An exhibition was opened near Odesa City Hall «Alley of Unbreakable Cities», Mykolaiv has been forgotten

Exhibition «Alley of Unbreakable Cities» in Odesa. Photo: NikVesti

The exhibition «Alley of Unbreakable Cities» has been opened on Birzhova Square (formerly Dumska) in Odesa. The symbolic exhibition honours the memory of war victims and pays tribute to Ukrainian cities that survived.

This was reported by the Odesa City Council.

The exhibition is travelling to different cities of Ukraine. It was created by the NGO «Dobrobat — Volunteer Construction Battalion» with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine and NJSC «Naftogaz of Ukraine». The exhibition was created by sculptor Jan-Pawel Roman.

At the centre of the installation are 15 columns representing the indomitable Ukrainian cities. On each pedestal are fragments of missiles and shells found during the restoration of infrastructure. Next to them are plaques with notches symbolising the number of Russian strikes on each city.

Exhibition «Alley of Unbroken Cities» in Odesa. Photo: NikVesti

Exhibition «Alley of Unbroken Cities» in Odesa. Photo: NikVesti

Exhibition «Alley of Unbroken Cities» in Odesa. Photo: NikVesti

«If you lean down and look into the mirror plate, you can see a reflection of your face with symbolic rocket scars. These scars are in the heart of every Ukrainian», the message reads.

However, in this series of symbols of invincibility, there was no place for Mykolaiv and Voznesensk, cities that played a key defensive role in southern Ukraine. This was pointed out by a correspondent for NikVesti who visited the exhibition.

The cities included in the exhibition include Odesa, Kherson, Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, Kurakhove, Vovchansk, Sumy, Myrhorod, Orikhove, Izium, and Kryvyi Rih.

Exhibition «Alley of Unbreakable Cities» in Odesa. Photo: NikVesti

Exhibition «Alley of Unbroken Cities» in Odesa. Photo: NikVesti

It should be noted that the exhibition was also presented by the curator of the Mykolaiv branch of «Dobrobat», Yurii Osipov. He said that some cities had cluster munitions on their stands, but he never mentioned Mykolaiv.

—There are several shells that cause very significant destruction — these are cluster shells. That's why we decided to show all this so that people in Odesa could understand that the war is ongoing, that the war is going on, so we need volunteers,» said Yurii Osipov.

As a reminder, Ukrainian theatre and film actor Oleh Filimonov thanked Mykolaiv for its defence on behalf of the whole of Odesa.

«We are doing well thanks to your strength... So, if there was no Mykolaiv in the world, we don't know what would happen to Odesa», the actor sang in the song «Gold of Mykolaiv».

Earlier it was reported that the soldiers of the 406th Artillery Brigade played a key role in the defence of Mykolaiv in the spring of 2022, while the soldiers of the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade were responsible for the defence of the Kulbakyne airfield. Their work prevented the enemy from occupying the city.

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Defence of Mykolaiv

The first explosions in Mykolaiv occurred around 5am on 24 February. On the same day, Russian troops attempted to bypass Kherson from the east and continue their attack on Mykolaiv.

The occupiers tried to surround Mykolaiv. When attempting to enter Mykolaiv on 4 March 2023, Russian troops tried to divert the attention of the city's defence forces, Major General Dmytro Marchenko of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told NikVesti. To do so, several units of enemy vehicles entered the territory of Kulbakyne airport, but were repelled by a police group. After the unsuccessful manoeuvre in Kulbakyne, the Russians' attempt to enter Mykolaiv failed.

Since the beginning of the Great War, Major General Dmytro Marchenko, who was in charge of the defence of Mykolaiv, had been ordered to blow up the Varvarivskyi Bridge eight times. However, he managed to persuade the highest command not to blow up the bridge, because then the city could have been completely surrounded — at that time, Mykolaiv was blocked in three out of four directions.

Roman Kostenko, Secretary of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, Colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine, believes that the defence of Mykolaiv is one of the most tragic victories of this war. It helped to protect not only Odesa but also Moldova from the invasion of the occupiers.

Defence of Voznesensk

On 2-3 March, in Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defence fought off Russian invaders who had entered the city. About 700 buildings were damaged in Voznesensk as a result of the hostilities, including 56 high-rise buildings.

Earlier, NikVesti described the battle for Voznesensk in a documentary project.

The journalists visited the site of the battle with the occupiers and learned about the details of the battle from the mayor of Voznesensk, Yevhen Velychko, and a member of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, Vladyslav Neveselyi.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces believe that the fall of Voznesensk in March 2022 would have jeopardised the entire south of Ukraine, opening the way for the Russians to enter Transnistria. After all, the occupiers' goal was to secure access to the right bank of the Southern Bug, gain operational space and then either close the encirclement of Mykolaiv or close the encirclement of the entire south with access to Transnistria, Kyrylo Nehymchuk, a participant in the battle for Voznesensk, told reporters.