“Three days it will not subside”

On Sunday, the Belgorod village of Novaya Tavolzhanka turned out to be known to the whole world: for several hours there was a battle with a sabotage group that had entered from the territory of Ukraine. Correspondent “Kommersant” Alexander Chernykh and photographer Anatoly Zhdanov visited the outskirts of the village and found that an artillery duel was actively going on in its vicinity – shells literally whistled over the journalists’ heads. Despite this, civilians remain in Novaya Tavolzhanka. About why they do not leave – in the report “Kommersant”.

As soon as the first reports about a Ukrainian sabotage group in the border village of Novaya Tavolzhanka appeared on Sunday afternoon, photographer Anatoly Zhdanov and I decided to go: “If they don’t let us through, we’ll at least take off the smoke on the horizon.” In the lobby of the Belgorod hotel we meet Life correspondent Andrey Tishin, we agree to go together – after all, it’s safer.

We estimate that directly – through Shebekino – is definitely not an option. The detour is noticeably longer, but the chances of slipping through are probably higher. And so it turns out: at two checkpoints, armed people carefully check the documents, look into the salon, into the trunk – and let them go further “at their own peril and risk.” On the way, we really shoot columns of smoke on the horizon – somewhere opposite Shebekino. In the same place we hear the first rumbles of artillery, still distant.

At the entrance to Novaya Tavolzhanka, dense white smoke spreads low: a massive elevator is on fire, dry grass in the field is smoldering nearby. It’s hard to breathe, you want to cough. Empty – no people, no cars; it immediately seems that invisible observers are looking at you. Explosions are constantly booming, already loud – it means that it “flies” nearby. “The sky is still clear, as luck would have it,” Andrey frowns. “With such a sky, we are in full view of any drone.” After another loud explosion, I can’t stand it: “Listen, it’s somehow very angry here …” Colleagues agree: “Let’s not take risks. We stop by, we look at something, and we leave immediately, we don’t linger.”

Dreaming. In the first alley we see people – and we go to them.

“I myself live in another village, a few days ago we went to relatives far away in the region,” says the gray-haired man. “And now I have come to pick up my daughter. She has three Rottweilers, so she did not want to leave: there was nowhere to put them.

– In points of temporary accommodation they take dogs with them.

– Well, what is it with? With little ones. And she has thoroughbreds, one and a half to two years old, already healthy. They tried to find where to attach them. The Belgorod nursery is already overcrowded, we were told. I managed to find an overexposure somewhere near Grayvoron – it’s also restless there, but better than here.

A young woman comes out of the house, followed by three large dogs. They circle around me and sniff at my bulletproof vest. “To me, to me,” the hostess nervously commands him. “Quickly, get in the car!” Fast!” Two obey, and the third runs off to the side. There is a loud explosion; the dog clings to the ground and trembles.

— Hasan! Hassan! – the woman runs up to him, sits down, strokes. – Hasan, let’s go …

Another explosion. The frightened dog tries to escape, the mistress grabs him by the collar. He rests, spins, twisting her arms. “Hasya, let’s go, Khasenka,” the woman drags him to the car. “Don’t be afraid, poor thing! Let’s go, let’s go! You won’t live here!” The dog falls to the ground again and the hostess, unable to stand it, begins to cry: “Hasik, let’s go, please!”

An elderly woman is sitting on a bench near the neighboring house – just such people are drawn by illustrators of fairy tales about kind grandmothers. Gray hair in a bun, old glasses with thick lenses, a cozy woolen jacket, a black skirt and bright striped knitted socks. At the feet sits a small mongrel. The sound of an explosion is heard again; Grandmother sobs – says that she is very scared.

– Why don’t you leave?

— Where should I go! she waves away. “Nowhere to go!”

— There is a TAP in Belgorod, I was there yesterday, I saw it with my own eyes. They receive people there, feed them, then place them in hostels,” I tell them. But the grandmother grumbles incredulously: “Where to go, how to go …”

Listen, will you come with us? – I turn to my colleagues, they nod. – What is your name?

— Lydia Alekseevna.

– Lidia Alekseevna, we have a place in the car. Let us take you straight to Belgorod.

She starts to worry.

— To Belgorod? What’s the point of living there? How about getting a pension?

– There is a department of the pension service in the TAP. They pay pensions right on the spot, I saw it myself. Let’s go, it’s really dangerous to stay here.

Our dog has no collar or leash…

Everything will be given to you there.

We also have a cat…

Let’s take a cat.

Grandma is confused. Then he shakes his head:

– It needs to be assembled. And I have nothing collected. And documents are needed. And the grandfather did not gather …

– Take your grandfather and go together.

– Seryozha! she calls excitedly. “Seryozha, come here.

A lean old man comes out of the house. Silently stands next to his wife.

“They are trying to persuade me to come here…” she sobs. It’s like he’s complaining. The man looks at us questioningly, I want to calmly explain everything to him, but then there is a particularly loud explosion – and it seems to break through me:

– Do you see what’s going on? We will go with us, we will take you to Belgorod, to the TAP. There is a large accommodation facility, they will feed you, give you a place to sleep. It’s safe there, you can take your dog there. What will you be waiting for while you are here… Come with us, you will be in Belgorod in two hours.

— And then what? the man asks calmly.

– And then we will take you to the TAP. They will set you up…

“Oh, I’m a loner by nature,” my grandmother sobs. “It’s hard for me to live with others.

– And from the TAP you will be sent to a hostel. Wait there for three days until everything calms down …

Another explosion drowns me out.

“Three days this will not subside,” the man states. He turns and walks back into the house. And Lydia Alekseevna continues to deny: “What if I leave – and then they will plunder everything … What if the house catches fire, there will be no one to put it out. Then in general, in old age, we will be left with nothing. ”

Well, life is more precious! Andrew convinces her.

Then a loud sharp whistle is heard, my colleagues and I fall into the grass. This time, the sound of the explosion is simply deafening. We wait a few seconds, then rise – no, not to our full height. We squat down and look at Lydia Alekseevna. She didn’t even move from her bench.

After such a close arrival, we in chorus persuade her to leave. “I don’t want to,” she sobs. “No-no-no. Not today. If sho, then we will call the head, they will pick us up and take us out.”

“They might not even come,” Andrey says cautiously.

– Well, no, well, God bless them! – Grandmother waves her hand at him irritably. – I’ll sit in the basement until I die. Where am I in my old age … with my pension only to leave.

“They will put you up for free,” I remind. But Lidia Alekseevna does not hear me. And Andrei does not hear, and Tolya – and even explosions. She sits on a bench, sways, fiddles with her glasses and sobs:

– They worked all their lives, and received a pension of nine thousand. And we sit, we count … They also bombed now, in general a skiff. And there was hellish work at the elevator – and dust, and all that, but she worked there all her life. And he is still teleporting there as a machinist, and he already has 50 years of experience. Even if they brought a loaf of bread, we don’t need anything else. This is where life would be. Let’s die like this. Okay… everything will be fine…

It is at this moment that the sound of an explosion is heard again – and it starts up again:

– What are you … I’m just upset with you here! And so it was nothing, already used to it. I will live. And how do I drop everything? The neighbors left me how much. Up there there is a wild boar, a dog, a healthy shepherd dog, and chickens. And here Zoya has both geese and chickens, everything in the world …

Explosion.

– The economy of the people! It’s a pity too.

“It’s not worth life,” Andrey convinces her. “It’s not worth life. Life is the most precious thing there is.

— Yes, what a life! Lidia Alekseevna interrupts. Her face twists like that of an unfortunate offended child. She clasps her hands: – Well, what kind of life is this? What kind of life is this? How do we live in old age?! It seems to be getting better, but then some banks (apparently, they mean telephone scammers.— “b”), then something else…

Another explosion.

– And now in general – to hang around in strange corners, – she sobs … – And I’m on the line for an apartment …

And another explosion.

– This house was decorated for my mother, I don’t draw it up, you see – it’s a wreck. I have been on the waiting list for an apartment in the city for 36 years! Grandfather worked for 50 years – and what did he get? What should I do? Wander around the corners? I do not want anything!

Lidia Alekseevna sighs often and deeply. She is stifled by resentment at how unfair life turned out to be in the end. She repeats again about 36 years of work experience, says something about Soviet power, about “three instances”, about the fact that “wherever you go, they all have nothing.” And he finishes: “I never asked, never demanded anything from anyone – and now I won’t! Just bread, eat something. To not die of starvation.”

We give up and stop persuading. We give her all the food that was found in the car. Gradually, Lidia Mikhailovna calms down and promises: “If anything, my grandfather and I will hide in the basement.” Suddenly, a car pulls up to the house, a strong young man gets out of it. “This is Sasha, the neighbor,” the grandmother rejoices. “He always takes care of us, always helps, brings medicines. He is great. He is our guardian angel.” “Are you in Belgorod? Let’s see you off, take the fast road,” Alexander suggests. We agree. “Guardian Angel” rushes at full speed on primers, highways and road junctions, we try to keep up. The smoke on the horizon reminds us that it is still very dangerous here. We pass a couple of completely empty villages; I have time to notice that roadside cafes and gas stations are reinforced with sandbags. We rush on; a military helicopter flies low overhead, and we continue to rush along an empty road without observing any speed limits – and then our “guardian angel” brakes sharply. And we are disciplined waiting for the red signal to change to green. Now in the Belgorod region the border of peaceful life passes where people still pay attention to traffic lights.

Alexander Chernykh, Belgorod—Novaya Tavolzhanka