report
Hardly any other city in Ukraine suffers as much from constant Russian shelling as Kharkiv in the northeast. Those who stay have usually settled underground – and have to be persistent.
Oleksiy Evsiyukov is satisfied with the solar cells that have just been installed on the roof of his workshop in Kharkiv. The 39-year-old entrepreneur invested the equivalent of 20,000 euros. Because he and his wife want to stay in Kharkiv – despite the massive Russian air raids on the metropolis. Now his ten seamstresses have consistently enough electricity, even though 80 percent of the thermal power plants in and around Kharkiv are damaged. Most of the time, when there is a flight alarm, they continue sewing in the workshop in the basement.
Swimsuits and sportswear are currently selling very well. The order books are full. Evsiyukov believes fitness is important to people, especially now during the war: “They don’t see it as a luxury, but as a way to keep fit.” Kharkiv is a university city. Many young people live here who have consciously decided to stay and resist the Russians.
Entrepreneur Oleksiy Evsiyukov has just invested 20,000 euros and had solar panels installed to keep his tailoring business running.
Street art from Ukrainian culture
Before the Russian invasion, 250,000 students lived here, now some of them are studying abroad or online, but many have also stayed, says street artist Gamlet Schynkowskyi, known only by his first name. Gamlet leads past rubble in the historic city center. He painted some of the craters left in the asphalt by the Russian glide bombs and rockets with white flowers and the exact dates of impact. He writes quotes from Ukrainian philosophers and writers on the walls of buildings in Kharkiv. Now is the time to rediscover the suppressed Ukrainian culture, says Gamlet. Because a people without culture has no roots.
Stalin once had Ukrainian intellectuals, artists and writers shot here in Kharkiv in the 1920s and 1930s. “That’s why we can’t give up now,” says Gamlet. Kharkiv has always been a city of underground culture – “and now it’s our way of surviving.” A city is digging in. Clubs, cinemas, improvised concert halls, workshops and a school have now been moved underground. “We’re very inventive,” says Gamlet, puffing on his cigarette.
Street artist Gamlet paints craters in the asphalt with white flowers and writes quotes from Ukrainian philosophers and writers on the walls.
Mayor works in the bunker
Mayor Ihor Terekhov also works in underground shelters in secret locations to avoid becoming the target of a Russian attack. The Russians have been trying to conquer Kharkiv since the beginning of the war, he says: “They want to raise the Russian flag here. The city has a symbolic meaning for them.”
The metropolis is repeatedly and massively attacked from Russia with drones, rockets and glide bombs. With a range of 80 kilometers, the glide bombs needed around 35 to 40 seconds to reach their target after being launched, explains Terechow. People only hear the flight alarm after the bombs hit. “You have no chance.” Every day people die or are wounded by the shelling, and no one can be sure that they will survive the day. Kharkiv is a kind of front, says Terekhov: The city needs modern anti-aircraft systems and long-range missiles as quickly as possible to protect the population.
Terekhov has just come from a council meeting where he passed the resolution to suspend all taxes on companies for the time being. In this way he wants to prevent companies from migrating en masse. Public transport is also free. Ultimately, the city took in 500,000 internal refugees. The Russians must not succeed in driving people out of Kharkiv, he emphasizes: “Kharkiv was the first capital of Ukraine and we will not bow down.”
Thermo underwear instead of swimming trunks
They also often talk about it in Oleksiy and his wife Viktoria Varenikova’s small workshop. “I would never leave this city,” says the seamstress Olena. It’s not about possession, but about having to pack up your things and start begging somewhere else. But she can’t stand it much longer, she says through tears. The constant fear and the feeling of being at the mercy of the Russian missiles is sapping their strength. She cries when she thinks about her children’s future.
“We love this city,” explains Varenikova. That’s why they did everything they could to secure jobs in their company. Last winter they often sewed by candlelight, she says. The generators they had purchased were dirty, noisy and needed constant maintenance. Since they installed the solar panels, they have been able to work properly again. “We can only survive this war if the economy runs smoothly,” she says.
With their sewing machines, which they bought specifically to make swimwear, they now often also sew uniforms for the soldiers. They soon want to use the energy from the solar cells to sew the soldiers thermal underwear for the winter.