Freaking Out In Kherson City (Continued)
Day 2 – June 18th, 2023

Either I was calmer, or the bombing of Kherson City calmed a bit. Probably a bit of both because I don’t recall feeling any angst or fear on day two. We focused on dropping off supplies at a new contact of Mark’s, “Support Kherson” or “Kherson Unbroken.”

“Support Kherson” consists of a group of primarily young locals who did not flee their city but stuck around to help. Like Tania, they are dedicated to ensuring their city survives. These young men left during the Russian occupation but rushed back to help as soon as Ukraine liberated the city, despite the still inherent danger of daily bombings in Kherson City and their beloved town, now primarily a ghost town.

After dropping off supplies and touring the facilities, the fellows took us to a former local University of Agriculture. They showed us an empty fish tank that once contained some of the rarest fish species in the world. When the city was being liberated, the Russians destroyed the tank and killed the fish out of spite. This is typical of Russian military behavior. What they cannot have, they seek to destroy. It’s just one more shameful moment in their long history of oppression and terror in Ukraine, and I hope and pray the perpetrators will see justice in this life or the next. It is disgusting behavior.

We later returned to the church to rendezvous with Tania and drop off more supplies. It was there that I interviewed Jersey and heard his fascinating story. I’m not including his photos in case he’s still in the country.

I don’t remember much about that day, so I assume it passed peacefully. However, when we arrived in Mykolaiv that evening, we were all awakened by bombs and air raid sirens—more on that in the Mykolaiv post.