Russia has been trying to capture one small Ukrainian village for longer than Rome besieged Carthage.
Ukraine's 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade has reported receiving Book of Records of Ukraine certification for Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, recognizing the village as one of the longest-held front-line positions of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war.
Ukrainian forces have held the position continuously for more than 1,500 days under constant assault, artillery, aviation, and drone fire.
Once home to 3,000, Mala Tokmachka now stands in ruins
Mala Tokmachka, before the full-scale war, was home to more than 3,000 people, with a brick factory and several small enterprises. By various estimates, up to a hundred residents remain today.
Most streets are destroyed buildings, aerial-bomb craters, and burned yards, surrounded by tree belts and fields through which Russian forces have been attempting to break through toward Orikhiv for years.
Despite its small size, the village is one of the largest settlements in the district, a local transport node where roads from several surrounding communities converge.
City's defense now outlasts some of history’s most famous sieges
The Russian effort at Mala Tokmachka has now exceeded several of history's most-cited sieges by significant margins, Telegraf reports. The Roman siege of Carthage, which destroyed the city in 146 BC, lasted approximately 1,100 days.
The 1627–1628 siege of La Rochelle, the French fortified port city, lasted 457 days. The Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 lasted several months.
Ukrainian defense of Mala Tokmachka has now run continuously for more than 1,500 days, and Russian forces still do not control the village, according to ArmyInform.
"Complete liberation" without celebration
Russian military communications and Kremlin-aligned media have for months repeatedly reported the alleged "complete liberation" of Mala Tokmachka, the 118th Brigade noted in its Facebook post.
The front line in the village has barely shifted. The disconnect between Russian reporting of capture and the Ukrainian flag still flying has turned the village into a viral meme in Ukrainian and broader social media, with hundreds of videos mocking Russia's inability to advance.
Oleh Ivanenko, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Book of Records of Ukraine, presented the certifying diploma to the 118th Brigade command in person. The brigade's response named the actual stake: not the diploma but every preserved meter of Ukrainian land in front of Orikhiv.
