As the Russians advance towards Kharkiv, Ukrainians head to the dance floor
After two years under bombardment, they are determined to live life to the full
By Wendell Steavenson with Anastasiia Parafeniuk
We arrived in Kharkiv at lunchtime on Friday May 10th, as news was breaking that Russian troops had crossed the border, around 30km away, early that morning. “Shit, it’s war again,” thought Artem Vusyk, a theatre director. More than a year and a half ago Russian forces had been driven back from the outskirts of the city by a Ukrainian counter-offensive. This was the first time since then that they had set foot in this corner of eastern Ukraine, just as Ukrainian resolve seemed to be fraying along the front line.
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