Standing on top of the damaged roof of his house on the main road north of Kharkiv, heading for villages occupied by Russian forces until a few days ago, Konstantin Kharlamov, 53, had watched black smoke billowing in the distance just two hours earlier. .
His friend Vitaly, 41, with the smell of heavy alcohol in his breath, said he also saw the explosion, perhaps just two miles up Lesya Serdyuka Street in the direction of his home village of Strilecha. Leaving the Russians three days ago gave him a chance to move to a safer neighborhood in Kharkov after two and a half months under occupation. But now he was cut off because of renewed battles.
Vitaly is crying in Harlamov’s damaged house. Photo: Ed Ram / Guardian
Constant background strikes and uneven thunder cracks that filled the air, and bouncing Ukrainian soldiers at checkpoints among burnt trees, cars and scattered military debris backed the two men ‘testimony of unfinished business in Ukraine’s second city. Four people were reported injured in strikes in the Shevchenkivskyi area of Kharkiv on Monday, and it has been confirmed that one person was killed in the liberated northern village of Cirkuni.
Vladimir Putin’s forces have been repulsed, and the battle of Kharkov may turn out to be a battle for Kyiv as a triumphant victory for Ukraine. The U.S. Institute for War Research on Friday described it as effectively over, and Ukrainian soldiers released a video Sunday night raising a new border post on the nearby Russian border as an indication of their growing strength and confidence. “Mr. President, we have succeeded!” They wrote in a Facebook post.
But there is also ample evidence in the suburbs of Kharkov that the Russians intend to fight hard to maintain some offensive positions around this northeastern Ukrainian fortress; their forces remain close enough to spice up the outskirts of the city with artillery fire. The Ukrainian military called for calm when a fertilizer plant was hit on Monday, causing red fumes that authorities say are not dangerous to health.
People pass by a ruined building in northern Kharkiv. Photo: Ed Ram / Guardian
Officials from the General Staff of Ukraine said on Monday that the Russians were focused on “holding positions and preventing the advance of our troops to the border.” If this is Russia’s withdrawal, it is a battle, as the people who suffered so badly in Kharkov are well aware.
Vitaly pointed to the three-walled rocket hole in his friend’s ruined two-story house and simply asked with tears in his eyes, “When will it all be over?”
“Only when Putin is dead,” said Harlamov, who returned home three days ago with his wife, Olga, 48. They sleep down in the dust and broken glass.
Sign up for the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST
They were on the roof, trying to isolate him from the rain when the weather changed. “The missile hit on the 50th day of the war, but we had left then because it was so horrible here,” he said. “I went to the supermarket one day and a rocket destroyed a house right in front of me. It was hell. ”
Their home is still without heating, electricity and running water. “We came back to try to save the rooms from the rain,” Kharlamov said. “Just look at what they did to us.
Add Comment