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.
More on Russia
Related Topics:
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.”
Image: 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.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:55
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.
Image: President Vladimir Putin’s image looms large on a building in Oryol
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:15
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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:21
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.
Image: 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.
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.