon as the Ukrainian military hung the flag at that place, it flew right into the flag. And now there is a hole in the tower. But we still don’t know what happened inside, what the situation is, because they don’t allow us to go there yet,” says the general manager.

“The first thing I will do after the victory is to drink a glass of “Velvet of Ukraine”. “Velvet of Ukraine” and “Pearl of the Steppe” are of particular importance to us.

Almost no wines under the “Knyaz Trubetsky” brand were left. The warehouse of finished products in Gostomel burned down. Only a few bottles survived.

 “It is difficult to talk about losses now. We clearly know that 32,000 bottles burned in the warehouse of finished products that we rented in Gostomel. And we do not have access to the enterprise yet, so it is impossible to calculate anything. Only the inventory after the complete release will show what is there and what is not,” said Andriy Strelets.

Plans for the future

Now they work as a team of three specialists: they make plans for investments and restoration of vineyards. During the war, no one from the team was fired, and after the victory they plan to re-establish wine production.

“We are very optimistic, we are waiting for victory and we will restore everything. Of course, it takes 2-3 years to establish the production of such wines. If the vineyards have not been cultivated for a year, then they can still be raised, if for 2-3 years, then it will be difficult. But there is seed material, if the varieties spoil, we will plant them again,” says Strelets.

“We believe in victory, glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine! And we will definitely make varieties of wines that will become the best on the world market and glorify Ukraine. This is not even our strategy anymore, but our mission.”

The manager says that even before the war there was a plan – which varieties to plant, which to restore, which should be transplanted. He is convinced that the company will once again make wines worthy of the world market.

Four bottles of wine that were preserved after the Russian occupiers destroyed the warehouse of finished products in Gostomel.

“The first thing I will do after the victory is to drink a glass of “Velvet of Ukraine”. “Velvet of Ukraine” and “Pearl of the Steppe” are of particular importance to us. We are waiting for liberation, we believe in victory! Glory to the Armed Forces! And we will definitely make varieties of wines that will become the best on the world market and glorify Ukraine. This is not even our strategy, but our mission,” said the general manager of the winery.

Museum

Four burnt bottles from Gostomel, photos of damaged historical buildings, devastated cellars – these things will become part of the 120-year history of Chateau Trubetsky, which will be placed in the museum of the winery. The managers of the enterprise also see their mission in preserving the chateau as a tourist object, a part of the history of the Kherson region.

“This winery has already survived several wars – the revolution, the Civil War, and two world wars. He will survive this one, we will rebuild everything. In the early 2000s, we completely reconstructed the historic chateau. A restaurant, a hotel, and a small museum were built inside. All historical cellars have been renovated. The oldest collection of wines in Ukraine was stored there – from 1958. And every year it was replenished by at least 100 bottles. And during the reconstruction, 7 bottles were found from the time of Knyaz Trubetskyі — this is the beginning of the 1900s. What is with them now, we can only guess. We hope that at least something will survive,” said Serhiy Parkhomchuk, director of marketing at the “Knyaz Trubetskyі” winery.