Vehicles are seen on and around a damaged bridge in Kupyansk. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post) KUPIANSK, Ukraine – The front line is now a river, the Oskil, that runs through the middle of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk. On one side are the imposing Ukrainian forces that pushed their Russian enemies almost entirely out of the northeastern region of Kharkiv during a sweeping counteroffensive this month. From her bedroom window, Liza Udovik, 26, has a view to the other side, where the Russians have retreated. The sound of Ukrainian gunfire rocked her apartment these past few days as the Ukrainian army moved into Kupiansk and the city became a battlefield. Russian tanks and armored vehicles still patrol the streets, but the Ukrainians are driving them, using abandoned Russian weapons against them. Udovik began to count the seconds between hearing the deafening boom of artillery and the appearance of smoke in the distance. From Tuesday to Wednesday, the gap widened, from 9 seconds to 13. “They’re pushing back,” he said with a smile. Oskil became a shield for the Russians on September 9. As the Ukrainians closed in, the invading forces crossed the bridge and blew it up behind them to slow the Kiev advance. And Kupiansk was suddenly cut off from its second half. The next morning, 55-year-old Lena Danilova looked bewildered at the Ukrainian vehicles driving through the city’s streets. A man beside her tugged at her sleeve, showing the different uniforms to the soldiers now patrolling the area. “Look, these are our boys,” he whispered to her. Danilova said wiping away tears of joy. “Finally,” she said. But then he had a sick realization. Two of her children were stuck on the other side of the river. They had gone to attend a school there a few days before. Now it’s the line where the Russians are desperate to stop Ukraine’s fierce advance further south, into the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. After Kupiansk was captured without a fight just three days into the war, the city was at least spared Russian bombardment. Now people here are facing some of the horrors of war that other Ukrainians experienced months ago. They had been waiting and hoping for the liberation of Ukraine, many said, but never imagined it would be like this: the threat of Russian bombing, no power in the city and no way to get essential medicine. Locals quickly packed their most essential possessions and hastily evacuated with volunteers this week, evoking images from the early days of the war. Valya, 58, left her cats behind. The floor of her apartment was filled with bowls of water and she left a key for her friend to feed them. With only Russian state television channels, a Kremlin propaganda tool, available in Kupiansk for the past six months, people were cut off from independent news about what was happening in Ukraine. The Russian government forbids the media from even calling it a war, preferring to call it a “special military operation” and information is tightly controlled. While evacuating with her mother, Udovic was asked if she knew about the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers against civilians in Bukha, including torture and murder – which made major international news in April. Udovic shook her head. “Bucha?” Udovik said. “I think I heard something about it, but I’m not sure.” The Russian channels he watched sometimes focused on how Europe might face an energy crisis this winter by cutting gas flows from Russia, he said. People talked in hushed voices about what happened during the occupation, because they say that part of the population is sympathetic to Moscow, and if Russian soldiers return, then neighbors could inform about neighbors. Udovik’s own family was torn apart by it. Her grandmother stopped speaking to her sister after she hung a Russian flag outside her house. On February 27, just three days after Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion, the mayor of Kupiansk, Gennady Matsegora, posted a video on Facebook admitting to surrendering the city to the Russian military. Matzegora was a member of the pro-Russian party of Ukraine. “Today at 7:30 the commander of a Russian battalion was called to propose negotiations,” he said. “If rejected, the city would be stormed ‘with all the consequences.’ I decided to join the talks to avoid casualties and damage to the city.” Udovik, who considers herself a Ukrainian patriot, acknowledged that Matsegora will almost certainly be considered a traitor. But her own feelings are complicated. “For the citizens of course, this decision probably saved lives,” he said. “We didn’t hear these explosions that we’re hearing now. In the beginning it was quiet, but we knew that eventually everything would start.” The Russians used Kupyansk as the seat of their occupying government. A propaganda radio station called “Kharkiv-Z” – the letter “Z” has become a symbol of the Russian military – was fired up in local shops. Residents could only make calls to Russia. Even without official annexation, the city has become so integrated into Russia that Udovik even had a related visit from Vladivostok, the Russian far-eastern city near the border with North Korea. Moscow authorities were advertising that people could get Russian passports. Danilova said she was forced to send her children to school, even though she knew they would be taught the Russian curriculum. People were threatened that if they did not, their parental rights could be revoked. Others said they feared the strict 8pm curfew. because there were rumors of people disappearing if they were caught outside of past time. The Russians had used Kupiansk as a transport hub, moving hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers through it and towards the then front line. Some of these same vehicles are returning – trophies of the Ukrainian military using equipment left behind by the Russians in their retreat. On Thursday, as the sounds of incoming fire echoed through the city, shells landing on the liberated side of the river were barely audible – a sign that the Russians’ ammunition stores could be depleted after Ukrainian strikes and a swift withdrawal forced them to abandon or destroy much of it. On the way to Kupyansk, the Ukrainians were moving pontoons, preparing to cross the river and continue their advance. The sign announcing the city, painted in white, red and blue – the colors of the Russian flag – was torn down and reduced to rubble.
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The last: Grain shipments from Ukraine are being accelerated under the agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports had sent food prices skyrocketing and raised fears of more famine in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including cargoes of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed. The battle: The conflict on the ground continues as Russia uses its heavy artillery advantage to pound Ukrainian forces, which have at times managed to put up stiff resistance. In the south, Ukraine’s hopes rest on the liberation of the Russian-held Kherson region, and eventually Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014. Fears of disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain as both sides accuse each other of bombing it. . The weapons: Western arms supplies are helping Ukraine slow Russian advances. US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) allow Ukrainian forces to strike further behind Russian lines against Russian artillery. Russia has used a range of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts. Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground since the start of the war — here are some of their strongest works. How you can help: Here are ways those in the US can help support the Ukrainian people as well as the donations people have made around the world. Read his full coverage Russia-Ukraine crisis. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video.
