When news of Russia’s Spring offensive in Kharkiv began to spread across Kharkiv on Friday, Ukraine’s second-largest city did not panic. No caravans of cars with people evacuating were seen; conversations in Kharkiv cafes are the only sign of concern about the intense fighting taking place in the north of the city.
Yevgen Shapoval, head of the military administration of the Vil’khuvatka community in Kharkiv’s Kupiansk district, passed through the town on Friday on his way back to his village, which is close to the border with Russia. The situation there has been more tense.
“Some people are panicking, but not in the way the occupants would like. Yes, explosions can be heard up close and the situation is not easy. It’s difficult, especially psychologically,” says Shapoval.
The Russian army is said to have concentrated around 50,000 troops across the border, likely in an effort to widen the front south and create a buffer zone that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised earlier this year as a way to stop attacks. Ukrainians on the Russian border. regions.
But Shapoval does not believe the Russian army will achieve much with its planned offensive. “We must be consistent and believe in the defense forces of Ukraine. So even if they try to do something, attack, they will get the response they deserve,” he told Al Jazeera over the phone.
“Yes – some local tactical moves and even some large-scale offensive operations are possible. But as for Kharkiv, I don’t believe it can be captured.”
Kharkiv, a traditionally Russian-speaking city near the border, maintained strong economic and cultural ties with Russia for decades until the start of the war. It has also been a vibrant economic and educational center, as well as the capital of Ukraine’s heavy and defense industries. Its importance for Russia has therefore been both symbolic and strategic.
Russia failed to capture Kharkiv in its 2022 offensive, but it managed to make life difficult for residents to bear. In total, since the start of the war, Russia has destroyed around 44,000 buildings and pieces of infrastructure in the city.
Late last year, Russia intensified its attacks against Kharkiv and the surrounding region, targeting in particular its energy infrastructure, as well as roads and residential areas, which suffered daily bombardment with a range of weapons, including glide bombs. long range, drones and ballistic missiles.
“Russia did not advance, so it applied a new tactic of particularly fierce bombing, including in the historic center of the city. The aim is to destroy the territory, put psychological pressure on people and put an end to all work and life,” Yevgen Ivanov, deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, told Al Jazeera in April.
“The tactic is not logical. The focus is to make the territory uninhabitable.”
With this new Russian offensive came more intensified fighting northwest of Kharkiv. But it is unclear what the strategy is likely to be.
“A direct attack on Kharkiv is quite unlikely because it is a big city,” says Jakub Palowski, a military expert and deputy editor-in-chief of the website Defense24.pl. “Ukraine currently has a mobilized army and, in the absence of surprise, the defense of such a city would be quite effective.”
It is difficult to say what Russia intends to achieve in the Kharkiv region, he adds. “It could be the opening of a new front on a large scale, similar to the Donbass region; actions that would aim to capture a limited area and accumulate Ukrainian troops in one place, so that they cannot be used elsewhere; or creating conditions for new offensives.”
‘The dance floor is a safe space’
Meanwhile, Kharkiv remains calm and carries on. The tulips planted in April in front of the municipal administration building, in Praça da Liberdade, are in full bloom and the city’s cultural and social life continues uninterrupted.
Local museums host exhibitions. Schools began operating underground in subway stations and one of them was recently built underground. Life goes on.
According to official figures, Kharkiv has lost around 700,000 residents since the start of the war, but those left behind say they care about the city and want to continue investing in its development, said Anton Nazarko, a singer, businessman and businessman from 37 years. activist.
Together with a group of friends, who came together to form the “Some People” collective, Nazarko opened a sneaker store where customers can style and decorate their shoes and a small music venue for friends to relax. Its first location was destroyed in a Russian attack, but the new one in the city center has remained intact until now.
Walking through the modernist streets of Kharkiv, Nazarko says he is proud of his city. He wants to invest in its culture, develop the art scene and make Kharkiv famous for its creative industry, not just war.
Fundamentally, he wants to promote arts in the Ukrainian language, a departure from Kharkiv’s Russian-language dominated Soviet and post-Soviet past.
His latest venture is the Center for New Culture, a place where Ukrainian art, he hopes, will flourish. Housed in a former factory, the vast space houses a bar and a large dance floor and will also serve as a venue for art exhibitions, theater, coworking space and workshops, a small cinema, a bookstore and a music studio.
“We want people to stay at home and return to Kharkiv. We also want to reach young people who were resettled here from the occupied areas of Donbass,” says Nazarko. “We organize independent theater performances, concerts and raves for up to 300 people. But only during the day, because the curfew starts at 11pm.”
Nazarko’s group made sure the party at the venue was safe. The dance floor at the Nova Cultura Center also functions as a bunker.
“There’s a saying in rave culture that ‘the dance floor is a safe space’. With us, this takes on a literal meaning,” he says.
Nazarko tries not to think about the next Russian offensive. Like other Kharkiv residents, he adapted to living with war. He has not even considered leaving the city and will not do so, he says, unless Russia occupies the city.
“Perhaps the schedule of our events will change slightly depending on the situation,” says Nazarko. “But we will continue to support our people.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
