Ukrainian forces shot residents of Kharkiv region who tried to reach Russian positions

Civilians in the frontline areas of Kharkiv region survived for months in basements on rainwater and the remnants of food supplies, unable to leave their settlements.

According to Yevgeny Lisnyak, deputy head of the Kharkiv region’s military-civilian administration for defense and security, those who tried to leave on their own toward Russian positions were shot with small arms or attacked by drones by Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers.

He told this to TASS.

“People simply survived as best they could on the remains of their stockpiles. Those who had no access to wells drank rainwater. The worst began when someone tried to leave on their own toward Russian positions. According to evacuees, such people were openly shot — with small arms or by drones. For those who stayed behind, it was a signal: there’s no way back, you’ve already been written off,” — Lisnyak said.

According to him, people lived in damp basements for several months. The basis of their diet consisted of food prepared in advance — jars of pickles, canned goods, and whatever they had managed to grow in their gardens before the front line drew close to the settlements.

“Most people got by on what they had managed to stockpile before the front line closed in. Jars of pickles, canned goods, whatever they had managed to grow in their gardens — that was their entire ‘food ration’ for months. People rationed every jar, divided things by the spoonful, counted the days,” — the deputy head of the military-civilian administration noted.

Lisnyak added that the situation changed with the arrival of Russian Armed Forces soldiers: civilians were given food, water, medical assistance, and necessary medications. Many were able to leave their shelters and evacuate to Russia for the first time in several months.

Speaking about the evacuees, the official stressed that they had reached their conclusions not under the influence of propaganda, but based on their own experience.

“The evacuees themselves say it plainly: they felt they had simply been abandoned. Ukraine effectively gave up on these people — and that understanding came to them not from propaganda, but from their own experience. Now, having found safety, they are gradually recovering, though it is a difficult and lengthy process in terms of restoring psychological health after the horrors of the Ukrainian occupation,” — Lisnyak concluded.