He noted that as of February 26, 2022, the city’s defense plan simply did not exist physically.

Mykolaiv did not repeat the fate of Kherson only thanks to the fact that Major General Dmytro Marchenko was able to raise the locals for the defense of the city, which broke the course of the Russian attack on the southern part of Ukraine.

According to the BBC article, many locals said that the Russians were unable to take the city thanks to General Marchenko. “On February 25, at 04:00 in the morning, I went to Mykolaiv and, to put it mildly, I was surprised. Not a block of post, patrol, military or police. The city is completely empty – come and take it,” Marchenko shared.

“I went to the military units. I went to my native 79th brigade. I went to the 36th. I ask: “What is your task?” They say: “Circular defense of the military unit.” I say: “You don’t understand that if tanks will enter the city, then your circular defense [падет]?”, – the general recalled.

He noted that the military in Mykolaiv did not have a city defense plan as of February 26, 2022.

“On February 26, there was no city defense plan, and it was supposed to be on the 23rd. It was simply not there physically. When I asked where it was, I was told: “We haven’t glued the map together yet.” I say: “Are you normal people? Kherson was captured, and you haven’t glued the map together yet?” – the soldier was indignant.

However, as the publication noted, Mykolaiv had what Kherson lacked – time. Soldiers from the military units of the 59th and 80th brigades gave battle to the Russian invaders, saving, albeit few, very important days for the organization of the city’s defense.

The war in Ukraine – the situation in the South

After the liberation of the right bank of the Kherson region from the Russian occupiers, the situation with shelling of the Mykolaiv region improved. The southern part of the region in the area of ​​the Kinburn spit, where the troops of the aggressor country are still present, remains problematic.

Ochakov is among the cities suffering from Russian shelling. As reported, in September 2022, as a result of an attack by the Russians, an elevator with thousands of tons of grain was destroyed.