On The Front Line: The City In Ukraine Right Next To Russia

Kim Sengupta reports from Kharkiv where citizens feel close to their Russian ‘brothers’ and do not want to take up arms

- Kim Sengupta

“It is unthinkable for me and my friends to pick up a gun and start fighting the Russians. We have lived together all our lives and now there are people who are trying to turn us into enemies and start a bloodbath,” declared an angry Kiril Semenov.

As the diplomatic options to prevent a new war in Europe appear to fade away, Ukrainians are preparing for what they fear are dark and violent days ahead. Thousands have rushed to join volunteer groups vowing to resist an invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin, one they believe may be imminent.

But there are others who hold that a conflict is being created by the behaviour of the government in Kiev, encouraged by the west, goading Moscow into a war which will end in disaster for Ukraine. It is not a popular view in much of the country which sees a force of more than 100,000 Russian troops massed at the border and the Kremlin going through the motions of talking to the west before launching an offensive.

But, standing in Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Mr Semenov was expressing views which are held, to lesser and greater extent, by a sizeable number of the Russian-speaking population in this city. “This war is being brought about by the Americans and Nato telling the people in Kiev not to compromise, using Ukraine again as their proxy,” held the 48-year-old electrical engineer. “And if the fighting does start, will Nato come here to fight the Russians? Of course not, they have already said they would not.”

Kharkiv is just 25 miles from the Russian border and 150 miles from Donetsk and Luhansk. Some of the vicious strife that led to those two cities becoming separatist republics eight years ago was also present here.