Cross-border skirmishes heighten anxiety among Ukrainian villagers

Even as new attacks brought war to Russia, the Russians reacted forcefully, increasing the threat to the few civilians who remained in towns along of the border.

The forests around Vovchansk were burning, white smoke drifting through the pines and rising above the treetops where artillery shells had set off fires.

Vovchansk and other towns and villages along Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia have been living under shellfire for months Russian forces across the border. But in the past five days, attacks have exploded with sudden intensity after groups of Russian fighters in exile – who are aligned with Ukraine against the Russian government – ​​attacked several settlements inside Russia, and Russian forces responded forcefully.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the southeast, Ukrainian leaders faced an unfolding disaster on Wednesday as sea levels rose in a destroyed dam on the Dnipro river has forced thousands of evacuations. But near the northern border, anxiety centered on continued cross-border hostilities, with the two sides trading heavy volleys of artillery shells this week.

Vovchansk, two and a half miles from the Russian border, is mostly a ghost town. There are few cars on the roads except military and police vehicles. Barely 1,000 people remain after months of shelling that damaged many residential homes and central buildings, and most were hiding inside. keep going,” said Iryna, who lives in the city with her two daughters and six dogs. "Drones fly all the time." As with many civilians in frontline areas in Ukraine, her last name is withheld for security reasons.

As she spoke, the deep rumble of an exploding artillery shell echoed around the edge of the city, followed by some high-pitched aftershocks from the outgoing artillery.

ImageVovchansk locals waving to each other as they move through a closed market area. accustomed to the bombardments, she said. They care for a growing collection of dogs they took in after being abandoned by neighbors who had moved away.

In Vovchansk, Ukrainian officials refused to comment on the recent military operation. But they said Ukraine needed to move Russian forces away from the border to reduce shelling on the wider region, suggesting tacit support.

"They are terrorizing the people," said Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of the civil-military administration of Vovchansk.

The city has been occupied by Russian forces for seven months, and then, after a massive Ukrainian counter-offensive in September forced the Russians to withdraw, residents endured a harsh winter.Russia unleashed a torrent of daily artillery and mortar strikes as part of of its winter offensive in eastern Ukraine.

The latest fighting has cut electricity and telephone services, which has aggravated the difficulties of the population Local authorities focused on providing food and other supplies, including building materials for damaged houses, to the remaining population.

Two villages even closer to the border than Vovchansk are almost abandoned, the police chief said. There are only two residents left in one of the villages.

The head of the local education department, Lyudmila Madiani, said he was providing classes online to 600 children still in the district, but had to suspend them last week because the internet went down. Only four of the 21 schools...