“I am concerned that people here are becoming more fatalistic, and care less about the danger,” says Gregory Scherban, a friend of mine, a Kharkiv resident and a volunteer helping the evacuation of those escaping the new Russian assault in the villages in north-east Ukraine.
I understand what he means. Walking with colleagues through northern Saltivka – once a populous residential area on the edge of Kharkiv that was hit by heavy shelling in the early stage of the war – we hear the sounds of explosions. I’m scared but my colleagues from the area are calm. “It’s too far away,” they say, casually. An air alert warns about further strikes, but the communal workers nearby continue repairing the road as if nothing is going on. The air alert can be on for dozens of hours at a time, so not resuming activity isn’t an option.
