Europe

[Visited: October 2023]

It is a grey morning when we leave from Kharkiv to drive towards the east. Somewhere on a parking lot on the way, we stop and meet two vans of Rescue Now, an organization working to alleviate the suffering of the people living close to the frontline. Inside, we see boxes ready to be distributed near Izyum. From here, we continue driving east. When we reach Izyum, we see one destroyed building after the other. Grey and black ruins of buildings that look even more gruesome under the dark grey autumn sky. We pass the city, and drive south, in the direction of Sloviansk and Bakhmut. After a few kilometers, we pass a monument with brightly coloured wall paintings and a big slogan shouting out Glory to Ukraine. A slogan first used in the war of independence of 1917-1921, but already by famous Ukrainian poet Shevchenko decades earlier, it has become a famous salute during the current war against the Russian invaders. The bright blue, yellow and red are the only colour in an otherwise grey environment.
Shortly after the monument, we take a turn to the east and reach Kamyanka. If Izyum was badly damaged, Kamyanka was almost obliterated from the face of the earth by the Russian army in 2022. We see one destroyed house after the other, and initially don't see anyone in the desolate streets of destruction. The question arises once again: why would anyone want to deliberately destroy a small village like Kamyanka? Destroy the lives of people here, all that they have built for decades, destroy their future? We stop at a crossroads, and start walking the abandoned streets lined by small ruins of simple houses. Our guide reminds us that just a few days earlier, a boy not far from here was wounded when he stepped on a mine. We are to stay on the streets, apparently the Russians mined the streets of the village after they destroyed it. Again - why would they have done so? We see a few people here and there, and when asked, we learn to our surprise that there are still several families living in Kamyanka. People are defiant, people don't want to bend for the aggression and bullying of their neighbour, people don't want to just abandon the village they always lived in. They are coming back after the Ukrainians liberated Kamyanka from the Russian invaders. Of course, the people have come to collect a box from the organization that we arrived with. Some essentials to continue living here. We continue exploring the streets and the more we see, the more appalled we are. Cars that were intentionally destroyed, we even see scratches on one car where it seems that a Russian soldier has tried to take the Ukraine sticker off a car wreck. We see wooden fences on which a big Z has been painted, which was then cancelled by a Ukrainian after Kamyanka was liberated by adding more lines, making the Z less visible. We talk to the owner of a house of which little has been left standing. He has painted a huge Ukrainian flag on the fence. He walks to his car, and takes out Ukrainian flags which he proudly gives us. Once more, we are impressed by the incredible resilience and defiance of Ukrainian people.
On our way back to Izyum, we stop at two ruined buildings. One of them used to be a hospital, the other a school. This part of Kamyanka is deserted, and it is strangely quiet here. The wind rattles the loose pieces of metal hanging from the ruins of the school, adding yet more eeriness around us. Again, we are shocked about the destruction we see. A school. A hospital. Reduced to rubble. We are full of questions, but also disgust, about what we have seen, and there is silence in our van when we drive back to Izyum. Before we reach the city, we visit a local workshop where women are busy producing camouflage nets for their soldiers at the frontlines. We talk to them, and some have husbands or sons fighting the invaders. The women are in a good mood, and sing, and invite us to take pictures. When one woman makes a statement against Putin, all the ladies shout a curse against the Russian dictator who started this insane war, and then burst out in laughter. Strangely enough, these same women who tell us about their ordeal during the invasion, and the people that were lost (mass graves were found here, and it is estimated that more than a thousand people were murdered) - they still manage to cheer us up with their energy. We are again confirmed in our belief that Ukrainians will never give up. When we are back in Izyum, we stop at the main square. All around the square, and the adjacent streets, we see destruction. This is one of the hardest hit cities in Ukraine. We visit a local organization who is helping the city to get back on its feet. Again, we are impressed by the willpower and resolve of people. Yes, people here spoke Russian until recently, but they are switching to Ukrainian. No, they were not against Russia before, but now they are determined to fight for the independence of their country in every possible way. Again, it becomes clear that the war will achieve the opposite of what it hoped to achieve: Ukrainian nationalism and consciousness about their independence are stronger than they have ever been. I hope to be back one day to Izyum, when it has recovered, when it will be rebuilt, and see the city as a historic place in Ukraine, instead of a badly hit town.

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Izyum (Ukraine)

Izyum > Ukraine > Europe

[Visited: October 2023]

Around the World in 80 Clicks