\n
Evacuation teams came under fire many times, local officials said – Copyright AFP Roman PILIPEY<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nBarbara WOJAZER and Natalia YERMAK<\/em><\/p>\nLyuda Zelenskaya and Liuba Konovalova, both in their 70s, held each other through \u201cterrifying\u201d Russian attacks on their village near Vovchansk in Ukraine\u2019s Kharkiv region, where Russia launched a surprise ground offensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cLyuda was hugging my head, she was holding me like this,\u201d 70-year-old Konovalova recounted, embracing her friend in return.<\/p>\n
Locals in the area \u2014 like the inseparable pair \u2014 have seen intensifying strikes over the past months.<\/p>\n
But the launch of Russia\u2019s biggest ground operation in the region since 2022 forced them to evacuate.<\/p>\n
Konovalova and Zelenskaya lived together in a house belonging to their son and daughter, who are married to each other and moved away after the war began.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t going to leave. Home is home,\u201d said 72-year-old Zelenskaya, a trembling cat named Zhora in her arms.<\/p>\n
Konovalova effusively described their cherished two-storey house.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the yard there are beds of roses in bloom, when you enter you see flowers everywhere. And trees are growing next to the wall \u2014 cherries, apricots, everything. And grapes all around.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of that was gone, she said.<\/p>\n
A \u201creally terrifying night\u201d of endless explosions convinced them to say goodbye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were now waiting near Vovchansk at a first gathering point before being evacuated to Kharkiv\u2019s regional capital.<\/p>\n
Volunteers there assisted evacuees, mostly elderly and disoriented, carefully helping them to wooden benches and taking initial registration details.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Only method\u2019 \u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
One volunteer arrived, slamming the door of his car.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen anything like this since Bakhmut,\u201d he said, referring to the industrial city in the eastern Donetsk region that has become synonymous with devastation.<\/p>\n
It fell in May 2023 to Russian forces, which had tried to seize it for months by razing it to the ground, using scorched earth tactics.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike Bakhmut, like Avdiivka, and like now around Kharkiv \u2014 this is their only method,\u201d the head of the region\u2019s police Volodymyr Tymoshko said.<\/p>\n
In comparison to the Donetsk region, which bore the brunt of the fighting this year, Kharkiv had been relatively spared.<\/p>\n
It was mostly under the control of Ukrainian forces since they pushed back invading Russian troops in autumn 2022.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian officials had\u00a0warned\u00a0for weeks that Moscow might try to attack its northeastern border regions while aerial attacks intensified.<\/p>\n
The launch of a limited operation was not \u201cterribly surprising\u201d but its aims are still unclear, said Olivier Kempf, associate fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research.<\/p>\n
Kharkiv\u2019s regional capital is an \u201cimportant and symbolic city\u2026 that Ukrainians want to defend at all costs,\u201d Kempf said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about putting Kharkiv under siege, but rather about attracting reserves busy elsewhere,\u201d explained the expert.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Russian forces could try to create a buffer zone near its Belgorod region recently raided by pro-Ukrainian units or divert Ukraine\u2019s resources from the Donetsk region.<\/p>\n
They may also be aiming toward Kupiansk, he said.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Our hearts beat\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
Several military officials acknowledged the situation had worsened.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussian forces are now almost in Vovchansk, near the outer streets of the city,\u201d police chief Tymoshko said, adding Moscow\u2019s troops were approaching from three directions.<\/p>\n
He said police continued evacuations, going as close as a few hundred metres from the line of contact.<\/p>\n
More than 4,500 people have been evacuated in the region, emergency services said.<\/p>\n
Vans and buses kept dropping people off at the gathering point near Vovchansk.<\/p>\n
Among them was 68-year-old Zoia Sergiyenko.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not afraid of death\u2026 but too bad,\u00a0I\u2019d like to live a bit more,\u201d she said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
She left after supplications from her daughter and as \u201cmortars, shells were flying endlessly\u2026 to the point when nerves can\u2019t stand it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sergiyenko said she was forever tied to her land, where her husband, father and mother are buried.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all there. All my kin, all those who protected me and are still protecting me.\u201d<\/p>\n
And before getting on a bus to the city, she had a message to send.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet them understand how our hearts beat in peaceful times, and how our hearts still beat under explosions, day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
‘Live a bit more’: Kharkiv region residents flee Russian attacks
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#Live #bit #Kharkiv #region #residents #flee #Russian #attacks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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