During the Kursk operation, the defense forces were able to push back Russian troops from the border, but the Russians found new ways to terrorize the local population. How residents of the border areas of the Sumy region live near the war zone – in a report by RBC-Ukraine war correspondent Bogdana Lyaskovskaya.
The Sumy region, bordering Russia, could withstand the beginning of a full-scale invasion – the invaders were driven from here quite quickly. Despite this, the proximity to the enemy did not bring a peaceful life to the inhabitants of the border zone. Cities and villages were constantly subjected to artillery shelling and KAB launches. However, the enemy did not abandon plans for a repeated attack on the Sumy region. So the Ukrainian Defense Forces preemptively carried out the Kursk operation. Now the Russians are trying to carry out their counter-offensive, so this region, including the Ukrainian border, is one of the hottest sectors of the front.
The military advises against a trip to one of the villages located in the border zone, very close to the fighting in the Kursk region. The Russians are massively launching UAVs and attacking drones here. But on a rainy day, permission has been granted – in bad weather, drones will hardly be able to fly, so you can take a chance.
Dear short-lived, it is not so far from Sumy itself, the war is very close to the regional center. On the side of the road you can see the sign “Controlled border zone”. Here we immediately turn on the “sugar”. This is a familiar device, it tracks the movement of enemy UAVs. In a populated area, we will have a full view of the enemy, so we turn on the “sugar” to quickly evacuate from the car in case of danger. If a drone approaches, we all disperse to different places, under trees or bushes.
The first sign that we are approaching Russia is an exploded car on the side of the road. Next are several houses destroyed to the ground. The last six months have changed the familiar terrain: the number of ruins has increased significantly and the number of people has decreased significantly.
The village streets are empty. There are no people. In the spring you could meet the locals here, but now the rest are at home. In the center of the village there was a nice big shop, we drive up to it – here are ruins. The roof lets raindrops through and runs down the broken windows. Several items were miraculously left on the counter.
There is a limited time for each frame. You can’t stay in one place for long. We move on: the fire station is destroyed, the post office is destroyed, another store is destroyed. The Russians destroyed everything that could support people’s lives.
A local teacher remained in the village. The school here was also damaged, but it continues to hold classes even under shelling. Lyudmila leads me to the basement. There are two beds, a TV, a router and a laptop, and on the shelves, like a good housewife, there are jars of vegetables for the winter.
“My husbands have arranged everything for me. The Internet works here, even when there is no light. So during the shelling, I can continue to hold lessons for children,” says Lyudmila.
She says that now it has become very difficult to stay in the village. The Russians are constantly firing at the KAB and using various types of UAVs, looking for civilians. Unfortunately, there were also deaths. The man, who had also previously been a teacher, died right at home.
Locals say UAVs fly here around the clock, dozens of them a day, terrorizing the population. Recently, an FPV drone was received by a family on the street.
Now I understand why everything is so empty. People are afraid to leave their houses because death lurks outside.
One of the villagers joined the DFTG from the beginning of the war, now works as a combat medic and says that he has had to help civilians several times when they were injured.
“When the massive shelling started, the hospitals and all the structures left and now there is no one but us to help people,” he says.
The guy says that after the start of the Kursk operation, things got better: the enemy was pushed back from the border and he can no longer finish off the villages in the border areas with artillery.
Villagers often have to independently defend their homes from enemy UAVs. In the garage of a local man there is already a whole collection of downed drones of various kinds, from large “wings” to small drones. Interestingly, some drones are made from scrap materials, such as polystyrene foam and cardboard. Apparently they were collected by students. According to the man, the production of drones has been put into operation in the Russian Federation, which allows them to be launched daily in huge quantities.
“We shot down drones with both hunting rifles and handguns, and our military friends helped us, and electronic warfare sometimes interferes. We protect our homes as best we can,” said a local resident.
Vladimir Artyukh, head of Sumy OVA, says that the Russians are deliberately trying to destroy the infrastructure and all places of livelihood of local residents in order to clear this territory of people. At the same time, the administration itself is doing everything to evacuate the local population to save their lives.
“With the start of the Kursk operation, shelling on the territory of the Sumy region with the help of KABs increased hundreds of times, that is, in total per day – this is 30-40 cases of combat use of these weapons if last year Single cases, now these applications are systemic , especially for our critical infrastructure facilities, and for populated areas. These are private houses or high-rise buildings. The goal is to demoralize the population and force them to leave the territory, says Artyukh.
Belopole
This city suffered constantly from Russian artillery shelling. The entire central street is crossed by Grads. The finishing of the surviving houses has dents from ammunition fragments. The enemy forces are five kilometers from here.
From one of the hills, the territory of the Russian Federation is clearly visible. It is cloudy now, but in clear weather the locals can observe the movements of the Russians and the village of Tetkino.
On the same hill overlooking Russia is a ruined hut and behind it you can see a whole street of ruins that used to be someone’s house. Locals remember the horrific night when the Russians massively fired cluster munitions – using weapons banned under the Geneva Convention against civilians.
Deputy Chairman of the Belopol City Council Vladimir Viduev says: The special thing about this community is that it is located on a hill and is therefore easily visible to enemies who can attack the city and the surrounding area.
“Recently there was a case in the border area, where two men were killed as a result of shelling, but due to constant shelling, it was impossible to pick them up, we buried them in a Christian way,” says Viduev.
In total, many houses in the city were destroyed: a school, a kindergarten, a community, a police station and hundreds of civilian houses. The Russians even hit the football locker room. And the stadium itself still has craters from the airstrikes.
The city hospital is under constant fire. The Russians fired at it more than once. After another attack, the offices here were destroyed and all the windows were smashed. But doctors cannot stop their work, because every day people come to them with injuries that need help.
Doctors are forced to adapt to military realities, as they have to work under aerial bombs. A ward for patients was set up in the basement of the hospital. There are several rows of beds with neatly made bedspreads and on either side are bedside tables with a selection of food and water. There is everything needed for patients to wait out the danger.
But the most important thing is behind the door to the next room. An underground operating room was set up here.
– We often have to carry out operations under fire People come to us with wounds, usually from mine explosions. Belopol City Hospital.
There are still many elderly people in the city. They have lived here all their lives and despite the difficult situation they do not want to leave home.
On the street I meet an elderly woman, Galina. She and her husband survived when they were attacked by aerial bombs. KAB was next to a retirement home. The woman takes us to the neighboring house, which is completely destroyed inside and no longer fit for habitation, and then leads us to her home.
Partial repairs to the torn roof have already been made in her hut. There are cracks and broken pieces of trim on the walls.
“I remember terrible explosions. It was as if the house was lifted and thrown back to the ground. My husband fell and screamed into the room and saw this horror.
The woman says a miracle saved them. In the next room she had many icons, which she herself embroidered with pearls. And surprisingly, there is no crack in that part.
People on the front lines must believe in miracles. They pray to heaven that they can wake up tomorrow and that the enemy’s airdrop will not destroy their home. After all, the Russians are deliberately targeting civilians.
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The city was covered in snow. The time has come that the whole world is waiting for because of the Christmas holidays and winter fun. But our reality is different from the world. I step onto the snowy surface and hear a crunch. But this is not snow, under the snow there are shards of glass from houses where people used to live. Once they waited for Christmas and admired the snowy landscapes, but now their house was destroyed by Russia. Perhaps the only way out for us is to create a gray zone on Russian territory so that their shells do not reach the houses of Ukrainian civilians.
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