From News Nation:
“EXPLAINED: Why Kharkiv is one
of Ukraine’s most vulnerable cities”
(An aerial view on the center of
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. The situation
in Kharkiv, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from some of the tens of thousands of
Russian troops massed at the border of Ukraine, feels particularly perilous.
Ukraine’s second-largest city is one of its industrial centers and includes two
factories that restore old Soviet-era tanks or build new ones.)
Despite being the second-largest
city in Ukraine, the northeast city Kharkiv is particularly threatened as Russia
stages an invasion of the country at the order of Vladimir Putin. Attacks began
in the early morning hours Thursday, when bombs sounded in a dozen Ukraine
cities. Kharkiv, which has a population of around 1.4 million people, is only
about 26 miles from the Russian border.
The city – once a capital – is
considered a cultural hub, known for its wealth of art, music and history. The
city is also a prime target for Russian takeover. “Kharkiv has long loomed large
in President Vladimir V. Putin’s view that Ukraine is no more than an appendage
of Russia unjustly snatched away…” writes the New York Times‘ Andrew Higgins. Here
are the key reasons Kharkiv is so vulnerable.
Proximity Most obviously is Kharkiv’s closeness to
the Russian border: The nearest Russian city, Belgorad, is a mere 50 miles
away. But the city is a border town in more ways than just where it’s located.
Culture As the Washington
Post explains, the majority of Kharkiv’s population is Russian-speaking.
Residents here have particularly strong ties to Russia, with many traveling
back and forth for commerce and family visits relatively recently. Now some say
they resent conflict between the two countries and how inconvenient it’s made
these trips. Attitudes toward Russia are warmer in Kharkiv than
elsewhere in Ukraine. Here, many Ukrainians also consider themselves Russian.
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov previously said residents respect Russia and
love Ukraine. “Yes, we speak Russian. If you ask me if Kharkiv citizens
want Ukraine to be friends with Russia, the answer is definitely yes,” said
Terekhov. “But do they want war? Definitely not. Do they want for us to be a
piece of Russia? Of course not.”
On Feb. 5, thousands of
Ukrainians marched through Kharkiv waving Ukraine flags and signs reading
“Kharkiv is Ukraine.” Ukraine Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky previously said Kharkiv
would be vulnerable to Russian attack. This image was reversed back in 2014,
when pro-Russian separatists marched through the streets calling the city
“Kharkiv People’s Republic.”
High tension Russia-Ukraine
relations have been tense since even before Ukraine gained independence and
separated from the Soviet Union in 1991. The situation became even more tenuous
in 2014, when pro-Russian Pres. Viktor Yanukovych was ousted after protests.
Rather than leave the country, however, Yanukovych went to Kharkiv, where he
and several other pro-Russia officials hoped to regain footing. After
the Ukrainian area of Crimea was seized by Russia in 2014, around half a
million people who were displaced from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions
relocated to Kharkiv. Since 2014 (and before), the city’s proximity has made
pro-Russian protests – and even terror attacks – easier to stage.
^ I have several Friends living
in Kharkiv. They aren't anti-Russian (in fact like many Ukrainians in eastern
and central Ukraine they speak to me in Ukrainian and I answer them in Russian
and then they speak to me in Russian and I answer them in Ukrainian.)
They are anti-war and anti-being
invaded, attacked, bombed, shot at and occupied by Putin though. ^
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