Constant Missile Attacks and Empty Streets: How Kupiansk Lives on the Front Line

Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast is 10-15 km/ 6–9 miles from the front line and 40 km/ 25 miles from the border with Russia. The city was severely damaged at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and during the battle for its liberation in September 2022. Today, it is constantly under fire from Russian MLRS and S-300 systems.

In March 2023, Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, reported that Russian troops were planning an offensive in the Kupiansk direction. Capturing the city and its surroundings would allow the occupiers to organize the supply of weapons by railways.

The city centre looks deserted: supermarkets, pharmacies, residential buildings, and the market are ruins. Only a few locals and soldiers came to the church to bless Easter baskets that day. Sometimes you hear explosions, either somewhere outside the city or very close.

The city was under Russian occupation for almost 6 months, from February to September 2022. This could not but affect the residents. They are eager to talk about Kupiansk and life under Russian control but without photos or cameras.

They say that the journalists will leave soon, and how will the locals live if they are again under occupation?

Passing the sign “Kupyansk is Ukraine” on Kharkivska Street, we met Halyna, a child of World War II. With tears in her eyes, she told how she was reliving the horrors of the invasion for the second time.

“After the Russians were kicked out of here, they started shelling us, it was very difficult. We had a nice town, but they destroyed everything. We stood here next to each other at the checkpoint. I told them, guys, why did you come to us? You have brought only death, you came to kill us. How should we live now? They smashed everything, destroyed factories and farms, and mined the fields,” Halyna sadly emphasized.

The woman adds that the windows of her house are broken, the fence is broken, and the house barely stands.

“I wish the war would end, no matter how hard it is, but at least it would be quiet and calm… We get humanitarian aid, and volunteers go around the streets, offer it to those who need it,” she says.

When asked why locals didn’t leave the city of Kupiansk, considering the possibility of evacuation, she replies: “We need money to go there, with what to carry! And in general, this is a home that she does not want to leave. Halyna has lived here all her life.

The significant destruction of shopping centres, markets, and supermarkets caused another problem: unemployment. We heard from several residents that there is no work in the area, even for those who stayed.

“Now Kupiansk is home to 11,000 residents (before the war, the city’s population was 28,000 – ed.). With the help of the regional organization of the International Red Cross and other charitable organizations, evacuation from the city is ongoing. Still, unfortunately, these are rare cases,” says Andriy Besedin, head of the Kupiansk city military administration.

Life under constant shelling

– The shelling continues every day. Only the intensity changes: it increases and decreases. The population heeds the advice not to visit crowded places and cemeteries where sappers continue to work.

– We know that children and people with disabilities are being evacuated from the communities in the district. What is the situation in Kupiansk?

– Together with the social protection department, we work individually with parents and people with limited mobility, explaining the evacuation algorithm, where people will be taken, what social services they will receive, etc. Last week, we evacuated 18 children and 13 adults to a sanatorium in Rivne region. These are large families.

– Does the city continue to receive humanitarian aid, and do the residents continue to get food packages? We heard from one of the locals that they sometimes receive expired food. Are there any problems with this?

– We are fully provided with household kits thanks to international organizations and the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration. Each resident receives two monthly food packages, which is more than enough. And the quality of these food packages is high. There have been no requests to me personally.

World Central Kitchen and Peaceful Sky Kharkiv help us with a toll-free hotline. They cook for numerous residents every day. The Howard Buffett Foundation also provides food packages. The residents of Kupiansk also receive hygiene kits, although there are problems with this. There is a certain shortage, but we are working to resolve the issue. We have enough construction materials: OSB boards, nails and boards…

– We noticed that buses run in the streets of Kupiansk. How is transportation organized within the city and between communities?

Indeed, regular buses are operating within Kupiansk. Kharkiv is reachable both by bus and by railway. Today, an electric train runs to Osynove station (3 km from Kupiansk-Vuzlovyy station – ed.), because it cannot pass through the destroyed bridge. In general, there are no difficulties with transportation.

Gwara Media keeps telling stories from the liberated towns and villages of Kharkiv Oblast and their recovery.

• Dvorichna: a village without any inhabitants. The village looks abandoned. The few remaining locals are constantly hiding in basements to survive. In fact, every day the occupants are shelling the community with all possible types of weapons: rockets, artillery, and cassette ammunition.
• Staryi Saltiv. Stories from a scarred village in Kharkiv Oblast. The village was captured immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion. It was liberated on May 4. Residents who survived all the difficulties and realities of life under occupation still remain here.