The sound of artillery still crashes through the air in Kharkiv, only now it鈥檚 outgoing, as Ukrainian forces drive the Russians back towards their own border. The chase is on.
For nearly three months, it was mostly in the other direction as Russia unleashed its armies, and this old, historic city was among the first to come under attack. The border is only a half-hour drive away.
Church bells, air raid sirens and periodic shelling break the stillness. War and prayer co-mingling. Only a few of the traffic lights are working. Most businesses remain closed. The nights are black and lightless.
The Russians advanced as far as the outer ring road but never managed to encircle and occupy Kharkiv. Instead, they sought to subdue and punish it from a distance. Shelling. Rockets. Air strikes.
Rows of apartment buildings became an unexpected line of defence, simply because of their location. Inside one, 39-year-old Maxim Karachensev wept as he scavenged through the remains of his family life. A new television mounted on wall survived a missile strike, as did jars of pickles and jam.
His wife and two children left in the early days of the war and ended up in the Netherlands. They are safe; he is broken.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 over now for Kharkiv,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ut not for Ukraine.鈥 The apartment he inherited from his grandmother is reduced to memories of scorched walls and broken furniture.
The destruction is here and there, some of it precisely targeted; some that appears random. The Alliance of Trade Unions offices. A police and security building at the university. Kharkiv鈥檚 regional government headquarters.
But also the block of flats where Clavdia Petrona lived, and still lives. Her apartment was only slightly damaged. Mostly it鈥檚 her nerves that suffered.
鈥淥ne night it was horrible,鈥 she told me. 鈥淚 packed all my stuff and went towards the metro station, but a big bomb went off and I couldn鈥檛 leave.鈥
There is a presumption of victory in Kharkiv and officials say a couple thousand people are returning to their homes every day. Then again, if you drive 20 kilometers up the road, Ukrainian and Russian artillery batteries continue trading fire. It is that close.
The Russians are retreating, that鈥檚 obvious, but it鈥檚 a fighting retreat which is hampering Ukraine from declaring the whole northern zone 鈥渓iberated.鈥 It鈥檚 still not safe enough for people to return to their villages, which are largely deserted.
Adding to the legend and mist of war, a Ukrainian detachment pulled off a sneaky propaganda triumph by making a run for the Russian border and uploading the results on social media. A dozen soldiers, for all to see, planting a marker in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag.
It wasn鈥檛 long before a beaming Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenksyy, posted his own video congratulating the 鈥渇ellows from Kharkiv鈥 for their daring feat.
鈥淚'm very grateful to you, on behalf of all Ukrainians,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y gratitude has no limits. I wish all of you to stay healthy. Take care of yourselves. 鈥ou did a great job.鈥
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