News18 in Ukraine | On a deserted street in Kherson stands this memorial; here’s why

Maksym Evgenovich Bervinov is a priest-soldier. Given the military need for solace and support through this war, that is in itself not a very unusual position. A few thousand priests from the Ukraine Orthodox Church work on the frontline to support Ukraine’s soldiers, and have done so through a year of the war now. But Bervinov doubles as both soldier and priest.

And now on a deserted street in Kherson — and which street of Kherson is not deserted — he is leading the building of a simple memorial to fallen soldiers. As simple as a concrete base on the roadside with a wooden cross on it. The construction is simple, but its communication is powerful.

It speaks of memory, yes. These were soldiers who died for Ukraine, but the memory comes underlined with a determination that their sacrifice would not have been in vain. The memorial stands to strengthen and signal determination for the bigger fight ahead.

Duty

“We are building a memorial for our soldiers who fought to the last, to stop the Russians who invaded Kherson a year ago,” Bervinov tells CNN-News18. “It is our duty to remember them, and we remember them because we want to, and because we need to. This memorial is being built by the military together with some local people. We all want to thank the fallen soldiers for all they did to defend Ukraine.”

Memories of that Russian invasion a year ago are still raw. “The Russians advanced into Kherson here from villages on three sides,” says Bervinov. “They came in tanks that began to fire rockets at our soldiers. Our soldiers were outnumbered and outgunned. They had only simple guns and Molotov cocktails to defend themselves and their country. And still, they fought the Russians. They fought to their very end.”

The desperate fight of the soldiers here was taken up by other Ukrainian soldiers late last year. They surrounded Kherson city from three sides, forcing the Russians into positions with their backs to the river, and supply lines cut off. In November, the Russians retreated to the left bank of the Dnipro river.

Counteroffensive

This memorial will stand now as a reminder to Ukrainian soldiers of their determination for a counteroffensive. Many believe that will come in Ukraine’s south. That would make Kherson the launchpad for a new military push.

Crossing the river to dislodge the Russians from the left bank will not be easy, though. Nor would a counteroffensive in the eastern Donbas region be easy.

Nobody in Ukraine believes either would be easy. But determination is building up to go after the Russians more aggressively now, and not just take defensive positions. Ukrainian advances so far have shown up the weakness of the Russian military, at a time when the Ukrainians themselves are increasingly better armed than the Russians.

The simple roadside memorial does carry that message too. It reminds Ukrainian troops that this time they have the better weapons, the more penetrating missiles. And that the time now is to take their revenge for those fallen soldiers.

One last question hangs above the memorial, though, and our visit to it. What is a priest doing with a gun? Bervinov’s answer is simple: “This is Ukraine.”

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