WEBVTT

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Die Übersetzung von Jans Stimme vom Deutschen ins Englische wurde mit einer KI erstellt.

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Imagine you take public transit and at the start of your journey you don't even

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know if you will reach your destination because a drone might strike the bus or the trams.

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How does a city live when bus drivers have to learn how to outrun drones?

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When children are actually supposed to be evacuated yet thousands stay anyway?

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And when for many people the day doesn't end in their own bedroom but in the basement?

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A few days ago I was in Kursen in the south of Ukraine. Ich habe mich mit Menschen,

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die genau wie das Leben leben. Ein von ihnen ist Maxim.

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Er hat die Buss-Bus in der Stadt seit 17 Jahren gearbeitet. Und jetzt ist er,

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dass er nicht mehr die Zeit über die Zeit über die Passagierungen ist,

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sondern eher wie ein Drone-Attack zu überleben. Ja.

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Drone-Attacks haben sich sehr viel erhöht. Es gibt auch immer noch die Artilie-Shellung.

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Aber Artilie-Shellung ist Artilie-Shellung.

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Wir haben gewohnt es, zu einem bestimmten Fall. However, when drones attack, it's something else.

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We are equipped with electronic tracking devices, so it can be frightening when

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a signal appears on the screen and you realize a drone is circling nearby.

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We also wear additional protection, a helmet. And in moments like that,

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you have to act quickly and try to get people to the nearest shelter as fast as possible.

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How does a city and the residents endure something like this?

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That is what this episode is about.

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In Crisis Mode The Podcast from Conflict Zones with Jan Jessen.

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Hello, I am Jan Jessen, Head of Politics at the NRZ and a War and Crisis Reporter

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for the Funke Mediengrupper.

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You can find my articles in the NRZ, the WAZ, the Berliner Morgenpost,

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the Hamburger Abendblatt, and on our online portals.

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A few days ago, I was traveling in Kherson, a city in the south of Ukraine.

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It is a city we have reported on many times here in this podcast.

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We will put a few of those episodes in the show notes for you.

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Kurson is unique because it was occupied by the Russians in 2022,

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was liberated in November 2022, and now faces the problem that it sits on the

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banks of the Dnipro River, which flows through Ukraine.

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The Russians are positioned on the opposite side of the river,

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and they have been shelling the city every single day since its liberation.

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They use artillery, mortars, and now, in recent months and years,

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primarily drones that they unleash into the city, small FPV drones,

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those small kamikaze drones that we have also discussed multiple times on this podcast.

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This results in injuries almost every day and very often, unfortunately,

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deaths, which naturally makes life in the city highly problematic.

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Despite everything, 60,000 people still live in Kursen.

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Previously, the city had a population of around 250,000. Now it is 60,000.

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Viele von ihnen, aber auch die Flüchtlinge aus den verletzten Süden des Landes,

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Und ja, für diese Menschen, die Leben von constantem Gefahr ist.

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Wenn man durch die Stadt oder in Kürzen geht, kann man klar sehen,

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wie gefährlich die Situation ist.

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Als man in die Stadt geht, kann man durch nette Tunnels, die jetzt über die

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ganze Stadt über den ganzen Stadt. Das sind, wie ich gesagt,

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ein Tunnel mit Nets auf den Seiten und auf dem Topf.

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So dass wenn Drones fliegen, sie nicht auf die Fahrzeuge unterhalten.

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Du auch sehen Soldaten überall auf der Stadt mit Räufchen, mit Assault Räufchen,

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scanning the sky to see if drones are approaching

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and then of course when the drones arrive they try to shoot them down

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and these drones, when they do attack if the Russian drone pilots manage to

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get into the city they attack absolutely everything they don't just attack military

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targets though perhaps they do in some places but primarily civilians

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people out for a walk, people carrying their groceries children playing or even

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private vehicles buses, ambulances and other emergency vehicles

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like those belonging to the fire department Das macht Dinge unglaublich schwierig.

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Als wir in die Stadt in den letzten Februar für den ersten Mal mussten wir unsere

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Vests, die mit unseren Press-Badgen, damit wir nicht die Tarkance für russische

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Drone-Pilots die aktuellen Journalisten aktiv sind.

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During our last visit a few days ago, we also visited a bus depot in Kersen.

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It smelled of oil and welding smoke. We saw mechanics working on damaged vehicles.

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And we spoke with Vadim Melnik, the director of the Kersen Transit Authority.

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He told us how precarious the situation is and gave us a short tour.

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He showed us an ambulance that was completely destroyed, inside of which a patient

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had died. That's what he told us.

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A drone had crashed right through the roof. You see a lot of these vehicles,

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it's not just transit buses standing there, but other vehicles as well,

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and many of them were damaged.

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The windshields were shattered and so on. You could see that these vehicles go through a lot.

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And then we met Maxim. He was standing in front of an old man bus,

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wearing only a shrapnel vest.

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In the driver's cabin of the bus, there was a helmet, and next to it, a box with loose change.

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Hello, my name is Maxim, and I am a bus driver for public transit in Kursen.

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I have been doing this job for over 17 years, but in the last five years the

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situation significantly got worse due to Russian military aggression.

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Nevertheless, we keep going and continue our work.

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This, nevertheless, is something you hear often in Kherson.

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It doesn't sound melodramatic here, it sounds like a pragmatic choice made under duress.

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Vadim, the head of the Transit Authority, told me that buses are frequently

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targeted and that the bus drivers suffer from it.

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By now, eight drivers have been injured in attacks and two of them died.

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So, of course, I asked Maxim why he doesn't just quit and why he keeps doing

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this life-threatening job. He told me,

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Because our parents and children still live here, they need our support.

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Leaving is not that easy. Yes, it is dangerous here, but unfortunately,

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in other regions, there is often no opportunity to start a new life.

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That is why we continue to live and work here, Wir unterstützen uns und zusammenarbeiten.

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Und das ist ein wichtiges Punkt. Wenn du um Kurson umsetzt und du da bist,

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du natürlich fragst, warum die Menschen immer noch zu kaufen?

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Warum versuchen sie eine normale Leben zu halten? Warum nicht die einfach diese

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Stadt, die in der Ukraine ist einer der gefährlichen Gebäude?

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Die Realität ist, für einen, dass ihre Familien dort leben, sie brauchen Arbeit

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und sie nicht mehr Geld außerhalb von Kurson.

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Viele haben ihre eigenen Häusern oder Apartements, und wenn sie zu verlassen

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Kursen und gehen zu Kiew oder einen anderen anderen Ukrainian-Ukrainien,

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sie würden sie verlieren, auf der einen Seite und auf der anderen Seite würden,

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sie würden viel mehr für dailye expenses als sie in Kursen haben.

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Most Menschen einfach nicht afforden das.

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Die Busse in Kursen sind also viel mehr als nur standard public transit.

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Sie sind ein lifeline von Infrastruktur.

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Wir haben den Bus mit Maxim, er sat in der driver's seat, mit seinem Helmett

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beside ihm, als ich erwähnt.

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He was wearing a protective vest, admittedly an unusual sight,

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a bus driver in a shrapnel vest with a helmet next to him.

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On the very morning we arrived in Kurson, a young man had died when a bus was

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attacked by a Russian drone pilot.

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Because of that, I naturally expected the bus to be completely empty with maybe

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one or two people inside.

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But no, from stop to stop, the bus filled up until it was absolutely packed.

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A bus ride in Kurson costs 10 hrivnia, which is roughly 20 cents,

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so it's entirely affordable.

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But as I said, it was surprising to see the bus so full, despite the mortal danger.

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People were commuting to work. Others were on their way to the hospital.

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I spoke with two elderly ladies who said they had to go to a hospital in the

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so-called Red Zone, the area of the city that repeatedly suffers from very heavy attacks.

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This too is part of the daily reality in Kurson. Hospitals are constantly attacked,

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medical and nursing staff are killed or wounded, and patients lose their lives.

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Wir hatten eine Geschichte, die wir hier auf dem Podcast diskutierten,

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in der Forensik-Departement in Kurson.

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Wir waren in die Morgue und sahen. Es hat die Vizepräsidenten von Russischen

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Angriff, die in verschiedenen Explosionen sterben.

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Shortly after our visit, that very morgue was completely destroyed in another Russian strike.

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These are definitively not legitimate targets of war or military objectives.

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It is pure terror against the civilian population of Kherson.

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During the ride, you could clearly feel the tension. On one hand,

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there were people talking quite animatedly.

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On the other hand, there were people who looked visibly relieved when their journey ended.

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You could tell that, despite the routine they live in, they know they are in

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mortal danger every single day and on every single ride.

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Outside, you could also see people walking around, standing at bus stops or

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shopping, and their eyes would repeatedly scan the sky with a sense of anxiety.

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You could tell they were constantly checking the sky for anything approaching

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so they could get to safety.

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This route also passes through the netting tunnels I mentioned earlier.

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They cannot prevent drones from exploding, but they reduce the impact of the blasts.

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I have seen this a few times now in Ukraine. You can see where a drone has struck the top of the net.

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They have contact fuses, meaning as soon as they hit something, they explode.

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The same happens with the nets. It tears a large hole in the netting above,

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but it mitigates the force of the explosion.

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If a drone hits a vehicle directly, the people inside usually die or are at

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least severely wounded. We have witnessed this a few times ourselves.

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For instance, in October of last year, we were travelling in Kramatorsk and

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learned that two of our colleagues had been killed.

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They wanted to do a story about an attacked bus stop and were targeted themselves

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by a Russian Lancet drone.

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The vehicle was completely destroyed in the strike and both of them lost their lives.

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So these tunnels, these nets, they do help, but it is still a jarring sight

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to see an entire city having to be protected this way because these drones attack constantly.

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Maxim says that the people know exactly what his work means to them.

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Most people do, yes, of course. They support us and we receive a lot of gratitude

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because we help keep the city running.

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We take risks and our passengers take risks too, but people still need transportation to get to work.

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Und wichtig, zu kommen, zu der hospital. Deswegen ist unsere Arbeit sehr wichtig.

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Bus travel in Kärsson ist nicht mehr nur ein dailyes Routine.

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Es ist ein Stück von Infrastruktur, das die Stadt alive hält.

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Anyone, die zu arbeiten, zu den hospitalen oder zu relatives,

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relies auf diese Busse und auf die Fahrer.

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Alongside Maxim, es gibt 59 Menschen, including ein paar Frauen,

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die in diesen Busse und fahren alle Tage.

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Aber wie ich sagte, jede Reise kann sich in eine Hazard sein.

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Oleksandr Prokudin, der Herr der Kärsson-Region, hat nur wie massiv die Gefahr in Kärsson hat.

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Today's greatest threats to Kherson region comes from Russian UAVs.

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We face up to 5,500 drone attacks every week, hunting civilians,

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children, ambulances and rescue teams.

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They target older people on their way to the market, children out for a walk,

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and paramedics responding to emergency calls.

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Now, Russian drone operators do not care who ends up in their sights.

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That is the fundamental difference between artillery shelling and these drone attacks.

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When we first started reporting on the war in Ukraine, we encountered drones

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mostly as reconnaissance drones.

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Back then, you had to keep an eye out, because as soon as a reconnaissance drone

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was spotted, it meant it was directing enemy or Russian artillery.

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Even so, artillery fire is very localized.

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Once a shell is fired, it lands somewhere, but it cannot be adjusted mid-flight.

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With drones, it's completely different.

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Drones fly, the pilot identifies a target below, and can steer the drone precisely

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into that target, regardless of whether you run away from it or not.

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A drone attack is far more targeted than an artillery or mortar strike.

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This is what has drastically altered daily life in Kurson and made it highly dangerous today.

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Maxim mentioned earlier that he has a detector on board. We had one with us this time as well.

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A drone detector is an instrument that looks a bit like a tablet with three antennas.

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It's a plastic device with a screen.

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And the idea is that it scans for and picks up the signals of approaching drones.

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However, this only works for radio-controlled drones. It doesn't work for fiber-optic

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guided drones, which are increasingly appearing on the battlefield and in cities.

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Aber für radio-controlled Drones, dieses device catcht die radio und video-signals

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von der Incoming-Drone.

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Erst du hörst ein Beeping-Sound das acceleriert, die closer die Drone gets.

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Dann, suddenly, die Screen-Despläne ist genau das die Approche-Drone sieht.

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Auf der einen Seite, das Bild auf der Detektor und das Bild an der Drone ist,

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dass ein Drone irgendwo ist, ist wirklich verrückt.

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Auf der anderen Seite, es gibt eine kleine Begriffe auf Sicherheit.

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Wenn du dein eigenes Fahrzeug auf der Screen-Despläne sollte sofort parken und

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rauskommen aus dem Auto Das ist genau das Maxim. Er sagt mir,

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was passiert, wenn der Detektor ist, die Alarm.

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Ja, ein Jahr später, oder eher ein bisschen mehr als ein Jahr,

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an May 20, ein Drone dropped an Explosive device near der Bus.

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Was hat uns was die Alarm von der Detektor. Ich sah, dass der Drone in eine

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Attack Position war, so ich acceleriert es etwas. Die Drone landed near der

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Rear-Wheel, right next zu der Bus.

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Und fortunately, es hat uns nicht direkt.

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Maxim mentioned this pretty casually, but it was a situation that could have ended horribly.

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When a drone like that hits, they carry an explosive payload of up to 9 kg.

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That is substantial and causes massive damage.

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Und ja, wie ich sagte, die Menschen in Kursson sind jeden Tag in Kursson und oft getötet worden.

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Ich erinnere mich kurz nach unserer Besuchung, auf Juli 1, da wurde ein Rapport

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von Kursson dass ein Drone hat in einem Bus wieder crashed. Two Menschen in der Bus died.

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Eine junge Frau war komplett in zwei.

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Die Mutter versucht, die Kind auszuliehen, well, Kind. Sie war über 18 Jahre

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alt und auf der Weg nach der Schule, um zu enroll.

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Sie wurden attackiert und wenn die Mutter versucht, sie auszuliehen,

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sie nur die Oberstürfe in ihren Händen.

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A truly horrific situation And as casually as Maxim tells it

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You just have to ensure you are constantly aware Constantly alert to what is

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happening around you And you must have good reflexes Because in those moments

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Just a few seconds decide whether people live or die Step on the gas,

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look for cover Get the bus to the nearest shelter.

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Of course. First, you should accelerate, look for the largest available tree

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for cover, avoid moving in a straight line, or head to a shelter.

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Since the city has many shelters, a long escape is usually not necessary.

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The goal is to get people to the nearest shelter as quickly as possible.

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We must not forget that Maxim is not a soldier. Maxim is simply a bus driver,

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but a bus driver who has to talk about evasive maneuvers to avoid drones instead

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of timetables, and that is the bitter reality in this city where life somehow

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continues despite everything.

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One truly fascinating place in Kherson is the theatre. The Kherson Theatre is

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a massive building called the Mikola Kulish Theatre.

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It used to be very well known in Ukraine because it regularly hosted international festivals.

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The theatre had a highly renowned director and we met his daughter right there in the building.

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This theatre is also located in the red zone. It has been heavily damaged by

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countless attacks. The walls are covered in shrapnel scars.

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There are no windows left, only plywood panels. We met Oleksandra Kniha,

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who not only works at the theatre, but also volunteers with her family to support children.

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Our theatre building has been through a lot. It was built using the same design,

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as the Mariupol Drama Theatre.

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Currently, no performances take place here anymore. Most of our productions

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are now touring shows, performed in safer locations across the city and the region.

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Last year we had 13 premieres.

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Die meisten haben hier in Kherson gespielt. Wir waren sehr glücklich über das.

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Die meisten von ihnen waren gerade in Kherson. Und wir haben hier auch gegründet.

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Über die Premiere, sie sprechen von »This Theater ist eigentlich großartig.

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Wir sind in die Zeit, und es ist ein wirklich wunderbares Auditorium.

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Es hat sich in die Zeit für 600 Menschen und war immer sehr gut beendet,

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bevor der Russische Invasion.

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Während der occupation, die Russische versucht, den Regierer zu arbeiten für

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sie. Er hat nicht gegründet, und er wurde verletzt und verletzt in September 2022.

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Olexandra's father, who was the director of this theatre for many years,

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fled after being mistreated by the Russians for refusing to cooperate.

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Now they are back and they hold these theatre performances down in the basement.

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We went down there. It is a very small space, like a cabaret room with maybe

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60 or 70 seats. I don't remember exactly.

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They hold regular performances there. For me, this was another symbol of how

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these people refuse to let themselves be broken or defeated.

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And that culture keeps going. I found that deeply impressive because it shows

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how they try to live a normal life in Kursen despite everything.

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We organize educational and cultural events, creative workshops,

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classes and summer camps.

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We take children to the Carpathians and abroad so they can experience a safe

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environment and a peaceful sky and recover from the stress.

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Our goal is to give them unforgettable experiences and allow them to just be children.

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Dass sie die Möglichkeit haben, die Kinder zu leben. To just be children is

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no longer given in Kurson, which is why that sentence is so powerful.

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Alexandra also talks about the situation in the city itself.

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There is constant shelling and drone attacks. And unfortunately,

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the situation is not improving.

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I have already suffered two concussions myself, one from artillery shelling

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and the other during a drone attack. Thank God I am alive and unharmed,

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und ich werde immer wieder leben und arbeiten. Aber, unfortunately,

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die Situation ist, dass Menschen müssen die Stadt wegnehmen.

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Wir wissen und verstehen, das ist warum wir die Kinder zu verraten,

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um die Stadt zu verraten.

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Staying and having to leave are both true at the same time in Kurson.

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Oleksandra stays to help children while simultaneously trying to get those exact

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children out of the city.

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You might remember an episode of our podcast, we will definitely link it in

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the show notes again, where we talked specifically about the children in Kurson.

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There are various places in the city where safe spaces have been built,

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in basements for children to play and meet peers.

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Playing outside is life-threatening. There are videos published by the Russians

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themselves on their Telegram channels showing grenades being dropped from cargo

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or bomber drones onto playing children.

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It is highly dangerous for children to be outside, which is why these safe spaces

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exist in certain areas, allowing them to forget the madness of war for at least a few hours.

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We also visited a basement during our recent trip to Kursun a few days ago.

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It was a basement under a residential building in the Red Zone.

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In the evening, as dusk began to fall, several elderly people emerged from their

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apartments carrying their belongings and made their way down.

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It is a basement where they have spent every single night for a very long time,

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out of fear of Russian shelling and drones, simply to have a comparatively peaceful night.

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I met Lyudmila Rubaniak there.

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Lyudmila is a property manager responsible for six of the apartment blocks in that neighborhood.

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She acted as the manager and head of this basement. She used to work for the

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railway und heute, sie schaut nach diesen Blocken.

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Für drei Jahre, sie hat sie in dieser Basement mit anderen Residenz.

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Mein Name ist Liud Myla.

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Ich bin 64 Jahre alt und wir sind in der Stadt Kursen, in einem Basement Bunker.

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Wir begannen diese Place in September

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2023 weil es uns von shelling und weiterentwickelt uns zu diesem Tag.

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Wenn die Schelling passiert, wir sind nicht Angst hier.

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When we arrived, you have to picture it. Old, large apartment blocks,

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five or six stories high, showing significant signs of age with peeling plaster,

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not a fancy neighborhood by any means.

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In front of the building with the basement shelter, there stood a large concrete

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wall, which I would estimate was about two and a half meters high.

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The wall was designed to mitigate the blast waves if something hit the street.

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A few weeks prior, a mortar shell or some other projectile had reportedly landed right on that street.

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Sie waren nicht ganz sicher, was es war. Wir sind draußen und gesprochen für ein bisschen.

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Ludmila hat sich ein paar Dinge über sich, aber dann hat sie gesagt,

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dass das Bereich ist, dass es sozusagen eine Drone Highway ist,

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als sie gesagt hat, dass wir die Sound von Drone overhead hörten.

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Diese FPV-Drones sound wie laut Mosquitos. Als das Sound war gehört.

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Alle in die Basement nach der Basement nach der Basement kam.

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Es war nicht panisch, aber die elderly residents einfach gesagt,

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jetzt müssen wir gehen, da ist etwas in der I will not be able to get to the basement.

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Inside it smelled heavily of mold. Rusty pipes ran along unplastered walls.

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On the table stood glasses, cups and tin cans filled with cigarette butts illuminated

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by a bare bulb that cast a dim, pale light.

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It was certainly not a comfortable place. There were areas in the basement that

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were completely unfinished.

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There was a toilet in a truly dilapidated state, which I won't describe in detail.

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Und dann waren die Beds mit sehr dampen Blankets und ein Dirty-Carpet auf dem floor.

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Es war nicht ein kohesy environment, aber es war ein Ort, wo man comparativlich

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sicher ist. Liudmila hat gesagt, wie sie aktuell die Situation in Kursson erlebt.

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It is very terrifying. We are being shelled, and they won't leave us in peace.

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Now drones are constantly circling above us, and it feels like being in a movie.

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They have turned it into a veritable safari, hunting for human beings.

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It is truly frightening.

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Anyone traveling through Kurson immediately understands what she means.

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Aside from cities right on the front line, I have rarely experienced a city

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in Ukraine where the shelling is so intense and where something is constantly

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happening you constantly hear the,

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rattle of assault rifles in Kherson when mobile drone defence units become active,

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the danger is omnipresent and what is truly staggering is this feeling of being

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deliberately hunted by Russian drone pilots.

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There is a very cynical term used for this, human safari every time I visit

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I feel highly tense driving into the city because you know what you might encounter

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and death or injury strikes entirely at random.

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As I mentioned, we now tape over our press vests to avoid being targeted,

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but we drive around in civilian vehicles and at any moment a drone pilot might

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decide that our vehicle is a target to attack and destroy.

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When night fell, you could hear the mutual artillery duels truly begin.

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It gets incredibly loud when the so-called outgoings, the Ukrainian artillery

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fire, go out and on the other side, the Russian artillery fire comes in.

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Sie können die Explosionen clearly hören, aber in der Basement ist alles sehr

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muffled. Aber Sie können sich das viel passiert.

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Das ist genau das, was Liudmaila und die anderen gehen in dieser Basement jeden Abend.

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Wir kommen hier jeden Abend. Wir fühlen hier calm. Und sogar während der Schöne

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oder Schöne, wir sind nicht afraid.

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Das ist ein安全es Ort.

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Das ist ein gefährliches Ort. Well, when a musty basement becomes the place

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where people find peace, I think that speaks volumes about the state of a city.

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Yes, when we left the bunker, the buses were running again. Work was going on in the theater.

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Children were playing in the street and riding their bicycles around the neighborhood.

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And in the evening, many people will return to that basement where we also spent the night.

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Perhaps that is the exact answer to the question from the beginning of this podcast.

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How does a city live under drones? By people simply keeping going.

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Bus drivers, theater makers, neighbors, not because they aren't afraid,

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but because someone has to keep daily life running.

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That was today's episode of our podcast In Crisis Mode.

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This podcast was produced by Alexander Baumeister. He is also a journalist and

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works for a radio station of the Funke Mediengruppe.

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please like and follow us. That definitely helps

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make our work more visible.

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And feel free to write to me if you have a suggestion for one of our episodes,

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or if this question from Kirsten stays with you, Was hast du die meisten über die Storien von Kersen?

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Du kannst uns an christenmodus.funkamedian.de Geh' dir vor, bis zum nächsten Mal. Tschüss.