KUPYANSK, Ukraine
An Anadolu Agency team has captured footage of Ukraine’s Kupiansk city that Kyiv took back from the Russian forces.
Although the Kharkiv region’s Kupiansk is under Ukraine’s control, life in the city has not yet returned to normal due to its close proximity to the front line.
The Ukrainian army recaptured more than 300 settlements from Russian forces in the Kharkiv region in a counteroffensive it launched this month.
Kupiansk, divided into two by the Oskil River and one of the intersection points of the railway network in the region, is a recaptured area from the Russian forces in Ukraine’s counterattack.
Traces of the war, including burnt military vehicles, can be seen on the roads leading to Kupiansk, located in the southeast of Kharkiv.
The Kupiansk sign, located in a region close to the city and painted in the colors of the Russian flag, was dismantled by Ukrainian forces after the region was recaptured.
Particularly in the city center, the buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged.
All shops are currently closed, with very few people roaming the streets, while the sound of shelling echoes through the streets.
Those who want to leave the city due to its proximity to the front line are being evacuated by Ukrainian aid organizations.
Anadolu Agency footage shows the panic experienced by those who want to leave the city and the evacuation teams amid gunfire sounds.
The evacuees are brought back to the Shevchenkove settlement in the Kharkiv region, which was taken back from the Russian forces, but which is considered safer than Kupiansk.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency about her evacuation experience, 72-year-old Katerina Kozer said: “There has been no water and electricity for nine days since last Friday. There was neither gas, electricity, nor water, we were sitting like that. We had nothing. We stayed in the shelter like this. There were shootings every day.”
“We couldn’t go anywhere, but somehow we survived. Thank God we survived,” Kozer added.
