Rowing past their severed road bridge, Ukrainians return to liberated villages

Local residents take a boat across the Pechenizhske Reservoir next to a destroyed bridge, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Staryi Saltiv in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 27, 2022. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy

STARYI SALTIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian volunteer Vitalii Kivirenko loads a small rowing boat with tins of food and supplies by the village of Staryi Saltiv, on the Pechenizhske Reservoir, northeast of Kharkiv, ready to make a short trip that was unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

After Ukrainian forces pushed Russian troops back from the eastern banks of the reservoir, opposite Staryi Saltiv, in a counter offensive earlier this month, volunteers and relatives can finally reach those in isolated villages on the other side, and some of those who fled are returning home.