After 2 years of war with heavy losses, Ukraine must find new people to send to the front. In this context, 10 kilometers from the border with Romania, in the village of Kupcha, a mother mourns her son, who was killed by the Russians, and fears that another may end up, in turn, at the front. The video report, created by the HotNews.ro team from Northern Bukovina, tries to reflect the consequences of the war for the Romanian communities in Ukraine.

Men of registration age from 25 to 60 are now in high demand in Ukraine. The country’s army needs them to send them to an increasingly difficult front.

Even if shells and rockets explode hundreds of kilometers away, the war is also very relevant in the Chernivtsi region, where approximately 25-27% of the population speaks Romanian.

On the streets of the city or in other public places, you can meet young people, as well as middle-aged people, dressed in military clothing, some on crutches or with other visible injuries. They are living proof of the difficult times the country is going through.

Other evidence can be found in cemeteries. On the memorial plaque in the center of Chernivtsi, I counted 110 photos of soldiers who died in battles with Putin’s army.

Chernivtsi honor their heroes. Every morning at 9 o’clock in the city center, the traffic of cars stops, and residents go out into the streets to honor the memory of those who died at the front with a moment of silence.

45 kilometers from Chernivtsi, in the village of Chaptsi, you will hardly find men who can be sent to the front. Most of them left to earn money abroad even before the start of the war. Others left the country even after February 24, 2022, with Romanian passports, as there are many of them in Northern Bukovina.

Among those who remained in the village, approximately eight or nine “voluntarily went” to the front, according to the head of the village, Liliya Tovarnytska. Two of them died.

Ileana Bobu is the mother of one of the heroes of Cupca, Todor Shipor-Bobu, who fell in Bakhmut in January 2023. First he was shot in the leg, then he “exploded and exploded, bursting into pieces”, like us – his mother. said

Having already lost one child in the war, Ileana Bobu is now afraid of losing her second. In theory, they would have no reason to worry, since the law does not allow the authorities to take the brother of a fallen soldier to the front.

Chernivtsi observed a moment of silence for the victims of the war with Russia

Watch the entire story of Todor Shipor, as well as the troubles experienced by this Romanian community located very close to the border, in our video report.