Return to Life Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the residents of Balakliia in the Kharkiv region have learned to determine by ear which weapons are being fired at: mortars, cluster and barrel artillery, enemy aircraft, explosions of streamers, petals and other mines. During the six months of Russian occupation, illegal prisons appeared in the city – each district has its own. Some stayed with them for months, some for days or weeks after the Russian military took away their houses or cars. Some were kidnapped by the Russians, and after that the people disappeared. Currently, after the liberation of the city, infrastructure facilities are being restored first to restore electricity, gas and water. Roads around the city are cleared of mines and restored. Stores are gradually opening. In some, residents gather to charge their phones and other gadgets. Russian goods are still sold in stores, although the first Ukrainian goods were brought in. In the central square, a hundred people are waiting for humanitarian aid, nearby is the “Nova Post” – so far in the form of a mobile branch right on the street. The city began to come back to life.
Source: Stas Yurchenko
