Much of Kharkiv province was liberated last September. But the few former residents who have returned live in constant fear of the return of all-out war
a vast stretch of north-eastern Ukraine face a grim new reality. Much of Kharkiv province was occupied last year by the Russians before being liberated in September. Yet few of those who fled have returned. Those who have, or who never left, find themselves in smashed-up towns or spookily empty villages, living in constant fear of missile attacks—and the return of all-out war.
In Izium, 125km south-east of Kharkiv, there is no such discussion. Volodymyr Matsokin, the deputy mayor, says that four of the town’s nine secondary schools have been destroyed and the rest so badly damaged that they cannot function. In the playground of the once-elegant School 4 , opened in 1882 and now just a shell, weeds are the only life. But unreliable internet services in front-line towns means that online schooling for the children that remain is a patchy affair.
In Izium Olena and Ala, both in their 70s, sit on stools selling fruit and vegetables they have grown to eke out a living. During the occupation they were too frightened to leave their homes. Now business is poor because there are so few people in town. Ala’s husband was ill and died a week after the Russians arrived. Olena’s husband catches fish, which she dries, salts and sells. Her block was almost empty during Russia’s occupation.
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