Pyatikhatki, Kharkiv district/Collage of Channel 24 website

In the Kharkiv direction, the invaders are trying to fire at the positions of Ukrainian defenders and hold on to the previously occupied territories. The Pyatikhatky area of ​​Kharkov is also regularly shelled.

Residential buildings, dormitories, the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, where the experimental nuclear installation “Source of Neutrons” is located, were damaged here. About what is happening here now and how the population is surviving – the site of Channel 24 was exclusively told by local residents.

Life under constant shelling

From the first day of the full-scale invasion, people began to leave their homes en masse. Of the ten thousand registered residents of the district, today there are about 150 people here. Most of them are elderly people who have nowhere to go.

Once a week, humanitarian aid is brought here, which is then distributed to all residents. The journalists of the 24 channel site managed to visit the Pyatikhatki area and communicate with the local population. It is rare to see people on the streets because of the constant danger of shelling.

Kharkiv Pyatikhatky District/Photo by Alina Turishin, Channel 24:

Ada, 75, was sitting on a bench waiting for humanitarian aid. She was confused about the days and the first thing she asked when she saw us was: “What day is it today?” It turned out that she had come for help the day before. The woman lives here alone, there is no light, water and gas. She can't hear or see well, but she didn't want to leave the house.

The entrances of the house were damaged, the windows were broken. A projectile has arrived. I'm not afraid of death. I already have a lot. I do not care. Falls, rattles, but nothing, I'm not afraid, she said.

Yuri Kurilo went outside to fetch water. He said that life is hard here, and people are hiding, because shelling continues uninterruptedly. The man is 82 years old and he devoted 60 of them to science.

By profession, Kurilo is a physicist and works at the Institute of High Technologies of KhNU named after V.M. Karazin. Here he stayed with his wife. The man noted that “Russian occupiers have beaten a world-class Institute. And it is a great sin against world science to shoot at such an institution.”

I have been in this profession for 60 years and I am not going to leave it yet. She is very interesting. I bring some benefit and I'm glad about it. A shell hit my house and pierced it wide open. Few stayed here. This is what these pagans from Russia arranged for us. Let's hope this ends soon. And we will restore it,” he added.

Yuriy Kurilo, physicist at the Institute of High Technologies of V.I. M. Karazina/Photo by Alina Turishin, Channel 24

75-year-old Svetlana said that she loves Pyatikhatki very much and does not want to go anywhere. She added that she was used to constant shelling and no longer pays attention. Together with other residents, he goes out to clean up his native area.

My house is half gone. From the side of Russko-Lozovaya, the corner of the fifth floor was completely recaptured. A shell flew into my fourth entrance. There are no windows in the house. No light, little water. The gas comes and goes, she noted.

75-year-old Svetlana/Photo by Alina Turishin, Channel 24

Some residents of the district refuse to talk. Like 80-year-old Larisa. The woman went out to find her cat. And with tears she said that she came here a long time ago from Uzbekistan to graduate from the Institute. And then the war began.

75-year-old Vasily constantly spends the night in the basement of his own house. The man works as a boiler room electrician, so he could not leave the house, because “the profession is responsible and at any moment he could be called.”

75-year-old Vasily/Photo by Alina Turishin , Channel 24

He said that in each house a headman was appointed, that is, a responsible person. The man himself jokes a lot and calls to see where he sleeps. In the basement of the house are mattresses, warm clothes and food.

A house after a shell hit /Photo by Alina Turishin, Channel 24

He introduces us to Elena. The woman said that she lived in the basement for 45 days, and then “the psyche could not stand it, so I decided to go with my husband.” She remembered how on February 27 she went outside and heard a whistle.

I quickly ran into the entrance. As soon as I closed the door, a cluster bomb hit. Everything was pierced through by bullets. We lived in the basement for 45 days, then left for Lvov. We returned today, but we won’t live here yet, because it’s dangerous here,” she said.

Vladimir also did not leave his home. He urged us to stay near the walls, because Grads can fly at any time and anywhere. “The man said that his own mother is here, she is sick. He also takes care of other elderly people who are left alone.

Vladimir/Photo by Alina Turishin, Channel 24

From the first day, the area of ​​Kharkov – Severnaya Saltovka – was stormed through us. We and the Alekseevka area were the main areas of attack. Everyone left. People like animals get used to fear. You scare us because you walk on open roads and we walk under houses. Everything is broken here,” he said.

According to Vladimir, there were days when up to five packages of Grads “came” in an hour.

The enemy tried to attack the Ukrainian positions in the Izyum region. However, he was not successful and was forced to retreat, having suffered losses. In the northern and northeastern direction, the invaders focused on defense. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to move forward. Over the past day, on May 5, the invaders fired from the MLRS Saltovsky and Sloboda districts of Kharkov, Kharkov, Izyumsky and Chuguevsky districts of the region. In Kharkov, there is a hit in a residential building. In total, three dead and ten wounded in the region during the day.

Also interesting – the UAF counter-offensive forced the orcs and their puppets to withdraw: watch the video