Emergency Response: Ukrainian Border Town Faces Russian Threat

In a small Ukrainian border town called Vovchansk, nightmares are becoming a reality. The streets are filled with chaos as buildings are aflame and the sound of shelling never seems to end. The town is scattered with destroyed tanks and Humvees, remnants of the ongoing conflict. Russian forces are slowly advancing, with the constant threat of small arms fire in the air.

Locals in the town endured occupation and liberation for seven tough months in 2022. Now, they are facing the consequences of Russian President Vladimir Putin's rush to seize more land before Ukraine can benefit from US weapons arriving.

On Friday, Moscow initiated its most unexpected operation since the first invasion by crossing Ukraine's northern border. This move is a repeat attempt to advance south towards the country's second largest city.

The offensive has caused significant destruction in Vovchansk. The Russian military now controls nearly twelve villages as a result of their actions. This has forced Kyiv to redirect troops from other areas where Russia has made advances, in order to prevent Moscow's forces from reaching Kharkiv city.

In Vovchansk, the ongoing threat has prompted Mykola, his wife, and his 85-year-old mother to leave the home they have cherished for four decades. They are among 35 groups of residents who contacted Ukrainian authorities on Thursday, seeking rescue before Russian troops, currently positioned just a few hundred meters to the north, advance further.

 Maria, 85, evacuates the Ukrainian town of Vovchansk.

 Maria, 85, evacuates the Ukrainian town of Vovchansk.

CNN

The sounds of artillery shells echoes off the cinderblock walls as a young police officer pulls up outside their house.

Mykola walks out, trips on rubble in his yard, and curses.

"Hop in!" Maksim, the police officer, urges the family as he quickly guides them and their belongings towards the car.

Maksim has been tirelessly driving into the town to evacuate people ever since Russia's advance. He operates swiftly, determined to shuttle out as many people as possible. The air is thick with the smell of burning homes, and the sunlight is obscured by smoke - a grim reminder of the constant artillery shelling that targets houses around the clock.

Mykola and his wife pick up plastic bags filled with eggs and walk slowly through their vegetable patch. They both agree that the airstrikes from the previous night were too much. In less than five minutes, they carefully navigate through potholes and debris scattered on the street.

As they reach a roundabout at the town's edge, they notice an old Soviet-era fighter jet, once a symbol of military strength, lying on the ground. They maneuver around the wreckage of a Ukrainian tank that has been destroyed, with its ammunition spilled on the street, still untouched.

On May 16, 2024, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping were seen at an official welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Sergei Bobylov/Pool/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images

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Fifteen minutes down the road, they pull into a gas station. With a wide smile, 85-year-old Maria walks haltingly to an awaiting police van.

"It's not scary," she tells me about the shelling. "I just don't like it." Her family mentions that she is partially deaf, so the loud noises may not bother her as much. However, she was still feeling overwhelmed.

Sitting beside her is her old neighbor, Inna.

“At night, they dropped so many aerial bombs,” she says. “Horrible.”

Friends of theirs, who now volunteer to extract residents, tried to reach them the previous day but had to turn back.

“They were shooting close to us. Firing at everything,” said Inna.

Harrowing memories of Russian control

They remember the time in 2022 when they were under Russian occupation, living under the control of a country they had peacefully coexisted with for many years, just a few kilometers away across the border.

Mykola's wife described the occupation as tolerable, saying, "It was okay for us. They didn't bother us, but they did cause trouble for other people in the area."

Inna remembers how the Russians targeted Ukrainian soldiers who had fought against them in the initial phase of the war in 2014. "They often mistreated the soldiers. We had a factory there, where they kept our boys prisoner," she recalls. Reports of abuse of Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces have been widespread, though the Kremlin has dismissed these allegations as false.

After dropping off the residents, the police head towards Vovchansk. They stop just past the town entrance, parking among a line of trees. Sitting at a picnic table, they study a map to determine which of the three rescue calls they can respond to. They find that only one group of people requesting help is within reach.

Their debate is suddenly interrupted by a low whining noise. Peering out from beneath the tree cover, they try to locate the source of the sound. The noise comes and goes, but soon they spot a drone - one large one hovering, and two smaller ones racing around.

The two policemen quickly point their weapons towards the sky. "Look above us!" one of them exclaims. "Should I shoot it down?" he asks his colleague. "But what if it belongs to us?" the other replies. Opening fire may only draw the drone's attention towards them.

The tension is mounting as they wait. The noise around them is getting louder. The police and CNN crew are hoping that they are not being targeted by the Russian drone, either hidden by the trees or deemed unimportant.

The drone seems to be focused on something else close by. However, the noise suddenly increases, signaling that it is time to make a quick exit.

Editor's P/S:

The article paints a vivid and heartbreaking picture of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with the small border town of V