“The newspaper here is like rain after the heat,” a report from front-line Orikhiv

Winter January morning. The first issue of this year’s Trudova Slava newspaper has been printed. We are going to Orikhiv with the operational rescue car of the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia Region. The town has been in the firing line for almost two years…

The previous trip to my native place happened to me two months ago. During this time, the russian troops stubbornly continued merciless shelling. I close my eyes because I know what I will see now: every day, I look at the photos of the destruction recorded by the National Police. I know very well that they do not convey all the horror that happens in reality.

We are driving into the town. The buildings of the bus station are crushed, and part of the neighboring five-story building is simply missing; private houses around look at you through empty windows, and there are no roofs, as well as individual walls. And that is what can be seen along the entire route of our trip: destroyed housing, shops, administrative buildings, a hospital, schools, and local architectural sites. At the site of some buildings, there are only piles of construction debris. Heavy weapons can be heard constantly. It is hard to accept, even realizing that in a few hours, you will leave here. But people remain here – local residents, units of the State Emergency Service, the police, representatives of the authorities – live, work, support each other. A total of 1,300 people live in the Orikhiv Community, which is today represented by the town and three villages – Novodanylivka, Novoandriyivka, and Novopavlivka. There are a little over 1,000 in the town itself.

The very first people…

That’s exactly what the Orikhiv resident, Mrs. Mariya, called the employees of the Orikhiv Department of Emergency Services.

“It’s very hard, very… Both at night and during the day… It’s loud… and scary… The guys from the State Emergency Service are my first people. And the girls from the management are friendly and responsive! They repeatedly brought food and spoiled me with delicious treats. If it weren’t for them, I don’t know how it would have been…

A year ago, the apartment of a 69-year-old woman came under fire and caught fire. Rescuers extinguished the fire. It was possible to save something, thanks to the operative actions of the employees of the State Emergency Service. The house became unlivable. Before the incident, the woman’s health could not be called strong, but now, there is another thing… her complete confusion… As if she had lost herself for a while. She was admitted to a cardiology dispensary in the regional center. After treatment, she returned to Orikhiv again. Now, she lives in her friend’s house.

Today, rescuers perform not only their direct duties – putting out fires from shelling, clearing rubble, but also are the first helpers of citizens who live far from the center. People come to them to charge their phones, warm up, or just talk. Humanitarian aid and drinking water are regularly delivered to the town. They provide technical water. Bread is brought every week. They also help deliver and distribute special issues of our local newspaper, Trudova Slava.

During the conversation, Mrs. Mariya complained that sometimes it is cold in the apartment, so she cannot warm up. Rescuer Ihor reacted instantly:

“Come to us; you will warm up near the small stove…”

And they shared a bag of pellets with the elderly lady, Tamara. The woman is lonely. She complains about the poor quality of the coal he received as humanitarian aid for heating her home. There is a lot of coal, it is very wet, so it is frozen that you cannot use it…

The commander of the department, master sergeant Ihor Horenko, has been serving in the Orikhiv unit of the State Emergency Service since February 2023. He is from the temporarily occupied Tokmak, like most of the men from the regular shift, which also includes Orikhiv and Polohy residents. During this incomplete year of service, he knows well everyone who comes to the unit for support.

“After a few days of rest, I start my shift and think: how are they, the people of Orikhiv, there, and if they are okay?” says Ihor. “The war united us: both my colleagues and local residents. We all want one thing – victory!”

Fruits and goodies are a luxury

Liudmyla dreams of fruits, cakes, pastries, eggs, and store-bought milk. There is nowhere to get this in Orikhiv. She does not have money to go to Zaporizhzhia, which is 60 kilometers away, and where all this is.

The couple, Liudmyla and Valerii, consider all such things to be secondary. What they lack most is peace…

They live in one of the points of invincibility together with four compatriots. Sometimes, the number of residents at the point increases: residents of Orikhiv who were evacuated visit their homes for 2-3 days.

Liudmyla has the skills of two radically different professions: a cook and a plasterer. The woman recalled the day before the start of the war – February 23, 2022. It was on this day that she got a new job. But she never began to fulfill her duties due to objective reasons. Currently, there is simply nowhere to earn money in Orikhiv; the man receives a minimum pension.

“Plenty of pasta, flour, cereals, and beans. It would be good if the beans were replaced with canned corn or green peas,” Liudmyla says, already as a cook. “I often cook borshch for everyone, fry pies. I think the roommates are satisfied with my work.”

During our conversation, a car drove up to the point of invincibility from the town military administration. They brought water, vegetables, tea, and sugar.

“When we run out of products, I call representatives of the town authorities,” says Liudmyla. “They respond immediately: I get what I need on the same day or the next.”

Trudova Slava is very valuable to me!

“Like rain after the heat!” is how she answered my question, “What is the local newspaper for you now?” Stanislav Kovtun, a native of Orikhiv, whom she met in one of the town’s points of invincibility. Mr. Stanislav is a creative person. His works include many poems that were printed in our district. So, for a man, a newspaper is not only a source of news, some verified information, but also a kind of return to the past, peaceful and interesting years, to his youth.

“Trudova Slava is very valuable, and important for me,” admits Mr. Stanislav. “Dare, get published, and delight our hearts with fresh issues of our native newspaper!”

Viktor Zhyltsov, the headman of the village of Kopani, which is currently temporarily occupied by russian troops, is in charge of receiving and issuing humanitarian aid in Orikhiv in the town’s military administration. He also carries out a charitable mission – delivering fresh issues of our publication to the invincible town to invincible countrymen.

Life once flourished here, and now, it is a wasteland

This is my fifth trip to my hometown after the evacuation to Zaporizhzhia. All the previous times, it was not possible to get inside the premises where the newsroom of the local newspaper had been located for decades: the security situation did not allow it, time was limited, and sometimes I simply did not dare, did not want to experience even more pain, it was already enough.

I understood that this must be done; the crime of the russian military must be recorded. Together with his senior colleague, veteran photojournalist Volodymyr Chernenko, who remains in the town, gathered to inspect the building. He set me up so that I wouldn’t worry about how I would see all that…

More than one generation of newspapermen treated the premises in which they worked for more than one decade with respect.

The building of the newsroom has a long history. Before the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921, Frida’s printing house was located here. During the Second World War, the town was occupied by German Nazi troops. The building survived, as did most of the town.

He joined the creative newspaper team in 1983. Since then, the editorial office has become a second home for me and my colleagues. There were always crowds here. So many interesting and famous personalities were lucky to meet within these walls. Thousands of materials were born here, and the annals of the history of the Orikhiv region were kept here.

The editorial staff of the newspaper did not have much wealth. Therefore, the repairs of the premises were done with our own hands, and cleanliness and order were maintained, which was always noted by our guests. And it was very nice.

Now it is a wasteland, without a roof, without a ceiling, without windows… It hurts…

Svitlana Karpenko, the editor of the Orikhiv district newspaper Trudova Slava

Photo by Anna Logvinenko and Andrii Andriyenko