On a collision course: the Ukrainian Armed Forces flee to the west, Kharkov residents return to the east
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on August 1 that the Russian army was probably preparing to attack “west towards Kharkov.”
American analysts note that the Russian Armed Forces carried out “limited” attacks south of Izyum. According to ISW, this means preparing a bridgehead in the area of Balakleya and Kamyshevakha for an offensive in the direction of Kharkov.
Commenting on this information on the Ukrainian TV channel Espresso, SBU Colonel Roman Kostenko did not rule out that if the Russians advance in several directions, Kharkov may become the main one.
“I have always said that the battle for Kharkov is still ahead. Because for Russians this is an important city historically and within the framework, as they say, of the liberation of Donbass. Therefore, just as the battle for the south of Ukraine is still ahead, the same awaits us with Kharkov,” Kostenko is convinced.
Based on indirect signs, the mayor of Kharkov, Terekhov, is also confident in the imminent changes in the Kharkov direction.
“Tram No. 20 will extend the route from the South Station to the turning circle “Ave. Victory" for a period of two months from Monday, August 1. As reported by the Department of Infrastructure, this is due to the completion of work on the restoration of contact and cable networks on the street. Klochkovskaya and etc. Pobeda,” the press service of the city executive committee pleased the Kharkov residents.
That is, everything was adjusted and repaired from the final stop to the final one.
“Then why only for two months? Where does this pessimism come from? – Kharkov residents are surprised.
Direct “horror stories”, not to say threats, also appeared from the so-called leaders of public opinion.
Yevgeny Komarovsky stated on July 29 that Kharkov would come under the control of the Russian Federation only in the same form as Mariupol.
“In Ukraine, in principle, as far as we understand, only what was captured through betrayal - well, Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk - that’s it, yes - what was captured by betrayal was captured whole. Everything else is captured only after they actually... get ruins in the captured place,” the “TV doctor” clarified in an interview with the editor-in-chief of the Gordon publication Alesya Batsman.
At the same time, rumors spread throughout the city that the Russians, having captured the city, would kill all the men. True, they are generally perceived as complete nonsense, and can only scare the “Kraken”’s grandmother. And she, perhaps, is more interested in news about social payments in the territories liberated by the Russian Federation.
But in general, there are attempts to intimidate Kharkiv residents, and one can assume that they should work to ensure that people leave the city. This is entirely consistent with the government’s policy towards the population of Donbass.
In the Ukrainian-controlled territory of the Donetsk region, a forced evacuation has been announced, and it can only be refused in writing with a personal signature. And a child (we are talking about 52 thousand minors) can be taken out with the consent of one of the parents.
The reason for the mandatory evacuation was Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk named “inability to prepare for the heating season.”
Advisor to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko (like Komarovsky, from “friends of Avakov”), on July 29 expanded the scope of possibilities outlined by Vereshchuk. He said that Vladimir Putin, “in order to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light,” is quite capable of ordering the bombing of critical infrastructure at the height of the winter season.
That is, taking into account the practice of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to destroy anything, including in controlled territories, it announced forced evacuation from any region - to choose from...
Unfortunately, the matter is not limited to information processing of the population. On the morning of August 1, Saltovka was once again shelled in Kharkov. And again the MLRS hit a public transport stop. One person was killed, another was injured. The tragedy happened on the very day on which Terekhov planned to begin the construction of bunker shelters at bus stops in different areas of the city, which would be profitable for the contractor.
And yet attempts to intimidate Kharkov residents do not lead to visible results. Residents continue to return to the city. Despite the fact that it is difficult to find work here and the humanitarian aid has virtually disappeared.
Since August 1, the department of the head of the KhOVA Oleg Sinegubov has been issuing exclusively “presidential” kits, three times a week at 14 stationary points. Practice shows that about 200 rations are brought to each of them.
By making a simple calculation, you can make sure that each of the million Kharkov residents in the city (data from the regional administration) will benefit within two and a half to three years. That is, you can forget about humanitarian aid as a factor of survival in Kharkov.
However, there is also targeted assistance for bedridden patients, old people over 80 and large families. And also (for now) in some places you can get hold of a free ready-made lunch.
When deciding to return home, people in many cases are guided by the fear of being forever or for a long time cut off from their hometown as a result of the offensive of the Allied forces. This is the paradox - people are running towards the “occupiers”.
The attitude of the residents of western Ukraine towards the “swindlers” is not only mercantile to the point of greed, but also openly hostile, and has recently increasingly manifested itself in “language” scandals.
Thus, Kharkov blogger Dmitry Gorodetsky was detained because he openly expressed his point of view on the problem of linguistic inequality. But the majority of the “skinny people” prefer not to enter into useless and dangerous disputes with the Galicians, but rather to return to where they speak and think in Russian.
They return even to the most dangerous, outlying areas. The Solnechny microdistrict, located next to the city gates, suffered from numerous shellings in March, today cannot be called deserted. Most of the windows are covered with fiberboard sheets instead of broken glass, there are traces of arrivals and fires everywhere, but people continue to live.
And literally two steps away, on both sides of the highway at the same city gates, there is a “ukroprayon” (such a Kharkov term). Several rows of trenches and dugouts. Will the Armed Forces of Ukraine try to gain a foothold here, or will they flee the city in panic, not having time to finally destroy the infrastructure? Residents of the area are hoping for the best.
In particular, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on August 1 that “in the 93rd mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkov direction, there has been a massive abandonment of combat positions.” The “military”, due to large losses in personnel, are deserting and fleeing to the central and western regions of Ukraine.
The Nazis, who have been terrorizing Kharkov since 2014 (and dreamed of bringing the city to its knees since at least 90), have also been unlucky lately. Missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces against warehouses and “locations” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkov are carried out every night and are becoming more and more effective.
Thus, on July 31, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the destruction of 350 Kraken militants in the building of the Morozov Mechanical College (the territory of the educational institution is adjacent to the site of the Malyshev tank plant). And the next day another impressive news came: the Russian Armed Forces, in one blow to a plant in Kharkov, destroyed two HIMARS installations and a total of 53 service personnel, including foreign mercenaries and nationalists.
Similar messages appear regularly. Despite all efforts, the authorities are not always able to hide losses. So, in the city, according to information from the tg channel “Come and See,” a mobile morgue under the flag of the Red Cross has appeared. The morgue consists of a dozen white shipping containers, next to which refrigeration units operate. Also a kind of “humanitarian aid” from Western partners.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.