Russians are moving in columns to shell Zaporizhzhia with artillery: how front-line Orikhiv lives. VIDEO
The town of Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia region is located 7–10 km from the combat zone. It is via this area that Russian occupation forces want to move closer to Zaporizhzhia.
This is stated in a report by Ukrainian Witness, according to Censor.NET.
The situation in the city
Currently, around 700 residents remain in Orikhiv, which had nearly 15,000 inhabitants before Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Moving on foot is dangerous because of enemy drones.
Russians are hunting people
Press officer for the 65th Separate Mechanised Brigade Serhii Skibchyk said the occupiers "are very actively chasing civilians on bicycles, pedestrians, civilian cars – in places where there are no anti-drone tunnels."
"The only really effective ‘weapon’ they use is intimidation, terror tactics, intimidation of the civilian population," he noted.
According to him, the Russians are using a scorched-earth tactic: they destroy everything and then move into a dead town or village.
Anti-drone tunnels have been installed along the road to the town which, according to the serviceman, are quite effective.
Skibchyk believes the issue of anti-drone corridors was probably already urgent back in 2024.
Almost everything in the town is in a condition unfit for habitation.
Combat operations
"On 21 November, there was a mechanised assault: the Russians tried to advance in three columns. Two columns were blown up on obstacles set up to stop an advance, only one made it through, with a tank and an APC, and they also often use motorcyclists. They got here and we simply burned them," the serviceman said, describing the situation in the Orikhiv sector.
The Russians have so far failed to gain ground, but almost every month they attempt new mechanised assaults, the press officer notes.
"The Orikhiv sector is, essentially, a straight road to the sea, to Melitopol. And that is why they, of course, want to control it completely," Skibchyk says, explaining how the occupiers are trying to prevent a possible counteroffensive by Ukraine. Moreover, the Russians need to get to a distance from which they can shell Zaporizhzhia with artillery, and it is precisely this stretch that prevents them from doing so.
"They simply want these territories without people," the serviceman summed up.
Chemical weapons
According to the military, the Russians are dropping an unidentified chemical substance, which has already caused fatalities.
Since the start of 2025, there have been 46 such cases per month on the Orikhiv sector alone. The spokesman stresses that at times a chemical agent of unknown origin is used that causes people to die before they can be evacuated: the clothing on the soldiers starts to disintegrate and their breathing is cut off. Often the munition casing cannot be removed from positions for analysis.
Russian Federation offensive
"As of today, the Russians have enough resources here for a large-scale offensive," Skibchyk said.
According to him, the Russians have concentrated many assault units here, and many of their members are foreigners. They are put into mixed-nationality groups so that they do not understand one another and cannot agree, for example, to surrender.
Asked why the Zaporizhzhia sector is so much in the spotlight now, the serviceman explains that the Russians have had certain tactical successes.
"The situation with drones has radically changed the entire nature of the war and of combat operations. The kill zone has increased many times over because of drones. If at the start of 2022 it was about one and a half to two kilometres, today it reaches up to 30," the serviceman added.
