“Missiles would constantly fly over our heads. All we knew was that our children would not shoot us. So it was relaxing to work in the garden,” said the grandmother, who declined to be identified, her voice shaking between tears and laughter. “And when our people liberated us, the Russians started throwing rockets here and there and it was scary. Very scary. It was impossible to describe how terrifying it was.” The mixture of euphoria, relief and deep shock was typical for the residents of Balakliya who were freed from a surprise Ukrainian attack last week. Last week’s Ukrainian attack still has no name, and the details of what happened are still shrouded in the fog of war. It could be called the sixth battle of Kharkiv – after four in the Second World War and a fifth that unfolded around the regional capital between February and May.
