Ukraine — Russians Were Welcomed as Liberators in the Southern City of Henichesk

U.S. Media Decries Brutal Russia Invasion of Ukraine — Russians Were Welcomed as Liberators in the Southern City of Henichesk

An Intrepid Reporter tells a Different Story

By Sonja Van den Ende
A picture containing outdoor, road, sky, street Description automatically generatedRussian troops in Henichesk. [Photo courtesy of Sonja Vandenende]

[This is a report from Sonja Vandenende, a Dutch journalist who was embedded with Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine. Previously, Sonja reported on the ground in Syria for CAM. Her reporting substantiates that of Patrick Lancaster, a Russian-speaking U.S. Navy veteran whose reporting on the war in Donbass for eight years is respected by investigative journalists. CAM’s mission is to bring to your attention alternative narratives gleaned by eyewitness accounts—even if they could be misconstrued as pro-Russian.—Editors]

Last week I was embedded with the Russian army and visited two towns in southeastern Ukraine. The first town was called Henichesk, a port city along the Sea of Azov in Kherson Oblast (province) of southern Ukraine, bordering on Crimea.

The Russian army, patrolling the city, went with us—the embedded journalists—for protection. But actually the protection was not really needed; the people in Henichesk, at least the majority with whom I spoke, were very happy that the Russian army was there.

The people that I spoke to all said the same thing: They felt protected from the criminal gangs, with their Nazi ideology, who raged the towns. They in turn hoped that Ukraine will prosper again.

Henichesk Strait - Wikipedia[Source: wikipedia.org]

Since the coup d’état of 2014, the economy of Ukraine has become very bad, according to many citizens in Henichesk.

I could see that people were standing in line to get money from ATM machines outside the banks, money which was barely there.

At the market, the food was scarce. The Russian army is providing humanitarian aid, which they do in every village and town, liberated from these criminal gangs. This is how many Ukrainians call them.

Sonja Vandenende with Henichesk resident. [Photo courtesy of Sonja Vandenende]

Numerous villagers in Henichesk told me that, as the Russians entered their town, they left everything intact. I heard this stated many times. No damage, no dead, no wounded. Most people, they said, are happy that the Russians were there.

A picture containing person, outdoor, road Description automatically generated[Photo courtesy of Sonja Vandenende]

The town of Henichesk was undamaged after the Russian army came. People were rushing on the streets to do their shopping or just talking and socializing on the street. The population was very diverse. It included ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Tatars. They have churches and mosques.

According to residents, before the 2014 coup d’état,[1] the people lived in harmony. Many Tatars originating from Crimea live in Henichesk. They have been allowed to go back to Crimea since Vladimir Putin became Russia’s president.

A picture containing sky, outdoor, person Description automatically generated[Photo courtesy of Sonja Vandenende]

Propaganda has been spread on the Wikipedia page of Henichesk, stating the following: “On 24 February 2022, Henichesk was captured by the Russian Army in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was where the famous incident occurred where an old woman confronted Russian soldiers and said ‘Put sunflower seeds in your pockets so they grow on Ukraine soil when you die,’ as well as the death of Vitalii Shakun blowing up a bridge to stop their advance.”

Vitali ShakunVitalii Shakun [Source: indiatimes.com]

Indeed, Shakun tried to blow up the bridge connecting Crimea with southern Ukraine. But they neglect to tell that he was not from southern Ukraine, but from Lviv, in the western part of Ukraine. He was also a combat engineer with the Ukrainian Army. The damage his explosives caused to the bridge was actually minor and the bridge is still passable. It is a pity generally that boys (Shakun was born in 1996) should die for a false ideology, by blowing up a bridge without success.

[Source: indiatimes.com]

Fact Versus Fiction

Western propaganda claims that the Russian army is besieging towns and that the population is starving. From my observation, the latter was not true in Henichesk or in the next town called Melitopol, which I also visited (to be discussed in a future article).[2]

The Western countries are pouring in weapons, most of them old Soviet weapons into Ukraine to shoot at the “evil Russians,” and imposing sanctions. Nothing positive is being done to help the long suffering people of Ukraine.

[Photo courtesy Sonja Vandenvende]

Waiting for humanitarian aid being distributed by the Russian army. [Photo courtesy of Sonja Vandenende]

The Zelensky regime is presented as a moral beacon in the West, but has banned opposition parties and spurned a negotiated settlement to the war that could end his people’s suffering. Before the war, Zelensky had failed to stimulate much economic development or curtail corruption, which he himself appears to be implicated in, according to revelations in the Pandora Papers.

In the past years, many Ukrainians have gone to Russia. Crimea is nearby and there they get shelter and help. Russia has no refugee camps, but provides them with shelter, food and medical care.

Zelensky Announces Ban on 11 Political PartiesHeralded as a democratic hero in the U.S., Zelensky here is announcing a ban on opposition parties. [Source: ntd.com]

Ukraine is left by itself to bleed.

Western countries have no interest in its economy or people, because Ukrainian people have many similarities with their “brother” countries—Russia and Belarus—and would naturally be aligned with them.

They share the same culture, language, and history of being invaded by the Nazis in World War II.

The West is only interested in benefits to their own economies.

Many buildings and factories are left to “rot” away and money for infrastructure was never there. Ukraine has been “bleeding” since 2014 and no one in the West has cared.

Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe and the largest producer of sunflower oil, while Russia is the largest producer of fertilizer necessary for growing crops. However, with the war, production will be affected and the whole world economy may suffer. But the leaders in the West, who helped provoke the war, do not care—the Ukrainian people to them are pawns in a larger geopolitical game that will cause potential disaster for all humanity.


  1. In February 2014, the U.S. government supported an insurrection against the legally elected government of Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader who spurned an IMF structural adjustment program that would have been terrible for Ukraine. Victoria Nuland famously was photographed handing out cookies to the demonstrators, many of whom worshipped World War II Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera. For more details on these events, see Chris Kaspar de Ploeg, Ukraine in the Crossfire (Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2019).
  2. These observations correlate with other eyewitness accounts. The Grayzone Project recently ran an important article pointing to misinformation about the destruction of the Mariupol theater, showing how the Azov Battalion was likely responsible for the destruction.

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(TLB) published this article from CovertAction Magazine as written by Sonja Van den Ende

About the Author

Sonja Van den Ende

Sonja is a freelance journalist from the Netherlands who has written about Syria, the Middle East, and Russia among other topics.Sonja can be reached at: [email protected].

Emphasis,headline and pictorial content edited by (TLB) editors
Header featured image (edited) credit: Russian troops/Twitter grab

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2 Comments on Ukraine — Russians Were Welcomed as Liberators in the Southern City of Henichesk

  1. Thank’s for commenting Boyd. But, stop blaming TLB for publishing articles from other Platforms… that’s what we do. If you have an ax to grind with the article contact the orginal publisher or the author of the article. (Most articles have that information at the bottom.) We get blow-back when we publish most Russia-Ukraine articles… but we’re tough, we can take it. We publish many views of a subject and encourage our readers to do their own research and make up their own minds as to who is “Captin of The Ship.” Ralph Ely, Sr. Editor (TLB)

  2. Here’s just another of the TLB-KREMLIN-PROPAGANDA ‘reports’, totally slanted to present Ukraine-Bad-Nazi-Russia-Good-Liberators! It’s so obvious to me, my wife (who lived in Crimea before invasion/annexation there),.. and my many Ukrainian–and Russian friends in Kherson Oblast. This so-called embedded reporter is just a propaganda-shill for Kremlin. YES, the West-media is Propaganda-Media for Davos/Soros WEF-DEM-RINO UNI-PARTY Globalists who are simply cheerleading for Zelensky-Ukraine. BUT from first-hand information I have, they are more accurate about Russia v. Ukraine,.. EXCEPT for the ‘ommisson’ of Soros/WEF/Uni-Party influence in Ukraine politics,.. and Refusal of Zelensky-gov negotiating with Russia regarding East-provinces, NATO, and EU. The ball-of-confusion ‘reporting’ by ALL MEDIA(Globalist & Conservaive),.. choosing sides without nuance— as if Russia OR Ukraine is either all good or all bad,… does NOT HELP!! And Please STOP with the Ukraine-NAZI propaganda!! Are American MAGA-Conservatives NAZIS just because they are Nationalist Patriots??? Just as in America there are a few wack-jobs, but the percentage is miniscule, and does NOT represent the huge majority of American OR Ukrainian Patriots who love their country! STOP SMEARING US AS NAZIS. And give some even-handed reporting! Ukraine AND USA are sovereign nations with SOVEREIGN BORDERS —- even if billionaire-Tyrants would prefer other!

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