The last time war came to Oryol was 1941. It came under Nazi occupation, before becoming one of the first major cities to be liberated by the Soviet Red Army.
More than 80 years on, fighting is not far away once again.
Ukraine’s incursion into the neighbouring Kursk region is little more than 100 miles south, and if the West does allow Kyiv to strike deeper inside Russia, Oryol would be in range.
“I am worried, of course I am,” Olga told Sky News, near Lenin Square, in the centre of the city.
“But I hope they won’t reach us. I really hope so.”
Not everyone was happy to speak to us.
“Great Britain is our enemy,” Mikhail said, when we told him we were from the UK.
But after initially declining to give his opinion, he elaborated: “[The West] will give permission now and the missile hits where we stand. And where will we be? In the cemetery.”
If the West does give Kyiv the green light to use their long-range missiles, civilians won’t be the target though.
Oryol is not far from Ukraine’s incursion in the Kursk region
Instead, it’ll be the launchers and runways that send Russian rockets into Ukraine, something Moscow has been doing for quite some time. But that fact is conveniently overlooked.
“I condemn Blinken’s position,” Leonid tells us, referencing the US secretary of state’s comments that Washington is “not ruling out” giving Kyiv permission.
“Of course, [the missiles] could reach here, without a doubt, but only if our valiant armed forces allow them to.”
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Biden could allow Ukraine to hit Russia with US missiles
Despite this apparent new threat, life in Oryol continues as normal.
Signs of the current conflict, like recruitment posters and military murals, have become part of the landscape.
President Vladimir Putin’s image looms large on a building in Oryol
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Putin: ‘It will mean the direct participation of NATO.’
The latest addition are makeshift bomb shelters. They appeared shortly after Ukraine’s cross-border assault, which has now been going on for nearly six weeks.
The shelters are a clear indication that things aren’t going to plan for Russia. This was never part of the script.
But that’s not how people in Oryol see it, including those who have been displaced by the fighting.
Anna Konstantinova and her family, including three-month-old Anna, fled their home near the border in Rylsk when the incursion began, and are now being housed at a guesthouse in Bolkhov, north of Oryol.
She was told they’d be able to return home after a few days, but it’s now been a month. Yet she still believes the Kremlin’s message that everything is under control.
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Drones appear to hit buildings in and near Moscow
“In war, there are mistakes,” Anna said. “But I believe that everything will work out and everything will be fine.”
Even now, two and a half years into a war that was supposed to last a few days, the wisdom of the so-called Special Military Operation (SMO) is not questioned.
“If they hadn’t started the SMO, [Ukraine] would have simply attacked Russia,” asserted Anna, repeating the reasoning Vladimir Putin gave when he launched the full-scale invasion.
‘Drones were flying over our heads’
Lyudmila, 85, is another evacuee at the guesthouse after fleeing her home near Sudzha.
“It was terrifying,” she told us.
Lyudmila says drones were flying overhead as she and her family fled their home
“When we were driving, drones were flying over our heads. And one drone, or shrapnel, hit our car and broke the side window. I don’t know how we survived.”
For her, though, this isn’t the first time she’s seen Russia invaded.
She was alive when the Germans came and is certain that Russia will again emerge victorious.
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“We’ve always won,” said Lyudmila, bursting with pride.
“We fought with the French for so long before, we fought with the Germans a long time ago and won, the Mongols and the Tatars.
“The Russian people have always won, because they are so courageous and they are kind. They don’t want war.”
However to Ukraine, it’s very clear Russia does want war, and it’s why the West is considering giving Kyiv more help.
