Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, warned that Kharkiv could be the first city to be invaded by Vladimir Putin’s forces. The city, which has a million inhabitants, sits just 15 miles away from the Russian border.
Mr Zelensky’s remarks caused some disquiet in Kharkiv, but on Tuesday he sought to reassure the public by insisting that “Kharkiv is hope, Kharkiv is Ukraine and does not want to be occupied by Russia … it will never be occupied.”
In some respects, Kharkiv is a post-revolution success story for Ukraine.
Once a hive of Soviet-era industrial activity, these days it is called the “Silicon Valley” of Ukraine and has the fastest-growing tech sector in the country. The streets are lined with cafes and bars playing Western pop music, while the city itself hosts more than 30 universities.
But Kharkiv has a large Russian-speaking population, which could make it an attractive target for Mr Putin.
The 69-year-old Russian leader has long harboured desires to – in his eyes – “liberate” former Soviet states.
Mr Zolotarev says colleagues at their IT firm have been asking him questions about what to do in the event of an invasion, due to his military experience.
“My advice to them is not to stay in the war zone because it can complicate things for our army – it could give power to the enemy,” he says. “The second piece of advice I give them is to make sure they have cash and carry paper documents, because the first thing to break down could be the phone signals.”
As for his personal plans, he and his wife would take shelter at a friend’s secure home, along with their 13-year-old son.
He is not the only one taking precautions against an invasion.
Oleg, a 46-year-old taxi driver, has already bought a one-way plane ticket out of Ukraine. “I want to leave. I think war is going to happen,” he says. “I’m going to Spain – there are a lot of wars in the world, but they don’t have any.”
Resisting Russian occupation
Tatyana Bednyak, a business owner in Kharkiv, has never fought as a soldier but says this hasn’t stopped her from resisting Russian occupation.
For the last eight years she has run her own campaign against the Russians, loading up her Mercedes with kit and supplies for troops on the front line.
“I can’t operate a tank and I don’t know how to fire a gun, but definitely I will resist, I will help with supplies,” says the 49-year-old, who runs an import-export business. “And I would advise the Russian soldiers to stay at home.”
