Resilient Ukrainians maintain resistance against unabating Russian onslaught

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• Judy Woodruff:

  Among the cities hit hardest by the Russian invasion is Kharkiv, once Ukraine's second-largest city. It has suffered relentless shelling, and is devoid of many of its people. But a core remains, some to fight, others with no other choice, and still others trying to save what's left.

  Special correspondent Jack Hewson and filmmaker Ed Ram just left Kharkiv, which sits a short drive from Russia, and they sent us this look at a resilient city and its people.

  (MUSIC)

• Jack Hewson:

  A refrain to rally the faithful amid the destruction. "The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished" begins Ukraine's national anthem.

  Cellist Denys Karachevtsev plays for an audience of none. Here in Kharkiv's battered city center, those that remain find solace and resistance wherever they can, lifting morale for the shell-shocked.

• Denys Karachevtsevn, Cellist:

  This is a message to our people that we have no fear. War is a terrible thing, but we are all trying to do something helpful for each other.

• Jack Hewson:

  Down the road, a group of volunteers has joined the war effort, sandbagging a monument of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. It honors the declaration of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, a totem of Ukraine's slow de-Russification.

  Since independence, Ukrainians identifying as ethnic Russians has dropped from 22 percent to 17. But does this mean Ukrainians have a problem with ethnic Russians or Russian speakers?

• Peter Kukuruza, Volunteer (through translator):

  How? We treat each other normally. We understand each other. They understand us in Ukrainian. We understand them in Russian. We treat each other OK. We never had to insult each other because of Russian nationality. We don't do that.

• Jack Hewson:

  Despite what Peter says, anti-Russian sentiment is growing across the country.

  But in majority Russian-speaking Kharkiv, it's clear that this is not an ethnic conflict. The people here share much cultural identity with those across the border, just 20 miles away.

  For Peter, it is not Russia or Russians that are the problem. It's Vladimir Putin.

• Peter Kukuruza (through translator):

  I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart, this man is a reptile, not a human. During World War II, the fascists didn't act like he has. Take a look how many children have been killed.

  One moment, please.

  It is very sad to see. It is very sad to see all of this.

• Jack Hewson:

  Putin's invasion has only strengthened Ukrainian national identity, historian Volodymyr Masliychuk told me.

• Volodymyr Masliychuk, Historian (through translator):

  When your house is being bombed, when they take your property from you, when you see the dead you start recognizing your identity in a different way.

• Jack Hewson:

  Nikita Rozhenko shows us around the remnants of a recently bombed chocolate factory. An ethnic Russian, he embodies the shift in thinking that has taken place since the start of the war.

  Nikita Rozhenko, Armed Forces of Ukraine (through translator): I was standing for independent Ukraine, but for friendly neighborship with Russia as well at that time. Later, Russian propaganda became harder and harder.

• Jack Hewson:

  Nikita was formerly a city councilor for a pro-Russian party, but since the invasion, has abandoned his Russian politics and joined the Ukrainian army.

• Nikita Rozhenko (through translator):

  Still, I'm Ukrainian, but now nobody wants to be friends with Russia anymore, same as me.

  Russians, please come here if you dare. We will well send you back in plastic bags. But, better, do not come here to end this ongoing B.S., and we can move on.

• Jack Hewson:

  Sheltering from the violence above, an estimated 15,000 have made a temporary home of the city's subway system. The psychological strain has been huge, exacerbated by the loss of kinship with whom they once had so much in common.

  For some, the shock is still sinking in.

• Ludmila Kharkiv Resident (through translator):

  We were like neighbors. I'm a Russian-speaking too, and no one could think that all can begin from there.

  I just can't comprehend why our relations gotten so bad, why he decided to destroy us, a peaceful people who have to suffer, especially when children are suffering. It's so painful to see how these children are dying because of a person like Putin.

• Jack Hewson:

  Children like Ludmila's son Igor are growing up with a different understanding of Russians, as a dangerous enemy.

• Ludmila (through translator):

  We're just trying to support kids, so they wont see this mess, have any fear and feel no misfortune, try to lift them up with our fighting spirit and not to lose our hearts. That's the way, isn't it?

• Jack Hewson:

  Amid the gloom and confusion, the people of Kharkiv lift their spirits by whatever means they can, because resilience now is also a part of Ukraine's evolving sense of identity.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jack Hewson in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And a reminder that the "NewsHour"'s coverage of the war in Ukraine is supported in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.