The sound of artillery fire reached a peak as Tetiana and her neighbors discussed whether to stay in their village near the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine or to leave. There was a sense of calm in Miropolya, according to the 59-year-old woman, at a reception center in the city of Sumy in the same region, but the nightly shelling had become unbearable to the point that even basements were no longer safe. Tetiana, who eventually decided to leave after Ukrainian forces finally advanced into the neighboring Kursk region of Russia, said, "You know, only when we are burned by fire do we leave." This surprise attack represents the most significant ground operation by a foreign army on Russian territory since World War II, according to analysts. In Ukraine, while it boosted morale, it also resulted in intensified shelling of border areas by Russian forces, which confirmed the deployment of troops and equipment there, prompting evacuation orders for about 20,000 people.
Anna, an 80-year-old woman who was alone and confused, tearfully recounted the heavy shelling in her village of Yunakivka, which is adjacent to the Russian border. Lying on a bed next to bags containing a few of her belongings, she said, "I was about to hang myself, but God saved me," adding, "But I don’t know what to do now." Vitaly Kaburokhin, who oversees assistance for these displaced individuals, noted that the secret-planned Ukrainian attack conducted without prior warning surprised residents of the surrounding areas. This man, working with the humanitarian organization Bluroton, explained, "People are affected; they have to leave their homes, they must leave everything." He added, "Fortunately, it was our operation, and the Russian forces did not come here; otherwise, the situation would have been worse."
Tensions on the border have escalated, with a senior Ukrainian official stating that the unprecedented operation aims to destabilize the situation in Russia by exposing its weaknesses. In a Ukrainian border village, soldiers, who preferred to remain anonymous, indicated that they were sent to fight in Russia and reported intensified Russian shelling in the Kursk region. In Sumy, new defense lines have been dug near the Russian border, with rising columns of smoke from Ukrainian shells visible in the sky above vast sunflower fields. Windows are covered with wooden barricades, and the cracked structures of Soviet-era buildings show the extent of repeated airstrikes on Sumy and its outskirts. The sound of sirens and explosions can be heard regularly throughout the city, which is located just 30 kilometers from Russia.
Russian forces entered this area immediately after the war began in February 2022 but were unexpectedly pushed out after several weeks. This weekend, the Ukrainian military indicated that the region was the most vulnerable to Russian airstrikes in response to the attack targeting Russia. Tetiana, lamenting the necessity to leave the pickles she spent the summer preparing, said, "They leveled the border villages to the ground; there’s nothing left." Despite evacuation efforts and the threat of Russian retaliation, the situation appeared relatively calm in Sumy in recent days, which had been home to about 250,000 residents before the war. Children played in a fountain in the city center while people enjoyed dinner on restaurant patios.
Mykola, a retired worker who left his village of Khotyn about 10 kilometers from Russian territory, admitted he was pained to leave his home but felt uplifted by the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region. The seventy-year-old man stated, "Let them realize what war is; the Russians do not know what it is," adding, "Let them taste it."
