"City of Flame" .. Will it be a new road for #Russia towards #Kyiv? #usa #ukraine

The city of Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, is exposed to a barrage of Russian missiles in a new effort from Moscow to achieve a moral victory at the beginning of the third phase of the war by controlling the second largest Ukrainian province and the largest industrial center in the country.

Over the course of 5 months, the Russian-Ukrainian war went through two phases. The first was Moscow's attempt to control the capital, Kyiv, and some cities in the north, but it did not succeed in that, and then the other phase, during which it focused its efforts on the east, and achieved great successes. The most prominent of them was the full control of the Lugansk region in the middle of this month.

 Kharkiv is the second largest province in terms of area, most of its residents speak Russian and is located at a distance of tens of kilometers from the border with Russia. From controlling it again after fierce battles.

And in the middle of this month, Vitaly Ganchev, head of the civil military administration of the pro-Moscow province of Kharkiv, said that Russian forces liberated about 20% of the territory of the province, from Kyiv forces and what he described as mercenaries.

Return to the capital again

On the importance of Kharkiv, Leon Radziosini, an analyst specializing in security and strategic affairs, said that the bombing of Kharkiv has an almost daily share in an attempt to destroy it completely, especially after the failure of direct incursions at the beginning of the war, pointing out that Russia wants to destroy the largest industrial center in Ukraine and stifle its economy.

Radziusini added, in statements to "Sky News Arabia", that the importance of Kharkiv lies in the fact that if it is controlled, it will isolate the north-east of Ukraine, and then it will be able to bring in its forces in the separatist region of Donbass and direct them to Kharkiv, and thus the northeastern corridor will be open. In front of the Russian army and equipment, and therefore it is possible to head towards the capital again if it wants to.

He pointed out that Kharkiv also represents an important symbolism for Russia, as it was one of the most important military-industrial fortresses of the Soviet Union, and its control would represent a great moral victory with the beginning of the third phase of the war.

Kharkiv is called the "City of Flame" for its more than 300 industrial projects. It is a stronghold of Ukraine's military industries, including tanks, armored vehicles, space-related industries, nuclear power plants and giant aircraft.

It was also the first capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from December 1919 to January 1934, before the capital was moved to Kyiv.

The battle is near

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said that the Russians "are trying to turn Kharkiv into a miserable city, like the cities in Russia, but they will not succeed," noting that they expect a new attempt to control the city.

The mayor added: "We are preparing for it, our army is preparing for it, and we will defend our city," while acknowledging that he did not know what the Russian intentions were, but expressed his hope that the Ukrainian victory would be achieved "as soon as possible."

He continued, "The city includes nine neighborhoods, all of which were bombed to varying degrees and at different times. Therefore, we can say that there is no safe place in Kharkiv," adding, "Yes, you are safe in the shelters and in the metro, but that's it."

By the end of March, about a third of Kharkiv's pre-war population of 1.4 million had fled to the west, and the city had a brief respite in early May when Russian forces retreated to focus the main fighting on the Battle of Donbass in the east. People were coming back to Kharkiv every day, shops were opening, people started coming out of their shelters, but the truce did not last long.

 Igor Terekhov estimates the number of victims in the hundreds, but he does not have an accurate toll, and says, "We are facing a genocide against the Ukrainian people and nation. About 30 percent of the houses and apartments in the city have been destroyed," noting that the number of homeless people is about 150 thousand.