Deep trenches and scattered observation posts mark Ukraine's border with Russia to the north.. But they could not hold back the columns of tanks that crossed the border on February 24.

Now that the Russian army has been driven back to its territory, border guards in the Chernihiv region are watching warily as their enemies again pull in troops and equipment, writes the Washington Post.. Here the war is not going on like in other regions of Ukraine, where the Russian army has fortified itself on Ukrainian soil.. There is a cross-border war in the Chernihiv region. Russian tanks stupidly shell Ukrainian villages. Bullets fly through deserted areas during sporadic firefights.

" If earlier there was only an anti-tank ditch here, now the whole territory will be mined,” Sergei Khomenko, 30, a patrol unit commander in the border village where he grew up, told the publication..

Khomenko and his subordinates have no more days off. They live in the swamps and in the forests through which the border passes, fighting not only with the Russians, but also with mosquitoes " They used special. But Khomenko says the mosquitoes are already used to them.. 7 weeks have passed since the Russian army retreated from the Chernihiv region. Spring has replaced winter. And tens of thousands of displaced people returned home after the restoration of roads and public services.

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Ukrainian border guards say it all happened too soon. Every day, from 2 to 8 shells arrive from the Russian side in the Chernihiv region, - says the deputy commander of the border guards in the region Alexander Sereda. Ukrainian military constantly have to respond to fire across the border.

" They attack our positions and cities. The Russians don’t even think of following any rules of battle,” Sereda said..

Similar dynamics are observed in the neighboring Sumy region, which Russian troops left at the same time as Chernihiv. And in Kharkiv, where the Ukrainian army is trying to drive the enemy out of the country, local officials say they expect the war to transform.. And soon preparation for defense will replace hot fights. In the past, relations between residents on both sides of the border were tense, but close.. Family ties were deep. But the annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as the start of the war in the Donbass, created tension between the neighbors..

“Once relatives, friends and acquaintances came from Russia with good intentions,” says Khomenko.

But after the Russian invasion began in February, this state of affairs became unthinkable..

" This is a memorial to the dead. This line is now associated with sacrificed lives,” Sereda explained..

In the village of Tikhonovichi on the very border, where about 600 people live, two young guys who served as border guards were killed in the last days before the Russian retreat. Andrey Samusenko and Anton Myagky have been friends since childhood. They were both 30 years old. And they both have families who love them.. Their colleagues know exactly how they died. Because the Russian soldiers filmed everything on video and posted it on the Telegram channel. The video shows how the Russians fired from a grenade launcher at the pickup truck of the border guards, and then finished off the survivors.

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Samusenko's wife, 35-year-old Nina, is now raising five daughters on her own. She is also three months pregnant.. The couple conceived a child the night before the start of the war. Nina hopes her sixth child will be a boy. Neighbors tried to help her, but she's too heartbroken. When reporters tried to talk to her about her husband, she could only say three words before bursting into tears: " A little further along the street lives the family of Anton Myagky. His grandmother, 68-year-old Galina Petrovna, especially admires her grandson. She knows exactly how many days have passed since the murder of Anton, after his funeral and the start of the invasion.. She asks the same question as many Ukrainians: “Why?

“How many young people have been lost, for what? I don't understand their purpose. Why are they constantly bombarding us What are they waiting for? that we'll give up? ' says the woman.

People in Tikhonovichi and other border villages give everything they can to help the border guards. They prepare food for the fighters, and civilian men help with patrols..

“If you say that you need milk, they will bring a whole can,” Khomenko said..

Remembering how easily Russian troops crossed the border, most residents are preparing for a new invasion..

" They hear that the Russians are getting stronger again,” says 45-year-old mayor of the village Anatoly Bondarenko..

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On the day of the invasion in February, Bondarenko received a message from a village closer to the border that Russia was advancing.. He telephoned every inhabitant of his village, ordering them to hide. And then he hid all his documents. Three tanks arrived and knocked down a power pole. Some locals came out against the Russian soldiers, who behaved in confusion. Despite disputes with the locals, the Russians continued their offensive against Chernihiv. They cordoned off, but could not capture the city. Throughout March, Russian planes and artillery ruthlessly shelled and bombed Chernihiv, home to 300,000 people.. The main branch of the border guards in the region was hit at least 30 times. The building is badly damaged. But most of Russia's goals were generally non-military.. They shelled houses, grocery stores, schools. Over 700 civilians have been killed, city mayor says.

In the villages, the war changed the attitude towards the border. Once it was an imaginary line that nobody cared about. Now people see it as a boundary between them and the horde of invaders..

“After the big war started, even those who had brothers and sisters in Russia stopped communicating with them,” said Bondarenko, whose wife is from a village on the Russian side..

Her friend recently called her and said she did not believe in the Russian bombing of Chernihiv.. And that Ukrainians need to watch Russian channels to know the truth.

“Sometimes I turn on the TV and watch Russian channels. And I understand that you need to have iron nerves and be mentally healthy. 'Cause a man with weak nerves can smash a TV. It's impossible to watch. As soon as I turn on these channels, I immediately become angry and turn them off. They are just zombies,” Bondarenko said..