Kyiv, Ukraine – For centuries, the Russian phrase “behind the Urals Mountains” meant “safe from a foreign invasion”.During the Napoleonic incursion of 1812 or the Nazi German assault in 1941, anywhere behind the mountain range that divides Russia’s European part from Siberia seemed far enough for the evacuation of civilians and military factories.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listNot anymore.In late April, a swarm of Ukrainian drones attacked Yekaterinburg, the Urals region’s administrative capital that sits more than 1,800km (1,118 miles) from the Ukrainian border.Ukraine hoped the drones would hit a plant where elements for air defence systems are manufactured, and since the first attack, the Yekaterinburg airport has been shut down at least five times. Russian locals are panicking about dwindling food supplies, a nosediving economy and dire shortages of petrol after months of Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries and fuel storage sites.“Prices are growing, shops are closing down, there are lines at gas stations, and they don’t pour the gas in canisters” to avoid reselling it at higher prices, Anatoly, a 45-year-old who owns a small business in Yekaterinburg, told Al Jazeera. He added that people are expecting a disaster and “everyone is trying to stash food”.He withheld his surname because of his anti-war stance.“My circle (of friends) has always been negative about the war,” he said. “What flies in is unpleasant but deserved.”‘Russia is ready for peace talks’: PutinRussia’s summer offensive, designed to occupy the Kyiv-c …
