On the ground in Ukraine, the desperate fight to protect a key city from 100,000 of ‘Putin’s thugs’

We were born here, lived here all our lives, and we’ll die here,” says Antonia Samuelska as she trudges along with the aid of a walking stick on a deserted street in Kupiansk. “We have no other home anywhere else, we’ll have to accept what comes.”

The stillness of a hot afternoon under a blazing sun is broken by the sudden roar of artillery fire, three rounds landing one after the other in quick succession, not far away, spraying dust and debris up into the air with plumes of flame and smoke.

“See that? That’s what’s happening every day now. They get closer and closer, what are they trying to hit? Those are just empty houses, most people have left”, says Samuelska. “This place has been attacked since the start of the war. We had a little bit of peace after that, and then it started again”.

The attacks are continuing. On Sunday, 11 people were injured, seven severely, after Kupiansk, in northeastern Ukraine, was hit by artillery strikes. The shelling went on intermittently for several hours, setting cars and buildings on fire.

The city, less than two hours tank drive from Kharkiv – the second city of Ukraine – changed hands after Vladimir Putin’s invasion. It was captured early on by the Russians and remained under occupation for six months. It was retaken last autumn in a Ukrainian assault that blitzed through the region making sweeping gains.

Now, while international focus has been on the much-publicised Ukrainian summer counteroffensive, in which progress has been slow, Moscow has amassed a huge force – mounting its own offensive towards Kharkiv. Kupiansk, a key logistics hub, is the first objective.

The force contains more than 100,000 Russian troops, 900 tanks, 555 artillery systems and 375 self-propelled guns, according to Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern front. General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of the armed forces, has stressed the threat to the defence lines in the northeast is very real. “The enemy’s goal is to break through and go directly to Kupiansk. The fighting is extremely intense, some positions have changed hands several times. We are making all the necessary preparations,” he says.

Hanna Maliar, the deputy defence minister, says that “the hottest direction remains Kupiansk”. It is plain the Russians “want to retake the territories in the Kharkiv region that they lost”.

Troops have had to be moved from missions in the south and around the eastern Bakhmut region to the Kupiansk front to bolster its defence. Russian artillery is within five miles of the city. Intense fighting is taking place in the outlying villages, with recently-acquired cluster ammunition used by the Ukrainians to repulse repeated enemy attacks.

More than 11,000 residents have been moved out under a mandatory evacuation order, with families with children and the elderly categorised as a priority. Some, like Antonia, have stubbornly refused to move, despite first-hand experience of the violence. Her 75-year-old husband, Nicolai, had a narrow escape when he went to check that their daughter and son-in-law’s house in the village of Petropavlika had not been damaged or looted.

A missile hit the village, which is located on the frontline, injuring people who had gone to move furniture from their property. Nicolai suffered some minor cuts. “It could have been much worse,” says Antonia. Their son-in-law, Serhey, is in Germany for surgery on his leg after being hit by shrapnel in a bombing.

“They talk about evacuating us to Kharkiv. But we have no money to rent anything there and we don’t want to end up in a [refugee] shelter,” Antonia says. “And [there are] the animals. We are looking after the pets of our neighbours who have gone. We can’t just leave them. Some people may laugh, but we are fond of animals. They are not cruel like people.”

Svetlana lives with her 14-year old-son Evgeny in a part of Kupiansk that is under intense shelling. The area should have been included in the compulsory extraction rules, but Svetlana says they have not been contacted by officials. Their neighbourhood starts getting hit from late afternoon every day, and water and electricity are cut off for hours in the wake of the barrages.

Evgeny used to be an outgoing sports enthusiast – and prize-winning boxer – at school. Now he is withdrawn and nervous, a few grey hairs have started appearing on his head during the past two weeks. Most of the children from Evgeny’s school have left. It’s shut for the summer holidays now, but lessons would be online only, if and when it reopens. He feels this will add to his sense of isolation. “I don’t like staying here, we need to go, it’s lonely here, also dangerous,” he says, flinching at the thud of mortar rounds on the edge of the district.

There are other risks apart from the shells and rockets, Svetlana says. They cannot contact people in an emergency when lack of power leads to a lack of internet. “We are here by ourselves and we are worried about looters and other criminals” she adds.

Another woman in the area, Olena, who is staying with her sister, says: “There are groups of men who are turning up. They are looters we are sure, but there are also people here who like the Russians, want them back. The soldiers are busy fighting. We don’t see the police at all around after evening falls. They go home to Kharkiv.”

The reasons for leaving Kupiansk, Ukrainian police officers admit privately, is the fear that collaborators are hiding in the city and will target them.

There have been quite frequent operations against suspected informers. A few days ago, one man was arrested by the intelligence service, SBU, for allegedly sending information to the enemy about flight directions of Ukrainian military helicopters, movement of convoys and photos of army positions on the ground.

There have traditionally been divided loyalties in these areas. Ukrainian troops had retreated from Kupiansk, 25 miles from the Russian border, when Russian forces advanced in February 2022. The mayor, Hennadiy Matsegora, handed the key to the city to the invaders and urged citizens not to resist. The Kyiv government charged him with treason. He has disappeared – believed to be across the border.

Posters were put up declaring “We are one people with Russia” and “Reunited at Last” as the Russian troops came in. Some, partly torn, are still on the walls. Fading red, white and blue colours of the Russian flag still remain on patches of railings of the destroyed bridge over the Oskil River, which had connected two parts of the city.

The occupying forces settled in. Some were so confident of an undisturbed future that they bought property in the city. Volunteer groups say they evacuated local women who are pregnant with their Russian partners. The partners have been captured, killed or fled. Joining the soldiers who left for Russia were 140 of the city’s police force of 170.

The organisation “I am Saved” has been one of the most active in carrying out evacuations. They were approached by suspected collaborators desperate to get out.

Dmitry Lozhenko, one of the senior team leaders, says: “What made them different was that they offered a lot of money to be taken out. They were keen to avoid the vetting carried out by Ukrainian authorities on anyone leaving formerly occupied territories. They probably couldn’t get to Russia, and were trying to get away before they were caught.”

The organisation is carrying out evacuations now. The numbers being taken out have reduced sharply, given the fall in the size of the city’s population from a pre-war 25,000. Dmitry is convinced some of those staying behind are fifth columnists. “I know some police officers, and of course it is the case that they don’t stay in Kupiansk at night,” he says. “There’d be nothing to stop someone rolling a grenade into where they slept. Who’d notice another explosion among so many?”

I visited Kupiansk after it was retaken by Ukrainian forces last Autumn. Many of those I spoke to had been arrested by the Russians and subsequently tortured, blaming informers for what happened to them.

Serhei Pymonenko was taken to the central police station and severely beaten. “They accused me of spying for the Ukrainian army,” he said. “They searched my place and said they found [a] secret communication kit. That was nonsense; it was just some old radio equipment. I am an electrician so I had such things, it was normal.”

“I lost four teeth, got two broken ribs and [had] bruises all over my body. I feel very angry about what happened to me. There were certainly some people who are pro-Russian. The Russians paid pensions to some, I think it was about 12,000 roubles [around £175] and these people were happy. Maybe they thought they had to sing in return – someone just made up stuff about me.”

Russian shelling of Kupiansk started soon afterwards: much of the city was destroyed when I returned in February, the shattered buildings sheeted in the snow and ice of winter.

There was a bloody stalemate on the frontline with constant engagement. We came under repeated fire on a probing patrol. Lieutenant Artem Vlasenko of the 92nd Brigade said: “We are facing a strong and determined enemy here. We are not just fighting mobics [newly mobilised soldiers] and Wagner criminals, we are now seeing Spetsnaz [Special Forces] here. They are very tough guys, they are trying to get behind our lines. We are losing experienced men. We keep fighting them off, but the Spetsnaz keep coming back.”

The Russians, further reinforced and replenished since then, have pushed forward. An officer in the 138th Battalion in the Kupiansk area says that he and his troops have faced fierce Russian assaults.

“It seems they have learned from their mistakes. When we drive them back and advance they wait for us to arrive in groups and then hit us with really heavy fire. They have good observation from drones now,” he says.

“I saw that some Nato people [a German armed forces report] criticised the Ukrainian army for splitting into small groups in operations. This is one of the reasons we do this. We have to adapt our tactics. The real problem we’re facing is ammunition again, we keep running out and the Russians seem to have much more than us, like before.”

The officer says he and his comrades, while facing the frontline, were aware of the enemy within. “The Russian fire on our positions is sometimes surprisingly accurate, it makes one think that they are getting the information on locations from close to us. We’ve our security measures but it’s impossible to be totally secret,” he says.

“We are quartered in some empty houses, but we try not to stay at any one [house] for too long. To be frank, a lot of the guys would like to be in dug-in positions outside the city, just to feel a bit more assured. Look, I am sure most people left are patriotic and support us. But we have to accept there are those just who just don’t like us, and like the Russians.”

Antonina Mitaniyeva, 63, is staying behind in Kupiansk for the time being. Her husband of 41 years, Evgeny, is Russian-born.

“He cannot believe what the Russians have done. He is angry but also sad. We have cut all links with his family in Russia because they believe all the propaganda they are fed,” she says, wearing a knitted necklace in Ukrainian colours made for her by the 14-year-old daughter of a neighbour.

“The girl’s family has left now, this is not a place for young people. We just feel too old to move – but if it looks like Russians are taking over again, then we’ll go to Ukrainian territory; my Russian and I. We have nothing in common with Putin’s thugs.”