In Kupansk welcome is a tall and parapeted crucifix in a checkpoint a few kilometers from the city. Made of wood eaten away by the icy wind, his modest countenance is out of place among the numerous war artifacts of the checkpoint. But it is also the indication that, from here on out, things are not going well at all. The Ukrainian soldier quickly checks the car and lets it pass with even more speed. There is no time or desire for more.
Hoy the artillery has spat since early and the explosions are looking for their victims without rest. That is why the road must be free and the traffic are vehicles that dodge gigantic potholes and busted bridges. Why Kupanska city in the eastern end of the region of Jarkovit is right now the most violent front from this region of eastern Ukraine. Since February, the Russianswhich in some parts of the city are less than five kilometersthey fire with increased intensity from the nearby occupied towns and the bordering Lugansk region.
The city, whose pre-war population was around 26,000 inhabitants, is now home to a few hundred souls who roam its streets with plastic bags in hand or drive in almost deserted neighborhoods with as much cold blood as possible. From the top of the hill where the town hall stands, pierced like an Emmental cheese and without a window that can still be called that, the place appears in the entirety of its destruction. On the ground, snow and mud mix and trickle down holes created by the explosions. Far away, but not that far a gray smoke say what another projectile has hit a target. In the central market the leaden sky blends with the dust of rubble. There’s not much left standing.
strategic path
Many residents have been evacuated of Kupiansk and the nearby towns after days ago the regional authorities ordered the departure of the most vulnerable and their families. The reason is not clear. Some Ukrainian soldiers maintain that it is so that the kyiv troops can fire hard at russian troops without fear of casualties among civilians. Others confess worse scenarios: the possibility that, in the event that this city retaken in september be occupied again, there is no time to evacuate those who have not wanted to leave before. And there are also those who have begun to get used to the idea of a new invasion and they are waiting for the others.
The outcome is also uncertain because the success of the Ukrainian artillery and infantry here depends on hidden army positions to which the Western press has access not only on the condition that their exact location is not revealed, but that all security precautions are taken to the maximum. Many soldiers here are not rookies; they started fighting nine years ago when conflict broke out in Donbas. Others were last year defending the city of Kharkov and now They spend up to five months in these areasin which, they say, it has improved its ability to deal with Russian attacks.
“Before, we responded with a shot to his 30 shots, but this is no longer the case. Of course, (the Russians) dig trenches very quickly, make many lines of defense and have a large number of soldiers,” says Igor, tank commander of the 92nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. “They attack to recapture Kupiansk, strengthen themselves, and make sure the position. The route to Lugansk passes through here, which, if they managed to occupy, would be an important success for them,” says another soldier from the same military unit who also hides his identity.
evacuations
Local volunteer networksself-generated and self-organized, they do what they can. But the situation is so serious that the military governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegybov, has ordered the evacuation of civilians from the most exposed areas for days now. “Regarding the evacuation of the Kupiansk front, which is currently the hottest: that is where the front line is located and the Russian forces are trying to relentlessly attack our positions. That is why we have announced a mandatory evacuation and we are explaining it to you. to the residents of the area,” said the official.
The operation is not so simple also because the roads of the nearby towns, more than the houses, are destroyed by mortars, missiles, the passage of armored vehicles and gigantic puddles of melted snow, and some do not want to leave. Even so, posters have been posted throughout the area with telephone numbers to call to request to be evacuated. Zhytomir, a city in western Ukraine, has already offered to receive some 500 families from here, Ukrainian media have reported.
Meanwhile, hostilities continue. On Saturday, the president himself Volodímir Zelenski cited the Kharkiv region as one of the places experiencing “brutal” attacks, “every day, every night”. On Tuesday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army indicated that Russian forces continue to attack Kupyansk and Liman with the aim of preventing the transfer of troops from kyiv to other areas. Russian soldiers would have also tried break through the Ukrainian defense linesso far without success, according to Ukrainian sources.