Tension high in Mykolaiv, southern Ukrainian city at centre of one of the most crucial battles in war

From the first seconds of entering the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the tension in the air is palpable.

Numerous checkpoints straddle the one road into the city, coming from the west across the wide Southern Bug river. Grim-faced soldiers wave onwards the few cars looking to cross the bridge itself already rigged with explosives, to be detonated in case the city should fall. A bevy of tank traps and sandbagged positions lead across into the desolate urban environment ahead.

This is the scene at the centre of one of the most crucial battles of Ukraine's defence against the Russian invasion, which began on Feb. 24.

Mykolaiv occupies perhaps the most strategic piece of territory in all of southern Ukraine at the moment. The city sits roughly halfway between Crimea, the annexed peninsula from which Russian troops poured out of two weeks ago, and Odessa, Ukraine's largest Black Sea port and a key prize.

Russian troops took the nearby city of Kherson on March 2, becoming the first major population centre in the country to fall under Moscow's control. Now, they are positioned on the outskirts of Mykolaiv, hammering the city of nearly half a million people with rocket fire from its eastern edge.

Russian troops 'have no will to fight'

On this cold March day, a dozen soldiers stand outside the city's regional administration building. One of them tells of the battles in recent days.

The Russians "have tried to take the airport, but we pushed them back," said Anton, 22, a recent volunteer with Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces. "They try to break us now with artillery."

As he finishes speaking, the short cracks of dozens of firing Grad rocket artillery missiles ring out nearby. "Those are ours," Anton said with a grin.

One of the local Ukrainian commanders joins in to offer his opinion of the fighting.

"Our guys are tough," Andriy, 51, said of the men in his unit. "Most of them are veterans from the war in the east special forces and others."

As active military personnel, neither Anton nor Andriy were authorized to provide their full names.

The past eight years of fighting in the Donbas region against Russian-backed separatists have given Ukraine a large reservoir of experienced military personnel to draw upon. Fighting for their homes has further stiffened their resolve.

Andriy assesses his enemy's condition as starkly different from the Ukrainians and their high morale.

"They have no will to fight," he said of the Russian troops facing them. "[We have] captured a lot of their military equipment in Mykolaiv Oblast. They just abandoned it. It says a lot about their complete demoralization," Andriy said.

The Russian army's poor logistics have resulted in numerous instances of its soldiers raiding shops and food stockpiles something Andriy said he has noticed as well.

"They are simply occupiers, invaders," he said. "They have started to loot across the board in the regions. They don't even have food, and it's minus 10 with snow here. They don't want to be here."

Mykolaiv was not expected to resist

The cold is certainly one factor aiding Mykolaiv's defenders at the moment. With temperatures that locals say are unseasonably frigid, combined with heavy wind chill, it is difficult to remain outside for extended periods, let alone exposed in tents and field camps.

But that is little comfort for those civilians who have already experienced Vladimir Putin's war.

Anna, 39, who didn't want to provide her full name for fear of Russian retribution on her family, rests in one of Mykolaiv's hospitals. Her right arm is held in place by steel bolts, a testament to the injuries she suffered when Russian troops entered her village of Peresadivka, a few kilometres to the northeast of the city.

"They just shot us," she said, her voice breaking. "My husband made it to the basement, but I didn't."

Her experience has changed her outlook.

"I'm very scared [of a Russian attack on the city]," Anna said. "A few days ago it was different, but not after this."

The success in repulsing the Russian attack, meanwhile, has emboldened the city's defenders including Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast whose own celebrity is growing at a pace rivalling that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

WATCH | Ukrainian cities reeling from Russian attacks:

Ukrainian cities reeling from Russian attacks

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As Ukrainians mourn loved ones lost in the war, Russian forces appear to be widening their attacks on Ukraine to target more cities.

"We have offered the Russian forces near the city to surrender to us," Kim told a group of journalists gathered in the city square. "In one or two days, we will know their answer."

A Russian-speaking city, Mykolaiv was expected by the Kremlin's war planners to offer little resistance to their advance a narrative that has been neatly turned on its head.

"The Russians did not send a strong army to our region," Kim said. "They thought that we would greet them with flowers. According to their plans, three days ago they needed to be in Odesa."

The fight outside the city has been fierce, but more support is needed to fully turn the tide, the governor says.

"Plenty of Russians are already lying dead outside the city," Kim said.

"We are winning this fight [here], but not yet this war, because we need more weapons. Give us fighter jets or close the sky," he added, echoing Zelensky's appeals to Western leaders.

Ukrainian troops in city confident

With the supply line toward Odesa still holding, the Ukrainian troops in Mykolaiv remain confident.

"Victory will certainly be ours," said Andriy, the local commander. "We can see it already. The support of the international community is a huge help."

No matter how the situation develops, he says he won't be going anywhere.

"I've lived all my life in my town, and I protect it now with my own hands," Andriy said. "The overwhelming majority of people [in Ukraine] have come to the conclusion that we need to defend our land."

North of Mykolaiv, meanwhile, Russian spearheads are attempting to cross the river further north and cut off the city from the west. The city of Voznesensk has seen heavy fighting as Ukrainian troops try to halt the thrust and prevent Mykolaiv from falling under siege.

More artillery thunders in the distance this time, incoming shells. Mykolaiv is holding, but its defenders have a long fight still ahead.