キエフ西郊の集落、廃虚に　ロシア軍が最後のあがき

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナの首都キエフ西郊、ストヤンカの集落入り口の交差点。今なおロシア軍の狙撃兵が潜んでおり、人けはない。アンドリー・オスタペツさん（６９）はしかし、取り残された住民に、そしてまだ生きているなら、自身の飼い猫にも食べ物を届けようと試みている。（写真はウクライナの首都キエフ西郊、ストヤンカの検問所で、警備に当たる志願兵）
　私設の博物館を運営するオスタペツさんは１週間前、妻と共にストヤンカから避難した。自宅の庭に砲弾がさく裂し、妻が吹き飛ばされたためだ。その後、ウクライナ軍がロシア軍を撃退しつつあると聞き、戻ってきた。
「住民が殺され、家々が焼け落ちるのを見た。地獄だった」。ロシア軍に占領された時のことを振り返る。「きのう、連中は私たちの農場から追い払われた。ロシア兵に生き延びるチャンスはない。降伏しなければ死が待っている」
　キエフ包囲をもくろむロシア軍に対峙（たいじ）する最前線となって約１か月。ストヤンカは廃虚と化した。刺すような冷たい風が吹きすさぶ。集落を囲む、木に覆われた低い丘からは砲声が響く。銃声も聞こえる。
　ウクライナ領土防衛隊によれば、狙撃兵が潜んでいるのはその林の中だ。
　ロシアは２５日、侵攻当初の作戦目標を縮小し、東部ドンバス地方に戦力を集中する方針を示唆した。しかし、ストヤンカなどキエフ都市圏の外縁部では、反転攻勢に出たウクライナ軍とロシア軍との戦闘が続いている。
「車いっぱいに食料品を積んできた。取り残された人やペットに届ける」とオスタペツさん。「許可を待っているところだ。生き残っている人たちを助けに行く」

■「２人狙撃された」
　ストヤンカに続く道路沿いの住宅地はもぬけの殻に見えた。砲撃で破壊された家もある。
　土のうが積まれた検問所では、救援物資を届けにきた人が待機している。カラシニコフ銃を手に警備に当たる志願兵は、現時点で中心部に入るのは「自殺行為」だと語った。「きょうも民間人２人が狙撃された」
　ストヤンカは今なお狙撃や砲撃の標的となっている。周囲の林から攻撃されることが多い。取り残された住民の食料は底をつきつつある。
　がれきが散乱する交差点の一角。キエフから西へ延びる幹線道路沿いに見えるねじれた金属の山は、かつてガソリンスタンドだった。
　志願兵が乗った車が、ＡＦＰ取材班の身元確認のため一時停止した。狙撃兵が交差点を狙っていると警告すると、猛スピードで走り去った。
　ただ、ロシアは１２世紀までさかのぼる「歴史的な敵」だと主張する歴史愛好家のオスタペツさんに言わせれば、狙撃はロシア軍の最後のあがきにすぎない。「ロシア軍の弾薬は尽き、小集団に分断されている。この状況では小型兵器や狙撃手は役に立たないだろう」
　「連中は猫も犬も、あらゆる生き物を殺した。糧食が尽きるとそこかしこに押し入り、根こそぎ盗んでいった」。オスタペツさんはこう息巻くと、満面の笑みを浮かべて拳を振り上げ、叫んだ。「ウクライナに栄光あれ」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/03/30-09:42）

Russian snipers are still targeting the deserted crossroads into the village of Stoyanka, but Andrii Ostapets hopes to bring food to his neighbours -- and to his cats, if they are still alive.
The 69-year-old private museum owner has returned one week after fleeing the village on Kyiv's western edge, having heard that Ukrainian troops were driving back Moscow's forces.
We saw people killed, we saw burnt down houses, we lived through hell when Russia occupied the village, says Ostapets, protected from the biting cold by a thick leather jacket.
Yesterday they pushed them back from our farm. The Russians have no chance to stay alive -- they can either surrender or die.
A bitter wind whips through Stoyanka, which has been turned into a ghost village after nearly a month on the western frontline of Russia's attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital.
The sound of shelling still booms from the low forested hills that surround the village -- where Ukrainian defence volunteer forces say Russian snipers are lurking. Gunfire crackles at a distance.
The fighting continues despite Moscow signalling on Friday that it had scaled down the aims of its month-old invasion of Ukraine, focusing now on the eastern Donbas area.
Ukraine says it is pushing back the stalled Russian advance on Kyiv in areas such as Stoyanka, just half a kilometre (about 500 yards) from the western city limits.
I have a full car of groceries, the people and pets who stayed there, we'll bring them food, says Ostapets. We are waiting for permission and we will go save those alive.
- 'Shot by snipers' -
Most of the houses on the approach to Stoyanka appear to be empty, and some have been destroyed by shelling.
At a sandbagged checkpoint where people are waiting to deliver aid, one militia member said it was suicidal to try to cross into the main part of the village at the moment.
Two civilians were shot by snipers today, says a civil defence volunteer toting a Kalashnikov rifle, his face covered by an olive green balaclava.
The village was still being targeted by sniper fire, mortars and shelling, much of it coming from the surrounding woods, said the volunteer, asking not to be named.
Of the residents who have braved the fighting to stay, many are running short of food.
A surprise arrival at the scene is Ostapets' daughter, Snizhana Shokina, who says she has come to join the aid effort because the war hurts the soul.
I didn't tell my parents I would come, because they would start worrying. I just decided to come, says the 45-year-old mother-of-two, wearing a designer biker jacket.
They want to bring them food and I want to help and support them.
- 'Historical enemy' -
Her parents fled Stoyanka after a shell exploded in their garden, throwing her mother to the ground and leaving a large crater.
Their cats probably were killed but we hope most of them stayed alive.
The road ahead for the volunteers is dangerous.
A pile of twisted metal that used to be a petrol station sits on the other side of the debris-strewn crossroads on the main western highway out of Kyiv.
A van driven by military volunteers stops to check on a team of AFP journalists, warns them that Russian snipers are targeting the junction, then careers across at high-speed.
But Ostapets, a history buff who says Russia is a historical enemy going back to a bloody conquest of Kyiv in the 12th century, insists it is a violent rearguard action by Moscow's 21st-century forces.
The Russians ran out of ammunition and have been broken up into small groups. Small arms and snipers in this situation won't help them, adds Ostapets.
They killed every living creature, cats, dogs. They ran out of provision, so they broke in everywhere and stole everything.
With a broad smile he waves a fist in the air and shouts Glory to Ukraine!