New trenches around the city, concrete blocks, sandbags, numerous checkpoints: Kharkiv, which has already repelled a first Russian assault in February, does not lower its guard and organizes its defense in view of a possible second attack Russian.
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A pink plush marks the entrance to a fresh trench northeast of Ukraine’s second city. The ground is still black and damp and the soldiers, in tank tops, are resting in the sun.
The noose has loosened around Kharkiv, but this regional capital, located regarding fifty kilometers from the Russian border, knows that it remains under permanent threat and has organized a second line of defense behind the first lines.
AFP
On February 24, the day of the Russian invasion, “we had no positions. Our fighters were lying on the side of the road, behind mounds and firing from there. We were in contact. But now we have trenches, well-protected areas. For the Russians, this position will be impossible to take”, assures “Doctor”, nurse of the National Guard, who agreed to show a few tens of meters of the device which falls under the seal of military secrecy.
AFP
Near the entrance, a car decked out with the inscription “Skill to kill” (authorized to kill). Located due east of Kharkiv, this trench, also brand new, starts from a burnt house hit during the first attack to zigzag in a southerly direction without a straight line, in order to limit the damage of a possible shell.
The trench splits into a maze, which the soldier refuses to show. However, further on, we can see posts reinforced and raised with concrete blocks. On the ground, we placed wooden pallets to be able to circulate without wading through the mud in case of rain.
“Now our armed forces are on the counter-offensive pushing the enemy back,” says “Doctor,” as the Russians have withdrawn part of their troops to concentrate them further south and east.
“We can take artillery fire, but we are here and we will not let the city be taken,” he said.
Kharkiv remains within cannon range and every night shells fall on the city, so the inhabitants have learned to live with the sound of detonations from both Russian and Ukrainian artillery.
AFP
At the exits from the city, civilians – men and women – help the armed forces fill sandbags for checkpoints.
They are everywhere on the arteries of the city with concrete blocks, chicanes and military. Some roads are closed for safety reasons.
“We have a problem, we are at war,” jokes a soldier, controlling a vehicle and refusing access.
Ukraine is also impatiently awaiting Western aid and in particular “American armaments which will help us win”, affirms a resident who has lived in the metro since the start of the war.
“Doctor”, he is confident: “The Russians are watching us with drones and know where we are. And we, we know where they are, and soon they will no longer be there,” he quips, convinced that the forces of Moscow will retreat further.
But he also points out that “we have held this position for three months”. “Everyone is ready and with a fighting spirit. I’m a nurse and I talk to everyone every day. I can tell you that no one is going to run away. We are the National Guard, we will hold the position and the city until the end!”
