Here, in Kharkiv, the frontline isn’t far away, just a few hours drive. Routes into town are fortified with checkpoints. People in camouflage, military hardware, and reports on casualties from the ‘Anti-Terrorist Operation’ have become part of everyday life. News of explosions in the city no longer provoke panic or fear as the bombings are quickly forgotten in the daily barrage of information.
But in the past nine months, Kharkiv has been rocked by a series of bombings, with targets including Stena, a rock pub, in November 2014, and a rally near the Palace of Sport in February 2015.
‘What do the people want?’
In spring 2014, during the fiercest pro-Russian demonstrations, there was much talk of ‘what the people want’, and those city residents who demonstrated their total allegiance to Russia wanted not so much to become a part of Ukraine’s northern neighbour, but rather to return to the Soviet Union.
