In Kupiansk, Ukrainians fear the return of Russian troops

If you drive southeast from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, you will come across a sign that reads "Kupianskii rai," which translates as "Kupiansk paradise." However, two letters are missing, and the sign used to read "raion," meaning district. Kupiansk district has become Kupiansk paradise only in name.

Russian troops took the city of Kupiansk, which is an important railway hub and logistical center, and its surroundings just days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The district was liberated from Russian occupation in September of that year. Throughout, villages had been destroyed, and fields were no longer cultivated. Today, there are mainly military vehicles to be seen on the road.

With the front just kilometers away, the city of Kupiansk is within range of mortar and artillery fire and rocket attacks and under constant fire. Russia's military has also started using guided aerial bombs for its strikes. This section of the front is where some of the fiercest fighting is currently taking place.

'If the Russians come, I will flee'

Kupiansk and the surrounding villages were occupied by the Russians for almost seven months until they were driven out by the Ukrainian army in September 2022. Since then, the city has been under constant fire, as the front line is only a few kilometers away and is within range of mortars, artillery and rocket launchers. Russia's military is now also striking with guided aerial bombs. The section of the front near Kupiansk is one of the areas where there is the most fighting today.

Since the withdrawal of  Ukrainian forces from the city of Avdiivka because of a lack of munition, observers believe that the Russian military might now try to reconquer Kupiansk.

"If the Russians come, I will flee," said Tetyana Vechir, a doctor and deputy head of a hospital in Kupiansk that continues to operate despite the constant fire. She told DW that she and her entire team had continued to work during the Russian occupation and had also done all they could to resist.

She said that the chief physician and an anesthetist had rejected the "management team" installed by the occupying forces and had been held in the cellar as a result. She herself had not been taken prisoner, she explained, despite refusing to treat wounded Russian soldiers and collect blood for them. "I argued with the occupiers and refused to take their orders. I'll be the first one they'll shoot," she said.

For the moment, she was still hoping that the Ukrainian army would be able to defend Kupiansk.  But she said that work was hard since only a fifth of the hospital staff members who worked there before February 2022 remain and there is a shortage of skilled workers. Those who remain in the region are afraid to come to the hospital because of the constant shelling.

Suitcase packed just in case

Andriy Kuznichenko also did not leave Kupiansk during the Russian occupation. The IT teacher, who works for the regional vocational college, said that he, too, had resisted the occupiers by refusing to teach according to the Russian syllabus.

Now, he works from home, like all the employees of the city's educational establishments. Only two of his students remain in Kupiansk. The rest are scattered around Ukraine and all over the world.

"We're like private tutors," he said, explaining that he communicated with his students via video link during lessons and individually via all kinds of messaging systems. He also reported on the situation in Kupiansk.

"They often want to know whether their houses are still standing," he said, adding that he had recently come under fire on his way home, protecting his head with his rucksack.

He said that he would not stay if the Russians returned, and his car was ready with enough gas and his suitcases packed just in case.

'It's going to be hell — a second Avdiivka'

A Ukrainian NGO called "Rose to the Hand" has been helping those who want to evacuate the Kharkiv region at no cost.

For example, the elderly Valentina from Monachynivka, a village north of Kupiansk that was shelled and where there was a power outage, decided to leave although electricians immediately began repairing the power lines. She said goodbye to her home by blessing the front door and told reporters that she needed some space because she had high blood pressure.

Volunteers from the NGO also helped Nadiya, a woman in her 70s who was living on the outskirts of Kupiansk, to leave. Russian soldiers killed her son Ivan during the occupation, and her son Petro is serving in the Ukrainian army in the region of Zaporizhzhia. Faced with constant shelling, she had already been forced to leave the village of Petropavlivka on the other side of the Oskil River to come to Kupiansk. Then, her son wanted to go to Kharkiv: "He said: 'Leave mother, it's going to be hell — a second Avdiivka,'" she said, weeping.

After their arrival in Kharkiv, Nadiya and Valentina were housed in a state home, where they receive food, medicine, and financial support. They have no relatives in Kharkiv, but they say they feel safe after the experiences they have gone through.

This article was originally written in Ukrainian.