“Everything is burning”: CNN follows battles in essential city for Ukraine

There are some cities that Ukraine can never lose, and Lyptsi is one of them.

But the nation's control is tenuous: the streets are on fire from an air raid moments before, when we rush in under cover of darkness.

Night provides them the only respite from the drone attack; in the hours before our arrival, the city had been hit eight times.

However, the soldiers of the 13th Khartiia National Guard have to resist, as the risks here are enormous.

Russia's relentless attack has one fundamental objective: if they take Lyptsi, they will be able to position artillery within range of Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, 20 minutes away.

In a bunker, Oleksandr, a commander, watches one of his many drones. “You saw for yourself how everything is burning. It’s like that every night.”

His men were among the first to face Russia's new advance in the Kharkiv region, almost two weeks ago. He says they are fighting trained professional soldiers.

“We can see it in their equipment and tactics,” he says. “They are not sending just anyone to attack.”

His gaze lengthens when asked what fortifications existed before the Russian surprise attack. “Nothing was prepared here. Anything. Anything. All positions are being built by the hands of the infantry.”

Outside, the night is rocked by more explosions. “Three weeks ago, civilians lived a peaceful life here. Rebuilding, everything went well,” she says. “And now most of the houses are in ruins.”

As we leave, a loud buzzing sound passes above our heads, close by. Our escort neither retreats nor runs. I ask if the drone is user-friendly. “How the hell am I supposed to know?” he replies, pulling out a cigarette.

Across the city of Kharkiv, home to about a million civilians, Ukrainian forces are trying to contain a persistent Russian attack from multiple angles.

Over the course of a week reporting in the villages around the city, the CNN saw Ukrainian units holding their positions under great danger and risk, and at times using old and scarce artillery to fend off a much better equipped Russian force capable of thwarting their most basic maneuvers with huge numbers of drones.

In a position closer to the Russian border, the 92nd Assault Brigade showed the CNN a Russian artillery cannon, captured in the first days of the war, from which it now fires French mortars.

The weapon was partially hidden by wire mesh, intended to provide some protection against an attack drone. However, above, an unidentified scout drone began to hover, forcing the unit to run into a bunker.

Another unit is forced to use a Soviet artillery weapon manufactured in the 1940s. Hidden in dense foliage, its metal is rusted in parts, limiting how often it can be fired.

Artun, their commander, uses newer Polish shells, but now fires only 10 a day, up from 100 in the fall.

Drones are “a big problem,” says Artun. “I have shrapnel inside me as a souvenir,” he adds, referring to the remains of a Russian Lancet drone still in his hand and stomach, which surgeons were unable to remove. “But there are certain actions that can save you from drones.”

One of them comes to life: an alert from a $30 frequency scanner on your network. He detected the approach of another Orlan drone, sending Artun to the bunker.

He looks up at the sky above and sees it pass overhead. He commands a diverse unit, epitomizing the human resources challenges Ukraine faces in its third year of war.

Some, like him, are wounded infantry soldiers. Others are older, while one of his team is on his first day in the artillery.

For nearly two years, Kharkiv thought the threat from its neighbor had passed. A lightning Russian withdrawal in late 2022 left the Kharkiv region peaceful and the launching pad for Ukrainian attacks across the border into Russia proper.

However, attacks persisted from a distance, keeping the city's residents awake during violently noisy nights, now amplified by the threat of approaching Russian artillery.

Flares, anti-aircraft fire and explosions regularly punctuate the forced blackout, as Russian drones, rockets and airstrikes strike targets in the dark.

On Wednesday, city officials reported an attack on a gas station that left four people in the hospital.

On Sunday, two missiles hit a lakeside resort in Cherkaska Lozova, outside the city – a horrific attack on a civilian target that also used a “double tap” tactic, in which a second missile hit 10 minutes after the first, injuring rescuers.

Just hours after Sunday's explosions, rescuers climbed into the ruins of a seaside terrace, recovering two bodies of the seven who died in the attack.

One of them was a woman, seven months pregnant. Another was only found later, with body fragments in the wreckage.

As police searched the gutted terrace on the lake for evidence, another air alert sounded, causing half the workers to flee for cover, and some to remain, barely conscious.