AP Photo/Kostiantyn Liberov
- Kharkiv Notebook entries show the grim outlook of Russian forces in the war against Ukraine.
- In September, Ukrainian troops took back the majority of Kharkiv and forced Russians to retreat.
- One soldier imagined his family going on a vacation in late 2023. Reality set in.
One Russian soldier kept a journal of his thoughts for his family and future self, imagining a break from war at the end of the counteroffensive by Ukraine in the northeast.
After Russian troops had withdrawn from the majority of the region in September and abandoned their Kharkiv base, they found the notebook containing the entries of an unnamed soldier. Reuters reported.
In the latter part of the summer, Ukraine launched a successful counteroffensive against northeastern Kharkiv. It intensified in early September. Balakliia had been liberated and Izium was under Russian control by mid September. Announced that it was withdrawingTransfer troops to other areas from almost all of Kharkiv.
Volodymyr Zeleskyy, President of Ukraine, said that Ukraine gained over 1,158 miles from Russian forces in just a few days. According to other documents, soldiers had communicated with their superiors and asked for drones and basic munitions.
As Ukrainian troops relied on American HIMARS missile launchers, Russian troops in Balakliia, Kharkiv, were running out of weapons — and morale, according to the journal entries published by Reuters.
The unnamed soldier wrote, “If you sit down and look at the water for long enough, your enemies will eventually floating by,” referring to the Ukrainian troops that were surrounding him at the time.
Another notebook entry was written by an unnamed soldier. It reflected a long term outlook on war and a vision of a new future.
“I went home Aug 10, 2023. I’m now home with my family,” the soldier wrote. “I’m having fun in Khabarovsk together with my family and my two daughters.
