As Russia retreats from Kharkiv, Ukrainians scavenge through remains

The sound of artillery still crashes through the air in Kharkiv, only now it’s 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.

“I think it’s over now for Kharkiv,” he says, “but not for Ukraine.” 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’s regional government headquarters.

But also the block of flats where Clavdia Petrona lived, and still lives. Her apartment was only slightly damaged. Mostly it’s her nerves that suffered.

“One night it was horrible,” she told me. “I packed all my stuff and went towards the metro station, but a big bomb went off and I couldn’t leave.”

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’s obvious, but it’s a fighting retreat which is hampering Ukraine from declaring the whole northern zone “liberated.” It’s 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’t long before a beaming Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenksyy, posted his own video congratulating the “fellows from Kharkiv” for their daring feat.

“I'm very grateful to you, on behalf of all Ukrainians,” he said. “My gratitude has no limits. I wish all of you to stay healthy. Take care of yourselves. …You did a great job.”

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