Kharkiv has long been a primary target for any military forces, political parties, or regional and international powers for decades, a fact attested to by the city’s history and current events, from World War II to the present day.
The arrival of Nazi German forces in Kharkiv on October 25, 1941, was a chief reason for the Allied countries’ intervention alongside Moscow in World War II, especially since it was one of the strongest and most fortified Soviet cities.
The city was among the first to be rebuilt after the war; it hosted several tank and armored vehicle factories, aircraft engine manufacturers, and other heavy machinery producers. Post-war, Kharkiv was honored with the “Order of Lenin” and the title of “Hero City,” one of twelve Soviet cities that resisted the Germans at that time.
Due to its symbolic military, industrial significance, and geographic location, Kharkiv was chosen in 2010 as the place to extend the agreement on the presence of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea between Moscow and Kyiv, following the election of the pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
Workers removing debris from Russian shelling in downtown Kharkiv on January 2 (Al Jazeera)
Signs of Old Separatism
Kharkiv has generally been a city where residents support pro-Russian candidates in any elections. In 2014, it was one of the cities that experienced significant separatist movements, which, unlike in cities like Donetsk and Luhansk, did not succeed due to Kyiv’s quick suppression of the movement by force.
Before the current war, the Ukrainian president had already predicted that Kharkiv would be a main target for any extensive Russian invasion. This indeed happened, but Kharkiv and several other eastern, northern, and southern regions were also targeted.
Today, Russia’s clear narrative revolves around the rightful claim over the city, viewing it as a “historical heritage” and considering the majority Russian-speaking “rights-oppressed” residents as victims of Kyiv’s Western-aligned authorities—a storyline debunked by Ukrainians. They assert that the city’s demographics have been altered over decades and curse its geographic location so close to Russia.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, historian Olexandr Paliy, author of “A Brief History of Ukraine,” said that the Soviet Union deliberately changed the demographics of major cities by settling Russian speakers there and preventing the use of Ukrainian; hence residents of cities like Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, and even Kyiv predominantly spoke Russian before the war, while most suburban dwellers spoke Ukrainian.
He also mentioned the eastern region named after the city, covering 31.4 thousand square kilometers, where residents speak a Ukrainian dialect influenced by Russian due to geographic proximity, known as “Surzhyk.”
Kharkiv Palace Hotel was bombed at the beginning of the year because its guests allegedly included foreign mercenaries (Al Jazeera)
The Sudden Shift in Kharkiv’s Sentiment
Since the events of 2014, annexation of Crimea by Russia, and its support for the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics—officially incorporated without international recognition in September 2022—Kharkiv’s sentiment seems to have radically changed, becoming one of the cities most opposed to what is termed the “Russian world.”
This shift is evidenced by the city’s resistance since the beginning of the war and the apparent language shift among many residents to deliberately speak Ukrainian. Historian Paliy adds that “millions of Ukrainians changed their view of Russia after the events of 2014; Russia became an enemy rather than a brother, and Kharkiv was no exception.”
He notes that “On the first days of the war, the Russians quickly reached into the districts of the city, but were met with unexpected resistance, which was not anticipated to be that strong, causing significant losses before withdrawing from most of the region’s territory in September 2022 as well.”
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov told Al Jazeera Net, “The purpose of shelling Kharkiv is to take revenge on the city and its inhabitants” (Al Jazeera)
A City Vulnerable to Shelling
For all these reasons, and being the closest major city to the Russian border—merely 40 km from the center to the Belgorod region, Kharkiv appears decidedly vulnerable to shelling, which hits it almost daily more than other cities.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov, explains, “Kharkiv is often shelled with S-300 missiles, and due to the close geographic location to Belgorod, Russia, these can reach their targets within just 40 seconds,” adding, “We need defenses capable of efficiently intercepting these missiles, as they follow a ballistic trajectory that the available defenses struggle to address.”
Indeed, the sounds of explosions in the city are often heard before the warning sirens go off, and the durations of shelling alerts in Kharkiv are long and frequent. The situation is worse in other parts of the region, with mortar shells, Grad rockets, and other artillery shelling various locations without adequate defense capabilities.
“Vengeful Motives”
Mayor Terekhov considers the shelling of Kharkiv to be driven by “vengeance against the city and its inhabitants,” hitting mostly residential areas, energy networks, and other vital infrastructure, creating numerous burdens.
He also noted that “the frequency of shelling has recently increased, just as with other Ukrainian cities, which was expected as the colder weather intensifies,” with temperatures in Kharkiv dipping below -15 degrees Celsius.
This “vengeance” has another aspect, as the “exposed” city has become a source of irritation for Russians, particularly in neighboring Belgorod, which is aggressively shelled intermittently. The situation has become a cycle of action and reaction. However, Ivан Stupak, military expert at the “Ukrainian Institute for the Future” and former advisor on military security in the Ukrainian parliament, doesn’t fully endorse this view, though he doesn’t rule it out.
Stupak elaborates, “There have been incidents and more may occur; however, it’s important to note that Kyiv often suggests that the shelling of Belgorod and other areas results from Russian mistakes (considering the reliability of certain missile types used) or even deliberate actions by Russian leadership to hit residential neighborhoods within their territory to foster local animosity against Ukraine and ensure the war continues.”
