Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by / Nimisha Jaiswal
01:42 Nimisha Jaiswal / DW Special Correspondent
02:11 Ludmilla / Bohodukhiv resident
03:34 Natalya

Script:

00:02
((Shots of market))
Sunday morning in Bohodukhiv, a town in Kharkiv region. Despite the rain, locals have made it to this market to buy their groceries, and saplings for the coming planting season. It's a sign of hope - a few weeks ago, many of them had considered fleeing the town for good. 

+++ Voxes +++
00:21
Man: "Well, of course, my wife and children are afraid. But otherwise, well, I don’t know about you, we’re managing for now."
 
00:34
Young lady: "Everyone’s got used to it now; everyone’s doing their best to get by and carry on with life. They just find some positive aspects for themselves, a meaning in life, and that’s it."

00:43
Old lady: "Our city was the best, the coziest, the most peaceful. We thought the war wouldn’t reach us. You see how it turned out. (patch) But now, as you can see, there’s shelling every day, devastation every day. Many people have left. We’re all hoping for the best, thinking that peace will come one day."

01:03
((Graphic map))
Bohodukhiv lies to the north of Kharkiv, just 20 kilometers from the Russian border. Until recently, it has been relatively calm. 

01:14
((Shots of damage))
Things shifted in April, when the town was hit by over a 100 drones in four days. All the petrol stations were knocked out - we passed at least six ourselves. A bank and a cafe in the city center were also hit. As we film the damage: 

01:30 ((Breathe sound of explosion))

01:39
((continued shots))
Another strike nearby.

01:43
+++ Nimisha Jaiswal, DW Special Correspondent +++
"This was a busy Sunday market minutes ago, but we just heard a massive bang. We can see people gathering up their stuff and pulling away quickly."

01:52
((Shots of people pulling away, maybe breathe shots from car of empty streets))
The mood shifts immediately. The center and civilian buildings have been targeted before, so nowhere feels safe.

02:05
((Shots of Ludmilla showing damaged house))
We keep our appointment with Ludmilla. She is clearly shaken by the strike we just heard.

02:11
+++ Ludmilla, Bohodukhiv resident +++
"I was very scared today, really scared, because it’s close by. (patch) We’ve been lucky so far; it’s been four years. There was shelling, but not like this. Everyone just carried on with their lives. It was scary, but not like it is now."

02:31
((Shots of her))
 She shows us the damage her house suffered in April.

02:35
+++ SOT Ludmilla (starts off camera) +++
"I was in the garden when I heard a sound in the sky. A buzzing, whirring sound. It was right across the sky." 

02:49
((Continue shots of woman walking))
She says she was lucky to have been outdoors already.

02:54
((Shots of damage))
Ludmilla's husband is on the frontlines. Her 18-year-old daughter moved away after the attack, but she plans to stay.

03:02
+++ SOT Ludmilla +++
"I don’t want to leave. No, I really don’t want to. It’s always better at home."

03:10
((Shots of woman and her mother))
And yet for Natalya, moving to Bohodukhiv to live with her mother, feels like the safer bet. This is what is left of Natalya's home, in a village 5 kilometers from the Russian border. She says everything was quiet till earlier this year, but now everyone she knows is being forced to flee.

03:33
+++ SOT Natalya +++
"Just in the last, I suppose, two or three weeks, they’ve really started shelling so frequently; houses are burning. Our village used to be such a lovely place, beautiful, picturesque, green. Everyone was so good-natured. Now, when we meet here, everyone is crying, hugging each other, kissing. We were like one big family in the village; everyone knew each other. It’s very hard to leave with nowhere to go and nothing to take."

END