A city of youth, science, and IT. Have the Russians succeeded in breaking Kharkiv's economy with hundreds of KABs?
On the opposite side of the square stands the legendary State Industry Building, or Derzhprom, a unique symbol of the city constructed from reinforced concrete in the 1920s. Its grand architecture and the bustling student life are integral to the identity of Freedom Square.
Currently, during a typical weekday afternoon, the central square of Kharkiv is nearly deserted. Occasionally, a few cars and almost empty public transport pass by.
Kharkiv is surrounded by many clichés: a city where thousands of first-year students arrive each year, a hub of thriving IT and trade, a center of a powerful music scene, cultural breakthroughs, and unique architecture. And who could forget the square pizza and wooden benches?
Since 2022, Kharkiv has become a city that continuously suffers from enemy shelling. The capital of Slobozhanshchyna has endured Russian artillery strikes, missile attacks, and now almost daily hears the explosions of guided aerial bombs (GAB). One of these hit Freedom Square the day after journalists from EP left the city. The bomb once again damaged the university buildings and Derzhprom.
The atmosphere in Kharkiv evokes memories of the lockdown period in 2020: the streets seem empty, and life has come to a standstill. However, the shattered windows, ruined roofs of high-rises, and damaged historical buildings in the city center quickly bring one back to the harsh reality of war.
"It’s not immediately clear what’s wrong with the city. Only later does the realization set in that it’s not as colorful as it used to be. It’s gray, it’s black. There are no smiling faces. The demographic situation has fundamentally changed. The shell is the same, but the city itself is different," shares Serhiy Polituchyi, director of the Factor group of companies.
However, the people of Kharkiv are coming together, helping each other, launching projects, opening businesses, and universities are "relocating" underground while continuing to educate students. "Kharkiv needs to find a new identity. It is no longer a city of factories, business, and students," says local journalist and paramedic Viktor Pichugin.
EP spent several days in this city searching for answers to the question of what its new identity is.
The Epicenter of the Left Bank
Until the early 19th century, Kharkiv was not much different from other cities in the region. A turning point in its history came with the opening of one of the first universities in Eastern Europe in 1805. Founded at the initiative of the enlightener Vasyl Karazin, it spurred the transformation of the city into a major scientific, cultural, and eventually industrial center.
"Before the university opened, Kharkiv was a small town of the Sloboda Cossack regiments, indistinguishable from Chuhuiv or Izium. With the emergence of highly educated personnel, the city began to develop, becoming more attractive for living," says Oleksandr Holovko, pro-rector for scientific and educational work at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
In the early 20th century, the city acutely felt the instability of the times: from 1917 to 1919, the authorities in Kharkiv changed six times. Eventually, the Bolsheviks could not secure their position in Kyiv and decided to make Kharkiv the capital of Soviet Ukraine. The city was not quite ready for this status, so they began constructing departmental buildings, during which the iconic constructivist structure, Derzhprom, was erected.
1 The authorities were hostile towards the universities of that time, fearing pre-revolutionary bourgeois knowledge, which was deemed "harmful" for the new Soviet person. As a result, in 1920, Kharkiv University was closed by a decision of the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian SSR, and various educational institutions operated on its basis, often reorganizing until the university was restored in 1933.
This is how Kharkiv became an educational hub that provided education for a significant part of Ukrainians. It was the epicenter of engineering education, thus the city's economy was based on machine engineering, aerospace, and aviation sectors.
With the restoration of independence, Kharkiv remained a magnet for most applicants from the left bank of the Dnipro. The majority came from Kharkiv, Poltava, and Sumy regions. Students came from all over the country.
"My sister and I were quite sick in Dnipro. The winds carried all the dirt and stench from the city's factories towards us. Frequent colds made our family consider moving. My mom suggested Donetsk, but I replied that the air quality was even worse there. I suggested Kharkiv – a city without large dirty industries and with many universities, which was important for my admission.
We sold our apartment in Dnipro, and my mom went to Kharkiv to check out the city. She liked the Northern Saltivka area, bought a place, and we moved," recalls Dmytro Agapov, founder of IT company CHM Software.
"Kharkiv is students who outpace you in the metro"
On the facade of the main building of KhNU, the word "University" is proudly displayed in large letters. Faculty and students joke that the general name emphasizes that there is only one university in Kharkiv, although there are more than twenty. Before the full-scale war, 300,000 students studied in the city. The diversity of youth from different regions and countries became a driving force for the development of culture, leisure, and creative sectors of the economy.
"Kharkiv was associated with movement. These are students who would outrun you in the metro. You would exit the metro station with them, they would rush to the supermarket, and then scatter to their dormitories. You were always surrounded by this movement of laughter, teasing, and vibrant personalities," recalls Olena Leptuha, chief editor of the publication "Nakypilo," with sadness.
2 Now, the empty corridors of Kharkiv universities evoke a sense of injustice. Where student life once thrived for decades, there is now silence, and the echoes of words spoken at one end of the long corridor with classrooms can be heard at the other.
This number fluctuates: as soon as the security situation worsens, part of the students leave. When it becomes a bit calmer, they return. This is also confirmed by Holovko from KhNU, where over 20,000 students study.
3 Temporary migrations have become the norm. After the de-occupation of Kharkiv region, many residents returned, but with the onset of terror from GABs, people began to leave again. Some go out of town for a few days during the shelling and then return."People who stayed are unlikely to leave permanently, even if there is another wave of anxiety due to an offensive or encirclement. I think people have already gotten used to the daily threat," says Pichugin.
Currently, around 1.4 million people live in Kharkiv – the same number as before 2022. Half a million Kharkiv residents left the city, and internally displaced persons from frontline areas moved in. The absence of students is noticeable to the naked eye.
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