Question of the day: who will repair the 20 houses of the village of Yelizavetovka affected by the Wagner PMCs?

Natalia Seibil, Yelena Petrova

The legend about the «peaceful» Wagnerians and the grateful population turned out to be what it is — a lie.

The village of Yelizavetovka is located on the highway «Don» between Millerovo and Voronezh. Residents heard a shootout on Saturday, but they didn't know who was shooting at whom.

Anya, a resident of the village, told «NI»:

— There was a shootout, what was fired from, I do not know. I only heard sounds. I'm not a man, I don't understand what was fired from. Shards broke where the glass, where the roof, greenhouse or door.

Contrary to media reports, the Wagnerians were 170 km away from Voronezh already at 4 am on Saturday, says Anya:

— It started around five in the morning, and after about forty minutes it was already quiet. Then the column of Wagnerians passed in an hour and a half.

Locals say that the rebels passed quietly. Everyone was sitting in cars, the road was not blocked, people could go in the opposite direction.

— KAMAZ trucks were carrying equipment, buses, pickups were driving. There was a lot of equipment, » the woman recalls.

The villagers didn't even realize what had happened at first. There have never been any military in their village, and even more so no one has shot here.

— Were you scared?

— No. Somehow it was calm. Then it began to get there. They could have hit and killed. It was a narrow escape. Maybe the ones where the fragments hit were scared.

Yelizavetovka is a rather big village, 1600 people live here. In total, 20 houses out of 700 were damaged in the village. And this is an inconclusive result. Now the residents themselves, as they can, close the holes from the shrapnel in the roofs and board up the broken windows. First, 19 house owners applied to the village administration. After the weekend, those who left for a visit or on business returned. Several more owners are demanding compensation.

The head of the administration, Maxim Yantsov, writes in a Telegram that not only houses were damaged, but also buildings on the plots and cars. There will be more than 20 victims, now the authorities are collecting information.

It is not yet known how people will be compensated for the damage — either they will hire a contractor, or they will give them money. The regional budget will pay for the Wagnerians' «art».

The authorities swear that they will help all the victims. The main question for people is when it will be. While it's summer, you can live in houses. And if everything drags on, how will they live in autumn or winter?

There is not even an estimate yet.

Residents of Yelizavetovka are still «lucky». In the village of Anna, 160 km to the north, the fighting was serious. The bridge was blown up. It is unclear about the victims — whether they were, or not. There is no bridge now, and you need to go 100 km more to the nearest Borisoglebsk.