Tough article about the battle for Krynky by @StankoNastya . Ukrainian marine and TDF brigades who fought there sustained 262 KIA whose bodies were recovered and another 788 are MIA.

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1. “I have seen hell, and its name is ‘Krynky’,” say the fighters who held the village on the left bank. And they went missing there.
   By Nastya Stanko
   9-11 minutes

   The operation to take positions and expand the bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro by Ukrainian forces lasted from mid-October 2023 to July 2024. Mainly, the battles were fought for the village of Krynky—the only village on the left bank of the Kherson region where defense forces managed to gain a foothold. The village was held by marine brigades and separate units of the Territorial Defense brigades.

   On July 17, the spokesperson of the Tavria Joint Forces Operation, Dmytro Lykhoviy, commented to “Slidstvo.Info” that “the Defense Forces continue conducting a defensive operation on the left bank of the Dnipro in the Kherson region, including in the Krynky area.”

   On July 2, 2024, pro-Russian Telegram channels released a video showing Russian soldiers dropping anti-tank mines on the positions of the defense forces. “Slidstvo.Info” geolocated this video as indeed filmed in the south of the village of Krynky.

   According to “Slidstvo.Info,” Ukrainian soldiers are currently fighting for the islands between the right and left banks near the village of Krynky.

   During the defense of this settlement, hundreds of Ukrainian families received notifications that their sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers had gone missing there.

   Journalists from “Slidstvo.Info” learned how many Ukrainian soldiers are currently missing in Krynky. We tell the stories of a few of them in this material.

   “WE TRIED TO BRING ALL THE DEAD TO THE SHORE, BUT WHEN THE BOAT ARRIVES, THEY START SHELLING”
   Vasyl, a 24-year-old contract marine from the 505th Battalion of the 37th Brigade with the call sign “Lucky,” spent 72 days in Krynky—from December 2, 2023, to February 14, 2024.

   Vasyl with the call sign “Lucky” / Photo: Taras Fedorenko

   He celebrated both his birthday and New Year there. He stayed so long because whenever a boat finally came for him, it was always loaded with the wounded, and Vasyl would wait for the next one.

   “In the Donetsk direction, it was such that the evacuation vehicle (evac, evacuation vehicle, – ed.) would arrive within an hour. But here we enter Krynky, you can say immediately into a ring. Russians on the right, Russians on the left, in front, and behind—water. There’s nowhere to retreat; in winter, it was impossible to do so. This winter was a very difficult moment for the entry,” the marine recalls.

   Vasyl says they had an experienced medic with them who stabilized all the severely wounded fighters.

   “When we had a wounded, we immediately reported it so that a boat would take them at night. Many boats didn’t make it; there were cases where the guys lay with severed limbs for 10 days, and the boats couldn’t reach us. We had a very experienced medic who tried to stabilize everyone. Only two didn’t survive. Once we waited for the evac, they (Russians, – ed.) gassed us, we all ran out, but the medic didn’t make it out in time; he got poisoned by the gas and died.”

   Vasyl speaks of a legendary doctor who saved the wounded in Krynky. His name was Ihor Sheremeta with the call sign “Praying Mantis,” a medic from the 2nd Battalion of the 37th Marine Brigade. His body could not be retrieved from the left bank.

   “We tried to bring all the dead to the shore for them to be taken, but when the boat arrives, they start shelling. Many dead there. Dozens,” describes the reality of defending this village on the left bank, the marine.

   Photo of a soldier missing in Krynky on the door of a rural store on the right bank of the Kherson region near the Dnipro / Photo taken by Anastasia Stanko, 14.07.2024
   “MOM, I WON’T SAY ANYTHING, BUT MAYBE I WON’T RETURN”
   In various Viber chats, you can find thousands of messages from hundreds of people looking for their relatives in Krynky. Mothers write under every video about this village, saying they are looking for their sons and maybe someone has heard or knows something, or can recognize this guy.

   One of those being asked about, if anyone has any information, is Oleh Kushelyuk with the call sign “Saint.” He is 24 years old, from Volyn, and got married a year ago. His mother, Svitlana, is trying to find out anything about her son.

   Oleh Kushelyuk with the call sign “Saint”

   “He was an electrician—machine operator in a unit in Volyn. They were sent to the South for six months to the 35th Brigade, 88th Battalion. At first, Oleh was in a unit in the Mykolaiv region. Then he calls me and says, ‘Mom, I’m being sent to the ‘wild duck’ (to the zero line), Mom, I don’t want to say anything, but maybe I won’t return.’ He called me on April 2 this year. And since then, there’s been no contact with him. On May 19, I received a notification that my child was missing, then a report saying he was missing. I called the commanders; they said he died but couldn’t retrieve his body. Two other guys who went there with him are also out of contact,” says Svitlana.

   “EVACUATION IS CURRENTLY IMPOSSIBLE”
   “I am searching, some say they saw his body, others say there was a shelling; we can’t find out what happened there,” says Anastasia about her younger brother Oleh Kostov.

   Oleh Kostov

   Oleh is 33 years old, from Mykolaiv. On March 5, 2022, he volunteered to fight in the 18th Battalion of the 35th Marine Brigade. He was a rifleman-sniper.

   “On April 16, he called and said he had a combat mission on the left bank of the Dnipro, and that he would call back in three days, but he didn’t. I called the brigade’s hotline, they said they would call back, and on April 26, they said he was officially missing in Krynky. I wish I knew under what circumstances,” says Anastasia.

   Fellow soldiers said they saw Oleh lying there, but then his body was gone. The bodies of two other guys who were with him were evacuated and buried, but not Oleh.

   “I asked his commanders, begged them, and they answered: ‘Evacuation is currently impossible.’ His mother cannot come to terms with this, she is having a hard time. At least bring the body back, bury him, so there is a grave to visit, he couldn’t just disappear,” adds Anastasia.

   “ACCEPT IT, LIGHT A CANDLE, HE DIED”
   “His commanders tell me: accept it, light a candle, he died, but what am I, some kind of bitch, not a mother, to light a candle when I don’t know if my child is alive,” says Ms. Lyubov, mother of Yevhen Smulsky with the call sign “Smurf,” through tears.

   Yevhen is 23 years old, he had a job in Poland, but on February 28, 2022, with the start of the full-scale war, he returned to defend the country. He volunteered for the 88th Battalion of the 35th Marine Brigade. He fought in Marinka, where he suffered a severe concussion, recovered, and returned to the front line.

   Yevhen Smulsky with the call sign “Smurf”

   In the battalion, he served as a combat medic; before the war, he worked in an ambulance. He is small in stature, so they called him “Smurf.” The last time he called us was on April 9, he said, ‘Mom, we are being sent to the left bank, I can’t take my phone, I’ll call you when I get back.’ For two and a half months, his comrades passed on greetings from him, his commander called once a week and said he was fine because his phone was off. We called, searched for phone numbers, and everyone said he was alive. And on June 17, an official letter came that he was missing. At least let us retrieve the bodies… these Krynky are a trap,” says Ms. Lyubov.

   HOW MANY UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS WENT MISSING IN KRYNKY
   Denys with the call sign “Raccoon,” commander of the airborne assault company of one of the battalions of the 35th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which fought and continues to conduct operations on the Dnipro, says that defending and expanding the bridgehead in Krynky was a necessary task; otherwise, the Russians would have tried to land on the right bank themselves.

   He assures that there are no soldiers in his company who couldn’t be evacuated from the left bank, whether wounded or killed.

   “And we hit the Russians hard there,” says the officer.

   According to the western observer with the call sign Naalsio, who has been recording confirmed cases of destroyed equipment since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrainian equipment losses in Krynky from the beginning of this campaign in October 2023 to June 14, 2024, amounted to 58 units, while Russian losses were 271 units. Artillery and, above all, drones played a significant role in these engagements. But the marines showed the greatest heroism and resilience

   in holding this patch of land on the left bank of the Dnipro. But they also paid a high price.

   Marines repeatedly told “Slidstvo.Info” that the Russians don’t take prisoners in Krynky. However, in the lists for exchange and in reports of captivity, there are still names of those who went missing in this village.

   Currently, the war with the Russians is being fought on the islands near Krynky.

   “Slidstvo.Info” spoke with a dozen sailors, boatmen, and medics from various marine brigades who were either in Krynky or delivered people there.

   Most of them say that defending Krynky was a very difficult task from the beginning with limited resources.

   “It was especially hard to enter there in October for the winter,” says one of the officers who participated in this operation.

2. Get them home. They have done enough.

3. Tragic loss of young brave man.Who was in charge ,who is responsible ?

4. It was basically a mini Gallipoli (for those who know the reference). Bridgehead established, but unable to break out, and under constant attack. Not enough numbers to resupply, no ability to land tanks or armour that could assist, and no air superiority.