An old Soviet T-34 tank covered in snow sits on display outside the MF Sumtsov history museum in downtown Kharkiv on January 27, 2022. © Mehdi Chebil
Rolling Stone: ‘Putin Lost Us’: A City of Russian-Speaking Ukrainians Is Vowing To Fight Moscow’s Aggression
The students and artists of Kharkiv are embracing their history and sticking it to the Russian president
KHARKIV, Ukraine — The House of Actors theater was packed on Saturday night in Kharkiv, a Ukrainian city just 33 miles from the Russian border. The crowd spent the evening laughing at stand-up comedy from the Saxalin-UA troupe, who performed in Russian here in the heart of the country’s supposedly pro-Russia east. Most of the bits were the usual jokes about men and women and relationships, but politics arrived for the final act: On the smoke-covered stage, performers stretched out the Ukrainian flag and silently mouthed the words of an obscene popular chant about Vladimir Putin, comparing him to male genitalia. The audience exploded in applause and whistles. SaXalin-UA is popular among locals here, and performs nearly every night to packed houses, delivering the audience a much-needed break from continually feeling stressed out about “Russia coming.”
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Update #1: Ukraine: Kharkiv resilient as it faces the threat of a Russian invasion (France 24)
Update #2: In Eastern Ukraine's Largest City, Pro-Russia Sympathies Wither as War Looms (WSJ)
Update #3: Pro-Moscow separatists once marched in this Ukraine border city. Now it's standing against Russia (Washington Post)
WNU Editor: Since the 2014 revolution there has been a massive security presence in Kharkiv. Their focus has been to keep the peace, and to make sure that a rebellion does not happen like in the Donbas. This presence is not only in Kharkiv, but in most eastern Ukrainian regions with dominant Russian speaking populations. The central government .... understandably .... does not trust these civilians.
I have family in Kharkiv, and they like most Russian-Ukrainians resent the central government's discriminatory language and educational laws. And while I doubt that they will fight to stop a Russian invasion, I also doubt that they will support it. Most people in Ukraine want to live their lives, and they are tired of conflict and hard times.
In the last Ukraine Presidential election this region voted in the first round for Yuriy Boyko, a politician with close ties to Putin and who (not surprising) favors closer ties to Russia.