Kharkiv Tried to Return to Normal. Russian Shelling Wouldn’t Let It.
Ukraine repelled the effort to capture its second-largest city, but the artillery attacks did not stop. Many residents who left have returned but fear that a new offensive is imminent.

Jane Arraf and

KHARKIV, Ukraine — Alina Titova fell to her knees on the steps of the central railway station at her first glimpse of her home city after arriving back on the train.

“I want to kiss these steps,” Ms. Titova, 35, told the two friends who had come to meet her. It was her first trip back to Kharkiv since she left the besieged city in March, ending up in Germany with her three young children.

It was hardly an uplifting return. Ms. Titova was staying only long enough to take care of some business matters and to try to persuade her parents to leave their nearby village before winter set in.