The repeated thuds of Ukrainian artillery echo off the fortified headquarters of Mikolaiv prefecture in southern Ukraine — a sign of the proximity of Russian forces advancing rapidly in their march westward from the Black Sea coast.
In green military uniform and with a pistol in his pocket, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich points on the map to Russian positions. Beside him is City Council Secretary Dmitro Falko, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a Kalashnikov rifle (or Soviet-era AK-47) in a tennis racket case slung across his back.
The Russians are coming from the north, east and south, he said — the same forces that a few days ago captured the town of Kherson, 40 miles east of Mikolaiv.
By mid-afternoon, he said, some Russian forces had reached areas on the outskirts of the city, killing a local school principal and a few other people, but Ukrainian soldiers were keeping them at bay for now.
After a battle on Friday night, Ukrainian forces retook Mikolaiv airport, which had previously been captured by Russian troops, and hoisted the Ukrainian flag there. The information comes from Ukrainian forces, who posted on Twitter a video of the flag and its troops celebrating the feat.
“The enemy surrounds us,” Senkevich said. “Today they are gathering their forces. I think they intend to attack us very soon.”
Russian forces in northern Ukraine are largely stationed near the capital, Kiev, and the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. But troops in southern Ukraine have been advancing.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade last week, Russian forces stormed out of the Crimean peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014 and converted into a gigantic garrison for its army. From Crimea they advanced to the east, where they dominated the city of Melitopol and converged on Mariupol, which remains under the control of Ukrainian forces despite having been under siege for almost a week.
To the west, Russian troops invaded the port city of Kherson, where the Russian commander informed Mayor Ihor Kolikhaev that he intended to establish a military administration.
Until Friday, Kolikhaev said, it appeared that Ukrainian forces stationed on the outskirts of the city were blocking the passage of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, despite an agreement made on Thursday to open a humanitarian corridor. The mayor attributed what happened to a miscommunication between the troops on the ground and their commanders.
Meanwhile, he said, the Russian troops now occupying the city — “the gentle liberators,” as the mayor sarcastically described them — are taking advantage of the delay to broadcast their own propaganda, publicly promising to provide their own assistance to the population.
“First they create a critical situation, then they heroically save us to show the whole world thanking the ‘benefactors’ on camera,” Kolikhaev said in a text message. “I swear to you, I’m doing what I can, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to resist.”
Although the ultimate objective of Russian troops in the southern region is unknown, the likely plan is to take Odessa, an important city on the Black Sea coast, with a population of 1 million. There, residents and officials have been preparing day and night for an attack, building barricades against tanks made of sandbags and old steel tram tracks, while scanning the horizon for Russian warships arriving from the sea.
But to reach Odessa the easy way out, Russian forces will have to cross Mikolaiv and the only drawbridge over the Buh River. As a safety precaution, the city has ordered the bridge to spend most of the day raised, leaving only one hour a day for residents to evacuate the city. On Friday, a line of cars reached the center of the city. Some of the vehicles had signs saying “children” affixed to their windshields.
Ukrainian soldiers wearing protective gear and carrying automatic weapons stood guard at the access to the bridge. In green cabins beside hastily erected bunkers made of cinder blocks and sandbags were shoulder-mounted anti-tank missiles supplied by the UK.
If the missiles fail to stop the Russian advance, Senkevich said, troops have orders to blow up the bridge.
“For now, the situation here is not as scary as it is in Kharkiv and other cities,” said a woman named Nadeja who was preparing to cross the bridge on foot. “Our men are protecting us well, and all our hope is in them.” She commented that her son is also a soldier.
In the first days of fighting, Russian troops coming in a lightning advance arrived at Mikolaiv, but were repulsed by Ukrainian forces in a fierce firefight. Now the streets are mostly empty, with the exception of Ukrainian troops and the occasional lone retiree carrying grocery bags. Most of the city’s 500,000 residents appear to have fled.
Across the Buh River is an upscale neighborhood whose residents are preparing to defend their homes. One of them, who invited a reporter to come in and have tea, as long as only his first name, Vadim, was published, showed gruesome videos that friends had sent him of the fighting in the city. Vadim said Russian soldiers in the region appear to be surrendering in groups when they are met with fire. The New York Times could not independently verify the report, but observers elsewhere in the country described similar scenes.
“The population is not yet fully enraged,” said Vadim, who had a shotgun on the table and said he was prepared to defend his property if need be. “But if people are pushed to the limit, no one else will take prisoners. We’ll shoot them and that’s it.”
Senkevich, the mayor, said he and his team are also prepared to fight to the end if and when Russian forces arrive. In addition to the pistol in his pocket, several automatic rifles were scattered around his workroom.
The only other things the city’s defenders are lacking are bulletproof vests and helmets, Senkevich said.
“That’s the only plan: fight to the end,” he said. “The captain is the last to abandon ship.”
