Two years ago, the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine was threatened with annihilation as Russian troops seemed set to reduce it to rubble as they did in Mariupol.
Russian forces completely surrounded Chernihiv, a regional capital 200 kilometres north of Kiev, from the outset of the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, right up until April 2022.
During that 40-day blockade, citizens were stuck in their city lacking electricity, heat and water. They had little to eat and were in constant fear of being bombed.
Chernihiv is tranquil and green again and some of the damage has been repaired. But the horror runs deep and people fear those dread-filled days may return.
"The Russian army is attacking near Kharkiv, and we're worried," says museum employee Alla Harkusha. The war is coming closer to the city again since Russia opened a new front near Kharkiv in the east, and the same could happen near Chernihiv in the Sumy region.
The old church was defenceless against the bombs
When the attack began, Harkusha and her colleagues had only a few hours to save the treasures in their museum. "We dismantled the artefacts and hid them. We couldn't get them out of the city," says the head of department at the Old Chernihiv Monument Complex.
They watched in horror as the city's unique architectural heritage stood defenceless against the onslaught. It is home to many medieval Orthodox churches and monasteries, some 1,000 years old, perched on the high bank above the River Desna.
"The bullets were flying back and forth above us," says Harkusha.
The buildings show how important the city was in the great empire of Kiev Rus. The Chernihiv principality extended eastwards to the forests that would one day become the principality of Moscow.
The old churches escaped destruction in 2022. "Most of the damage was insignificant," says Harkusha. There are traces of shrapnel on the outer wall of the Holy Trinity Monastery.
Harkuscha says it is possible that the Russian troops showed consideration for cultural monuments at the beginning of the war.
That changed later, she says, pointing to Odessa's main church, the Transfiguration Cathedral, shot up and reduced to rubble in 2023.
The monuments of Chernihiv may have survived largely unscathed but the people fared worse.
On March 3, 2022, Russian bombs hit residential buildings on Chernovol Street in the city centre, killing 47 people.
Two weeks later, a bomb killed 16 people queuing for bread.
Some 700 people lost their lives during the blockade, according to the mayor at the time, Vladyslav Atrozhenko. The population shrank from 285,000 to 95,000 - but all possible routes for escape were potentially deadly.
A small bridge served as an exit
By the end, the only way out of the city was a pedestrian bridge crossing the Desna. But even there, bullet holes show to this day how risky this route was.
Viktor Jerko, current mayor Olexander Lomako and other volunteers distributed food in the encircled town.
Jerko, an electrical engineer, has experience in conflicts, having supplied Ukrainian troops in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine since 2014.
With permission from the police, he and his wife dragged warm clothes from a department store to soldiers working to create a defensive ring around Chernihiv. "We prepared ourselves for partisan fighting," says Jerko, father of two. He made Molotov cocktails with oil and petrol from a workshop.
The Jerkos' dacha on the outskirts of the city remained intact. But nearby, the Ukrainian army blew up the bridge over the River Stryschen to stop the Russians.
The destroyed dream of their own sushi restaurant
The war shattered the family's dream of opening their own sushi restaurant, as the establishment they bought was hit. Tetiana Jerko now makes Japanese fish rolls at home in her kitchen, and sells them using delivery services.
In the first nights of the war, Alla Harkuscha hid in her museum office with her grandson. "My generation had no direct experience of war," she says.
Their days were filled with the search for water or food. "I had no eggs. If you wanted some, you had to queue for hours just to buy 10," she recalls.
The dark, cold nights were the worst. "A fear creeps in that paralyses you."
When the Russian troops stopped their advance towards Kiev and cleared the north of Ukraine, the relief in Chernihiv was palpable.
Not that the city was spared serious attacks later on.
In August 2023, a Russian Iskander missile killed seven people; in April this year, 18 civilians were killed by cruise missile strikes.
Nevertheless, life is back to normal. Damage has been repaired, thanks also to support from abroad. A German agency is financing the construction of a new water pipeline. The road bridge over the Desna, which was destroyed in the air, has been replaced by a new one. The regional administration is putting pressure on the city to compensate people whose homes were destroyed more quickly.
City digs new trenches
But fearing further attack, Chernihiv dug new defence positions. Mayor Lomako says this was done in consultation with the army, fearing criticism for wasting taxpayers' money. "If it is necessary to defend the city, do we do it with this dirty letter, the report from the National Audit Office?" he says angrily.
Jerko meanwhile is concerned about how the situation in Ukraine has deteriorated recently, amid a pause in arms deliveries from the United States and Europe, as well as domestic issues.
"We are fighting for our independence. We need to unite, city, country, the leadership," he says. "Otherwise everything will be lost.’"
Solidarity with the Mariupol defenders
The city's thoughts are with Mariupol. His nephew Oleksiy served in the Azov regiment and was killed near Mariupol, he says.
So Jerko often goes to rallies on Saturdays calling for the release of the Azov fighters, who were forced to surrender in May. Some 900 are still in Russian captivity.
Come rain or shine, a few dozen people stand in the centre of Chernihiv carrying posters that say, "Freedom for Azov."
Drivers pass, honking their horns in a show of solidarity.
So far, their city has suffered less than Mariupol, which is under permanent Russian occupation. But they worry what the future may hold.
