UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Jul 22 — French minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, visited Kharkiv along with Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha. Sybiha wrote about the visit on his X. 

Barrot wrote about the visit on his account too, saying that the “high-intensity war” that is unfolding in Ukraine also threatens “the security of the European Union.”  

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast of the country, stands close to both the Russian border and the frontline. Moscow’s troops have been attacking it relentlessly since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. 

Today, presumably during Barrot’s visit, Russia launched an attack drone “Chernika” on the Industrial district of the city. 

Barrot said that Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, felt like he was “at home” in eastern Ukraine because Russian is spoken there.” He added, “Russian is spoken here,” but people living in Kharkiv “fight the invader relentlessly.” 

According to the latest poll of the Kyiv Institute of Sociology, the number of people who speak only Russian at home in the east of Ukraine dropped from 53% to 32% over the last five years. 

Read more

Gwara is a Kharkiv-based independent newsroom that works to tell you about our vibrant home while it resists Russia’s war of aggression and endures through its consequences. Please, consider buying our journalists a coffee or subscribing to our Patreon to support our reporting long-term.