R. W. Haynes

Volodymyr Obertas was a person almost everyone in his hometown of Oleshky knew. He had worked in the mayor’s press center and was always cheerful and kind. Dmytro Voronov, the former mayor of Oleshky, who knew Volodymyr, said Russians killed him on 27 October. “This is a person almost everyone in Oleshky knows, because you could not find a better photographer or video operator. He worked in my press center, always so cheerful and kind. A true master of his craft, who taught me the basics of video editing and much more,” Voronov wrote. He remembered them often discussing which angle to take and where to place the accents so a video would feel emotional and reach the viewer, and said that watching Obertas's work, he had absorbed some of that craft himself. When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Obertas joined Ukraine’s Defense Forces and successfully operated drones in Kherson, Voronov said, before transferring to a public affairs unit. On the day he died, Obertas was helping journalists do their work. “My brain simply refuses to believe it. How many more talented people will this cursed war take?” Voronov wrote. He had always been there with a camera in hand, at kindergarten and school celebrations, at weddings and public events, and people would wait eagerly to see his next masterpiece on YouTube, he added. Obertas came from a town that has been under Russian occupation since February 2022 and, after a full blockade, now sits on the edge of famine. Around 1,700 to 2,000 civilians are trapped in Oleshky, having lived for years without electricity, gas, or drinking water. Russian forces have blocked deliveries of food and medicine. There is no medical care, and every road out is mined.