Mykolaiv, a strategic city close to the southern port of Odesa, has been under intense fire by Russian forces. Some 160 Ukrainian soldiers have been admitted to a local hospital, but most of those wounded and killed are civilians.
"When the missile hit us, the building started to collapse from the third floor, I was on the second and I found myself on the first, stuck under concrete and my leg broke. But it's okay, it's okay, I'll get over it!" says one Ukrainian soldier, speaking from his hospital bed in Mykolaiv, a key city just 100 kilometres from Odesa.
Some of the Ukrainian soldiers at the hospital had a miraculous escape when a Russian cruise missile fell on their base, at the edge of the city. But many of their brothers in arms were not so lucky.
Since the start of the offensive, 160 soldiers have been admitted to the local hospital, but most of the casualties have been civilians. Russian forces have been targeting civilian areas as they hope to capture the strategic town, which connects Kyiv to Odesa.
"There were a lot of tanks and helicopters. And Russian soldiers want to eat so they go into houses to find food," said a wounded elderly woman from a nearby village, where the Russians have gained a foothold. "I hope planes will bomb these soldiers for what they have done," she said.
Click on the video player above to watch the full report by FRANCE 24's Gwendoline Debono, adapted into English by Alexander Aucott.
