By Serhiy Petrov
- Kharkiv has been defending itself, living, and counterattacking for three months.
- Still, the shelling of the city, as well as its northern suburbs, has been ongoing for three months.
- Fighting continues to the north of the city, and another Territorial Defense battalion is being formed to fortify the defenses.
- The metro has been relaunched in Kharkiv, but the train stock has had some losses.
- Since the beginning of the large-scale muscovite invasion of Ukraine, 707 people, including 36 children, have been killed in the Kharkiv region.
Muscovite strikes of Kharkiv continue, but they are random. It was a quiet day overall, quieter than the previous few. The ruscists struck in the vicinity of Pivnichna Saltivka and Pyatykhatky. I’m glad that last week’s shelling did not cause significant damage, although the Barabashovo market, Pavlove Pole, and Velyka Danylivka were struck.
Shelling continues in the northern suburbs of Kharkiv: Ruski Tyshky, Cherkaski Tyshky, Tsyrkuny, Ruska Lozova, the village of Pytomnyk, the village of Bezruky, Slatyne, Prudyanka, and Derhachi. A shopping mall caught fire in Derhachi as a result of the shelling, and a woman was killed as a result. Another local resident was injured. Mayor of Dergachi Vyacheslav Zadorenko notes that the villages of Pytomnyk and Nove (the latter, according to him, is partially controlled by the Ukrainian military) have been completely destroyed by the occupiers. However, almost no houses were damaged by shelling in Prudyanka, Slatyne, and Ruska Lozova. It’s worth noting that on Monday muscovites “denazified” a memorial to WWII victims in the village of Bezruky. True to the ruscist style, they’ve done the same in Kharkiv to the WWII memorial in Lisopark and the Polish memorial in Pyatykhatky. War with the dead is another typical muscovite practice.
Information has been clarified about the night shelling in Kharkiv. Turns out the air defense system worked and one of the three missiles flying at Merefa was shot down. There, buildings of the railway substation were damaged. It’s been expected that the muscovites would try to destroy the railway infrastructure.
And I will add that by the sound of it the air defense system worked on Tuesday and Wednesday night as well, judging by the sound.
Fighting continues to the north and northeast of Kharkiv. Our guys are rebuffing the muscovites’ attempts to attack in the area of the Ternova Lypetsk Hromada. Arestovich (and he’s not the only one, by the way) claims that our troops around the village of Zarichne, of the Starosaltivska Hromada, have crossed to the other bank of Siverskyi Donets. However, there hasn’t been an official confirmation. I’ll point out another important aspect: it is a pleasure to listen to our artillery work. Many people go to the suburbs or out in the field to enjoy the skill of the “gods of war.”
Another Territorial Defense battalion is being formed, the 247th separate battalion, as a part of the 127th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Everyone is encouraged to join its ranks, with preference given to people with combat experience.
Over the last three months, Kharkiv has not only successfully rebuffed the invasion of the muscovites, whose numbers were many times greater, but also moved from defense to a gradual offensive, resulting in many villages and towns being liberated. The city lived and fought. All of this would not be possible without the dedication of the troops from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Territorial Defense, the Ukraine National Guard, and law enforcement officers from the police and the Security Service of Ukraine. They did a huge, inconspicuous but effective job in the first two months. Thank you!
It would not be possible without our wonderful doctors, who treated people in bomb shelters, doing everything possible and impossible to save the lives of those injured by constant shelling. Rescuers and communal workers put out fires, dismantled debris, rescued people, repaired damaged city communications, often under fire. It would not be possible without many Kharkiv residents who rallied to help our defenders, our doctors, rescuers, local utility workers, and to help their neighbors. We have been able to withstand and fight back. The battle for Kharkiv has not been won yet, but a lot of work has been done for the city to live as a frontline city, even while facing the shelling in the northern suburbs.
The metro has been relaunched in Kharkiv. On the first day, the intervals were half an hour, but there were still a lot of people at the stations in the morning. During the day on the Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska line the intervals were reduced to 10 minutes “by request from workers.” In the future, city authorities promise intervals on this line to be about 10 minutes, and on the other two about 15 minutes.
Mayor Terekhov has indicated that there were attacks on the electric depot of the subway. Six trains (five cars in each) were damaged. There were windows and other parts broken, and some cars could not be repaired. This is what I feared the most and unfortunately it did happen. As a result, three subway stations are down. According to city and regional officials, 177 people living in the subway have been evicted, with dozens of those who have been left homeless are expected to receive temporary housing in dormitories or elsewhere. Others have returned home.
Next, three stations on the Saltivska line (Akademika Pavlova, Studentska, and Heroiv Pratsi) where 1,500 to 2,000 people used to hide at the peak of the shelling, should come back online. Terekhov hopes this will happen by the end of the week.
It was lively in Pivnichna Saltivka today. For once, this completely deserted place, with very few cars driving on the roads, saw some traffic. It can already be dangerous to cross the road without looking. There is also a bus route to the border of Saltivka and Pivnichna Saltivka, enabling people who do not have money for a taxi or do not own a car to get to these remote areas and check their apartments. Residents of the apartments arrive and put things in order. Those who survived these three months under fire quietly walked to the part of Saltivka, close to Pivnichna Saltivka, that was under heavy fire for more than two months. As some of them joke, it is necessary to give a “special status” to the retirees who never left. There is no electricity, gas, or water in this part of Saltivka due to damaged water mains or pipes in the buildings themselves. This is not living, it’s surviving.
“Major cleanups” at many schools and daycare centers have been started by employees who stayed or returned to Kharkiv. School and daycare center employees, civil servants, and local government officials are required to return to the city and go to work on June 1. Otherwise they will be fired. The problem is that some of them no longer have housing, some of the administrative buildings have been damaged, and some civil servants may simply not have a place to work.
Regular directives from Kharkiv education officials continue to “surprise” and “impress.” Do you know what some educators can now be seen doing from time to time? They whitewash curbs and trees on school grounds. As if there’s nothing better to do right now. It looks like the rockets falling from the sky have deepened the problems in the heads of some of Kharkiv’s education officials.
Kharkiv residents are optimistic about the future, hoping that the worst of it is over for the city and for them personally.
Meanwhile, in the liberated villages, work is underway to restore electricity and gas supplies. Electricity has already been restored in the villages of Elitne, Kulynychi, and Brazhnyky. Work is underway to repair the destroyed power substation and gas supply in the village of Vilkhivka.
One of the rescuers was wounded as a result of repeated ruscist shelling on May 23 while putting out a fire in Mala Danylivka. His life is not in danger.
Fighting continues in the southeast of the Kharkiv region, in the Slovyansk and Barvinkove directions. The muscovites are making their main efforts in the direction of Svyatohorsk. The situation in this part of the frontline is difficult. Muscovites are storming the village of Pasika in the Oskil Hromada, as well as the town of Lyman in the Donetsk region. However, the Ukrainian military is defending in these areas.
Rocket strikes were again carried out on the territory of the Lozova Hromada, without destruction and casualties, according to local authorities.
The situation is different in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kharkiv region. Resistance continues in the village of Velykyi Burluk. Leaflets with threats against muscovites are posted in the village. Similar ones have appeared in Kherson, Melitopol, Tokmak, etc. In addition, the ruscists are shelling occupied territories. Just a few days ago a teenager was killed by shelling in the village of Chkalovske, center of the Chkalovska Hromada, and two people were wounded in the village of Savyntsi, center of the Savka Hromada. The occupiers have completely blocked all exits from Balakliya, where until now it’s been possible to escape using some detours.
According to the regional authorities, the biggest livestock farms in the Kharkiv region are under occupation. They are located in Kupyansk, Izyum, and the Chuhuiv district and account for more than 50% of all cattle and the same amount of milk production. There is destruction of livestock farms, with animals dying and industrial breeding plants being damaged.
The Pechenihy Village Council is organizing evacuation of people from the temporarily occupied territories of the Pechenihy Hromada and trying to deliver goods there despite the destroyed bridges. More than 200 people have been evacuated in recent days. They are being taken to Chuhuiv and Kharkiv.
In total, 707 people, including 36 children, have died in the Kharkiv region since the beginning of the large-scale muscovite invasion of Ukraine. This accounts for the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government, the liberated territories where exhumations are underway, including information from relatives of the victims who left the occupation and reported such facts. For example, on May 23, the Kharkiv Region Police registered information on 22 deaths. Almost all cases are from reports by relatives or acquaintances about the death of a person.
The sowing campaign in the Kharkiv region continues on 60% of the area of the controlled territory of the region in five districts, except Izium and Kupyansk.
A funny fact. While the genius of fiscalization is happy that OnlyFans paid $305,000 in taxes, law enforcement agencies have purchased content on this resource three times to prosecute a Ukrainian woman for pornography. Ukraine needs to decriminalize adult pornography. Period.
It is not quiet in mosovia. First, there was another explosion near the village of Murom, in the Belhorod region. This is on the border with Kharkiv region, not far from Ternova. The muscovites have accused Ukrainian troops of shelling. Meanwhile, residents of the village of Tiotkino, in the Kursk region (bear the Ukrainian border) wrote a collective letter to Putin and Shoigu that can be summarized as “Putin, bring in the troops.” In short, they can no longer live in basements under constant shelling, of course, from Ukraine and asking for protection, to “close the sky,” to apply the full range of protection, while still supporting the war with Ukraine. They ask to create a buffer zone on the territory of Ukraine so that they can live in peace. By the way, one day these “experts” counted up to 100 hits. I wonder, why can’t such a “buffer zone” be created in the border areas between moscovia and Ukraine, so that Ukrainians can live and work in peace?
Today’s Darwin Award goes to the Caspian flotilla of moscovia, which as part of “import substitution” used Chinese washing machine parts to repair navigation devices and missile control systems. The original parts are under sanctions. Now, the personnel do not want to go to sea and have written a letter to Putin and Shoigu about corruption and the danger that can await them.
Our thanks go to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Territorial Defense, and the police! Let us believe in them and support them! Let us help volunteers, doctors, rescuers, and public utility workers! Let us support each other! We will win!
