Citizens on the Ukrainian side of the border quickly realized that this shelling was out of the ordinary.
“It's very scary,” Oksana told the newspaper. “It's much stronger than usual.” The Guardian.
Oksana took her two children under the rain of bombs in her village. And in the refugee center in Sumy — a city the size of Bergen and Trondheim near the border with Russia in northeastern Ukraine — there are many similar stories.
“What happened last week was a hundred times worse,” says Mykola, who was evacuated with his wife from Jonakivka, five miles from the border, on Sunday.
Local residents received minimal official warning of the attack. However, suspicion was present. When the attack began, authorities announced the mandatory evacuation of 6,000 people from villages in the area.
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Local residents of a village near the Russian border during the evacuation to Sumy.
Local residents from a village near the Russian border arrive at an evacuation center in Sumy. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Ratinsky
– I felt ecstatic.
The fighting has moved across the Russian border. However, a rocket hit a residential building and wounded eight civilians in southern Sumy on Sunday evening. On Tuesday night, Russia sent 38 attack drones and two ballistic missiles into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.
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However, the attacks do not seem to break the will to fight. And no one can blame their displacement on the sudden attack.
Lyudmila, from the village of Khotyn, wipes away tears as she talks about the man still trying to harvest soybeans on their farm near the border. But she knows it is right to attack from where she lives, even if it puts her family in danger.
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“I felt ecstatic and elated. Absolutely, 100%, they should have done it sooner. I wish I could have done it myself,” Lyudmila tells The Guardian.
Watch the video: Here, Ukrainian forces strike at night.
– makes crazy choices
About a week later, Ukraine has captured 28 villages inside the Kursk region, according to Alexei Smirnov, Russia’s acting regional governor. He said Monday that the Ukrainian invasion had reached a depth of 12 kilometers and a front of 40 kilometers, Russian state media reported.
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Volodymyr Zelensky says the attack is about Ukrainian security and that Russia has launched numerous airstrikes against Ukraine from the Kursk region.
– Russia must be forced to make peace, if Putin wants to fight so badly, Zelensky says.
Russian authorities refer to the Ukrainian attack as crazy.
– Zelensky is making crazy choices that could deteriorate far beyond Ukraine, according to a statement from Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, which RIA republished.
The Ukrainian offensive marks the first time this part of Russia has been occupied since World War II. Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will give what he called a “deserved response” and will “undoubtedly achieve all its goals.”
Smoke rises into the sky after shelling on the Russian border in the Sumy region. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Ratinsky
humiliation
The operation came as a surprise to the Russians, who hastily sent in reserve forces, tanks, air support, artillery and drones to try to stop the advance.
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The march is a major humiliation for President Putin, who has tried to make the Russian people believe that life is going on normally in the country despite the war. The Russian media are downplaying the attack and instead writing about the authorities’ care for the evacuees.
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Putin believes the Ukrainian offensive is an attempt to gain a better starting point for negotiations, and suggests he believes Ukraine is trying to hold onto territory for a potential trade-off when the war ends.
There is little sign of serious peace talks, though the Kremlin has previously signaled its willingness to end the war along the current front lines. After that, Russia would be left with about 18 percent of Ukraine. Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to restore its internationally recognized borders and is seeking NATO membership.
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In Sumy, the roughly 150 refugees waiting for assistance appear to have little interest in such immediate peace, although the danger near the border means many have immediate expectations of returning home.
Mykola, who lost his right hand before the war, is happy about the Ukrainian march into Russia, even though he himself had to flee his village, 10 kilometers from the border.
“Now they can see what it’s like. They don’t understand what war is,” he tells The Guardian. “Let them have a taste of it.”
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