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Russia has launched a surprise ground offensive in the Kharkiv region where intense fighting is underway. More than 4,000 people had to be evacuated.
Vovchansk is a ghost town. In a video posted on social networks, a police patrol rushes at full speed into a ruined city in the hope of evacuating the last inhabitants. “Meet in public placesthunders the police officer facing the camera, wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. The patrols will pick you up. We’re evacuating!”
“Defensive battles and fierce fighting continue across much of our border.”, declared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. kyiv describes a particularly difficult situation in the northeast of the country, in the Kharkiv region, where fighting continued throughout the weekend after the start of a surprise Russian offensive on Friday.
“The occupier is trying to gain a foothold in some of these areas, or simply use them to progress. The situation on the outskirts of Vovchansk is extremely difficult. The city is under constant fire from the Russians, our soldiers are carrying out counterattacks and we are doing everything to help the residents. It is very important that everyone does their best at this time to help.“, underlined Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video posted on social networks.
“People now find themselves without any shelter”
In the city of Kharkiv, humanitarian aid is being organized; Elena*, a resident of Vovchansk, managed to leave the city on her own. Disoriented, she doesn’t know how she managed to escape. “They’re bombing. They fell on us all, you know, these drones, dropping bombs. A neighbor was killed. He was running in the street, the drones came at him, his legs were torn off at the waist .I ran under the bushes. The drone dropped, but it missed or hit further into the street.
“What is happening in Vovchansk is helldescribes Victor Emelianenko*, head of a humanitarian organization in Kharkiv called “The City of Kindness”. I have no other words, because people are now left without any shelter. Vovchansk has already been under occupation. But it was nothing compared to that. “
In 2022, the inhabitants fled for the first time and then the territory was reconquered. Many had returned, some with their children. “People are hiding in the basements, it’s very difficult to get them outexplains Victor Emelianenko. The city is being wiped off the map. It’s a small town, it’s not Mariupol, it’s not Bakhmut. I think that in two or three days Vovchansk will cease to exist as a city.”
Out of a population of 17 000 inhabitants before the war, on Monday morning, according to the authorities, only a few hundred people would remain to be evacuated. In his speech on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainians to continue to resist and to be wary of Russian propaganda. Reports were circulating that the governor of Kharkiv had deserted the scene. False, he replied in the evening, before concluding: “Let’s not let the enemy exploit fear“.
*Testimonies collected remotely from kyiv
In the Kharkiv region, Ukrainians flee under Russian bombs. Virginie Pironon’s report