Hafner, Schneider and Wehrschütz report from Ukraine and Russia in the correspondent magazine on February 23rd at 9:20 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – Every day we see or read at least one news story about the war in Ukraine. It has become commonplace since Vladimir Putin launched a war of aggression against the neighboring country in February 2022. The Ukrainian counter-offensive, which was associated with great expectations, has failed except for a few successes. Western support is beginning to crumble. The bloody battles, barely two days’ journey from Austria, seem to be increasingly forgotten. The term “war fatigue” is being used more and more often. But how are the people who are directly affected by the war doing? Two years at the front have worn the soldiers in Ukraine down. Mothers and women are increasingly taking to the streets and demanding that their husbands can finally go home again. There is also resistance in Russia, but there is hardly any open criticism of Putin’s war against Ukraine because of the threat of repression and prison sentences.
As part of the ORF focus on the 2 years of the Ukraine War (details below https://presse.ORF.at), the ORF correspondent magazine “WeltWeit” will be dedicated to the topic “How great is war fatigue?” Patrick A. Hafner, Carola Schneider and Christian Wehrschütz report from Ukraine and Russia:
Correspondent Patrick A. Hafner meets men in southwest Ukraine who are picked up by recruiting soldiers and forced to go to the front. Because Ukraine is running out of supplies of soldiers. Too many are now hiding out of fear of military service. Those who volunteered to fight for their homeland two years ago urgently need a break.
Correspondent Carola Schneider is traveling in Russia and paints a picture of the mood of the population: Many Russians still believe the Kremlin propaganda, which portrays the war as Russia’s fight for survival against the hostile West. Some people tacitly support Putin’s war policy because they see it as a duty for the fatherland – like Lyubov Spis, who mourns her fallen 20-year-old son. But all of Schneider’s interviewees have one thing in common:
They want the fighting to end.
Correspondent Christian Wehrschütz was allowed to accompany the funeral service for a 41-year-old lieutenant colonel in Kiev with his camera. He also met the fallen soldier’s two children. The twelve-year-old daughter is desperate and difficult to comfort. And many people in the country feel the same way as the little girl. The political leadership is keeping secret how many Ukrainian soldiers have died in the past two years. The fact that confidence in victory has fallen is clearly noticeable in the country, even if negotiations with Russia are still not an option for many.