Since the start of the war in Ukraine, she has remained in her hometown, Kharkiv, despite the bombardments, to show and comment on the conflict on social networks. Maria Avdeeva is research director at the European Expert Association, a Ukrainian think tank based in her city. She explains to RFI the reasons for her fight.
Almost every day, Maria Avdeeva shares images of the latest bombings in her hometown of Kharkiv, a large city in northeastern Ukraine, with her approximately 95,000 Twitter followers.
The researcher intends to document war crimes, to prove that Russian bombing also targets civilians. Behind her, in this video posted Monday: a crater, two charred cars and impacts on the walls.
While Ukrainian troops have liberated 4 villages around Kharkiv, Russia continues indiscriminate shelling on residential areas to impact those living in the city. Last night 3 people died and 8 were injured. pic.twitter.com/np3wyH4HP9
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 2, 2022
” When the invasion started, explains Maria Avdeeva to RFI, Russia has launched a new wave of disinformation in all state media and via Telegram channels. And it was very important for me to show that this is a fabric of lies and to show the real situation in Kharkiv. »
Today, the bombings are less frequent, she says, but they are indiscriminate strikes. Previously concentrated in the northeast of Kharkiv, they now more often target the city center. Our interlocutor assures us: no neighborhood is safe anymore, in the second largest city in her country.
The front line, which was at the level of the ring road, has been pushed back somewhat by Ukrainian forces in recent days. Villages have been liberated in the north. Hence the drop in intensity of the bombardments; the noose of the Russian army is loosening a little. Families who had fled several weeks ago are beginning to return.
►To re-read: In Ukraine, in the northeast of Kharkiv, life underground in an atomic shelter
Maria Avdeeva observes more and more people in the streets.
People just don’t have the money. Since their flight, they are forced to rent accommodation, they do not have their usual job. So they have to go back because their home is here. There are also more people in the streets of Kharkiv, because it is warmer now and people are tired of hiding all the time, in shelters, basements. I was in a residential area today that is constantly bombed, and people were outside! They are aware that there may be a strike, but they cannot remain hidden all the time. What the authorities say is that it is still too dangerous to return to Kharkiv. And those who are here are advised to stay at home all the time, even if there is no warning, because the shells can fall anywhere.
Audio: Maria Avdeeva explains that families are returning to Kharkiv when the city is not safe
The city is not out of the woods, insists the researcher. She reports that Ukrainian soldiers remain in large numbers in the city, to face a possible new ground attack by the Russian army.
The Donbass remains their main target. The heaviest fighting is going on there right now, around Izium and near smaller towns. But the Ukrainian military continues to defend Kharkiv, because it’s not over. After this attack on the Donbass, it is possible that the offensive will switch to Kharkiv, because the city is very close to the Russian border. And because the Russians are concentrating troops in Belgorod, which is the nearest big city on the Russian side, and it’s only 40 kilometers from Kharkiv. They will try to conquer as much territory as possible, to show some semblance of victory, of success to the Russian people, because so far the Russian forces have not succeeded in accomplishing any of the objectives announced by Putin in February.
Audio: For Maria Avdeeva, Donbass is the priority but Kharkiv may be a target
►Read also: In Kharkiv, a handful of restaurants reopen to boost the morale of the inhabitants
Maria Avdeeva also endeavors to show the strength of the resistance in her city, after more than two months of war. Like here, this improvised concert in a hospital in Kharkiv, punctuated by the Ukrainian national anthem.
Nobel nominee writer Serhiy Zhadan and Kharkiv musicians gave a concert and delivered humanitarian aid to the staff and patients in one in the local hospitals. At the end of the concert, people sang the anthem, many had tears in their eyes. Kharkiv resistance is remarkable. pic.twitter.com/4tBPhrN9HI
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 3, 2022
The researcher intends to stay here as long as possible. She simply slips having put her family to safety.
