Saltivka, the ground zero of the war in Kharkov


The busted windowsthe car shells charred, the huge open sinkholes on the asphalt due to the impacts of artillery, the windows Y balconies pierced by projectiles, the facades blackened by fires that in many cases consumed themselves and no one could put out, the playgrounds with swings and seesaws deserted and full of glass fallen from adjacent buildings. But above all, the spooky silhouettes of the few inhabitants that still remain here and that in their day, with the first bombingspreferred not to undertake those of Villa Diego; figures belonging, all of them and without exception, to that social status so ex-soviet made up of retirees with misery pensions and nowhere to go.

This is Saltivka Masiva neighborhood on the outskirts of Kharkiv -in the west of Ukraine– which began to be built back in the 60’s and so baptized because the road that connects the second largest Ukrainian city with the towns of Staryi Saltiv Y Verknii Satliv constitutes one of its border boundaries. Being an eminently residential district, it does not seem that the shells of the Russian Armed Forces, which fell prolifically throughout the month of March until very recently, have sought to destroy military objectives run by the ukrainian state. The high level of destruction that the district presents is due, according to its inhabitants, to its geographical positionlocated in the extreme north of the city, that is, closer to the russian border, about 40 kilometers away, and from a front line that in recent days has been moving away little by little from the urban area to the delight of defenders and inhabitants of Kharkov.

With her head covered by a brown cap and a thin blue trench coat that barely protects her from the prevailing strong wind, Zhenia, a man prematurely aged from 68 years who prefers to hide his last name, goes every day to the underground of the nearby metro station Heroi Pratsi with the sole purpose of filling a container with hot soup. “From 46 apartmentsonly six are still inhabited”, he highlights, while pointing out where the most destructive bombs fell during the height of the military offensive. Although many of the locals no longer live in their homes, in his case he has preferred to continue in his apartment against all odds , even though the windows are broken and spend the days literally out in the open and exposed to air currents. “It’s very cold when it gets dark, five or six degrees,” he says, before clarifying that every night he must wrap himself carefully before going to bed. His response is blunt when he is questioned about his refusal to be evacuated. “But I have nowhere to go,” he exclaims.

Platforms, corridors and rooms

It is precisely underground, specifically in the platformsthe hallways and the rooms with vending machines from the aforementioned suburban station, where the human drama that one intuits in the deserted streets of Saltivka Masiv meat is made. Because hundreds and hundreds of neighbors have settled there, literally piling on top of each other, in an unhealthy way, with mats, chairs, blankets, kitchen utensils and even microwave ovens. Valentina Osina65, and her son Ruslan45, wear more than two months refugees in this place, where they arrived in the first days of the offensive after a bombardment destroyed the lower floors of the building in which they lived, located some two kilometers. “We don’t know if we still have a house; the Army won’t let us go there, they tell us it’s still dangerous,” says Valentina. Both are ill, particularly the mother, who suffers from bronchitis. And despite knowing that these long stays, sleeping on a floor literally covered in dirt will only worsen their condition. Despite everything, she prefers not to complain. “They give us good foodand among those of us who are here we get along well here,” he stresses.

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The most destroyed part of Saltivka is, without a doubt, after crossing a small stream by means of a bridge, meters below, in bucolic pond. The silence here is unsettling, disturbing, one that makes your blood run cold, especially if from time to time it is interrupted by an intense dry rumble coming from the front lines. “That’s nothing, in March, our building was vibrating and moving as if it were an earthquake,” he says. Irina Nikolaenko, 73 years old. He admits, yes, having felt fear on one occasion, when a shell set the garage on fire and a parked car caught fire. “We thought the fire would spread to the building,” he explains.

by his side, Ludmila Kiskina insists that they will not leave their homes despite the war, while thanking heaven and luck that their apartment is one of those that still remains almost intact. “Only one window has been affected,” he explains. “The flats facing this façade, the most exposed, are the ones with three bedrooms; ours are smaller,” Irina interrupts. In addition to the determination not to leave her house when occupying armythere is a powerful reason why this woman, despite everything, remains in Saltivka: The 36 cats that feeds every day, no matter what happens, even under the most terrible bombardment.


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