Defense secrets of Zelenskyy's hometown Kryvyi Rih revealed

"We started dealing with the city's defense from the first minutes of the war. An instruction was immediately given to block the runway of Kryvyi Rih international airport. Heavy construction equipment, for example, asphalt paving machines, wheels, were arranged there," the head of the military administration of the city of Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Oleksandr Vilkul, told Report.

According to him, this decision played a decisive role:

"Because on the second day of the war, the Russian side tried to land Il-76 there, accompanied by 3 Su planes. But since the runway was closed and the radars were turned off, they could not do it: they descended to a height of 200 meters, visually saw the situation, and then Il-76 flew away, and Su flew back and forth for half an hour and then left."

Vilkul regretfully noted that at the beginning of the war, there were almost no troops: "Our 17th Kryvyi Rih tank brigade was in Donbas with an almost full staff. We had only one territorial defense battalion in formation, that is, 600 guardsmen and two mortars. Therefore, the main issues before us were, firstly, not to allow the invaders to enter the city too easily, and secondly, to slow down their movement in the direction of Kryvyi Rih as much as possible."

According to him, on the third day of the war, a large convoy left Kherson:

"Passing Mykolaiv, the convoy came towards Kryvyi Rih from the side of Bashtanka. Since we had an intelligence service in Bashtanka, we could transmit the coordinates to our aviation. The location of 150 cars was determined. Unfortunately, 150 vehicles from the convoy could continue on the road and reach the city. At the beginning of the war, we "kicked out" BelAZ heavy trucks from the city entrances. We fired at the wheels of 6 BelAZ in the direction of Mykolaiv and ensured that it became utterly immobile. Fortunately, at the beginning of the war, God helped us, the Russians could only drive on asphalt roads due to weather conditions, and they got stuck on country roads. The remnants of the convoy stuck ahead because of obstacles with BelAZ. They stayed on the banks of Novyi Buh, which is 35 km from Kryvyi Rih. Our helicopters made several more strikes there. Realizing that they were "stuck" and could not enter the city, the rest of the convoy turned around and went in the direction of Voznesensk and New Odessa."

The head of the city's military administration said that the invaders gradually invaded the Kherson region and approached Kryvyi Rih again:

"We have a large industrial city, many mines, and quarries. We used industrial explosives and blew up the bridges and tunnels north of Kherson, and the Russians could not move quickly. During this time, we also dug the ground and prepared fortifications and anti-tank ditches. Battles took place close to the city, almost a few hundred meters away. But now, as a result of the heroism and valor of our soldiers, the front line has been moved 50 km away from Kryvyi Rih. The city remains on the frontline. Skirmishes are taking place along the entire contact line. The Russians use various volley systems such as Grad, Smerch, Uragan, artillery, mortars, tanks, and even cruise missiles. For example, just the other day, they fired a rocket at Kryvyi Rih. But the Armed Forces of Ukraine control the situation. There have been several offensive operations in the southern direction, with certain positive points. However, it is too early to provide information about this, the General Staff of Ukraine will provide the exact information as soon as it deems it necessary."