Keep calm and carry on: Ukraine’s Kharkiv holds tight under Russian fire

Residents say they won’t be cowed by latest offensive as life continues as usual.

As news of Russia’s spring offensive in Kharkiv started to spread through Kharkiv on Friday, Ukraine’s second biggest city did not descend into panic. No caravans of cars with people evacuating have been seen; the conversations in Kharkiv’s cafes are the only sign of concern about the heavy fighting going on north of the city.

Yevgen Shapoval, the head of the military administration of the Vil’khuvatka community in Kharkiv’s Kupiansk district, passed through the city on Friday on the way back to his village, which is next to the border with Russia. The situation there has been more tense.

“Some people are panicking, but not like the occupiers would like them to. Yes, explosions are heard close up and the situation is not easy. It is difficult especially psychologically,” Shapoval says.

The Russian army has reportedly concentrated about 50,000 troops just across the border, likely in an effort to extend the front towards the south and to create a buffer zone that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised earlier this year as a means of halting Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions.

But Shapoval does not believe that the Russian army will achieve much with its planned offensive. “We must be consistent and believe in Ukraine’s defence forces. So even if they try to do something, to attack, they will get the response they deserve,” he tells Al Jazeera by telephone.