in the heart of the liberated zones, still bruised by the Russian occupation

North of Kharkiv (Ukraine), in a border area, you don’t meet anyone on the roads. A few kilometers away is Russia. This region, now liberated from Russian occupation, was bombarded almost every day. Only one hospital remains. Several buildings have been destroyed and surgeons sometimes operate in a cellar. Despite the counter-offensive, the wounded continue to flow. “We always have a lot of patients. Before, they came from the front line, now we have soldiers who were injured near the border”, explains a military doctor.

In a small town, Vladimir Putin’s army painted the walls in the colors of the Russian flag. The bombs have ravaged many buildings and silence is everywhere. But when the volunteers from an NGO arrive, the inhabitants leave their homes. “All the shops are closed, we haven’t received any help. When some volunteers came here to help us, the Russians opened fire on them”, says a woman. For fear of the bombardments, residents sent their children to a Russian holiday camp. Today, they no longer have any news of them.