Society
Island of war
How Russia’s bombing of a bridge in Kherson forced residents to evacuate the city’s island district and what it means for the front line
Olga VasilyevaAugust 29, 2025
Olga Vasilyeva
exclusively for Novaya Gazeta Europe
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Society
Ebb and flow
Two years after Ukraine’s Kakhovka hydroelectric power dam collapsed, local residents are still grappling with the aftermath
Olga VasilyevaJune 11, 2025
Society
After the flood
One year on from the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, residents of Russian-occupied Kherson describe their new reality
Olga VasilyevaJune 14, 2024
Society
The long crossing
Two elderly Ukrainian women travel thousands of miles to make it to the other side of the Dnipro River
Olga VasilyevaJune 3, 2024
Society
Surviving the flood
How war overtook and irreversibly changed the lives of one family in the Ukrainian town of Oleshky
Olga VasilyevaMarch 29, 2024
Society
The election that wasn’t
Officially, Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region voted overwhelmingly for Putin. What really happened?
Olga VasilyevaMarch 20, 2024
Society
Timelessness
Reflections from Kherson in the second year of war
Olga VasilyevaDecember 26, 2023
Society
The waiting game
A year after Ukraine partially retook control of the Kherson region, residents on both sides of the Dnipro tell their stories
Olga VasilyevaNovember 13, 2023
Society
Sitting on a powder keg
How the recently announced mandatory evacuation of children from frontline areas of Ukraine will work — especially for those whose parents don’t want to leave
Olga VasilyevaNovember 1, 2023
Society
Occupational therapy
Locals from both Russian-occupied and liberated areas of Ukraine’s Kherson region tell us their stories of daily survival in the shadow of the frontline
Olga VasilyevaOctober 18, 2023
Society
The Great Escape
A Ukrainian prisoner abducted by the Russian military during its retreat from Kherson last year describes the brutal 10-month ordeal he and 250 of his fellow inmates shared
Olga VasilyevaOctober 12, 2023
Society
‘We heard neighbouring houses collapsing at night’
How residents of Ukraine’s Kherson region live on both banks of the Dnipro after the Kakhovka dam collapse
Olga VasilyevaJuly 13, 2023
Society
‘The occupiers will leave and we’ll rebuild again’
Locals recount what the flooding after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse took away from them
Olga VasilyevaJune 17, 2023
Society
Stolen crooks: the story of a Ukrainian thief deported to Russia
The convict was locked up in Kherson when the invasion began and then had to finish his sentence in Russia
Olga VasilyevaJune 10, 2023
Society
Kherson region floods: ‘The buildings collapsed like houses of cards’
Local voices from the Kherson region, flooded after the collapse of Kakhovka HPP dam
Olga VasilyevaJune 8, 2023
Society
‘That war ended, and this one will too’
Diaries from Kherson. People living on both banks — the occupied and the liberated — of the Dnipro River describe their daily reality
Olga VasilyevaMarch 13, 2023
Society
‘I hide behind the shed and howl silently’
The life of local residents on both sides – the occupied and the liberated – of the Dnipro, as told by them
Olga VasilyevaFebruary 12, 2023
Society
Museum takeaway
The story of Kherson museum employees who were desperately trying to save the collection from being plundered by Russian troops
Olga VasilyevaJanuary 15, 2023
Society
‘Russians are the ones killing us’
Diaries from Kherson. Local residents — living on both the occupied and the liberated banks of the Dnipro River — describe their daily life
Olga VasilyevaNovember 27, 2022
Society
‘We pray that Russian soldiers go back to where they came from’
The Kherson diary. Residents of Dnipro River’s east bank, still occupied by Russia, are waiting for arrival of Ukraine’s army
Olga VasilyevaNovember 16, 2022