When Ukraine launched a ground assault into Russia's Kursk region in August, President Vladimir Putin promised to quickly "dislodge" Kyiv's forces and return normality to local residents.
But nearly three months later, signs of the conflict are still found everywhere in the region's capital, despite Russia claiming it is clawing back ground from Ukrainian troops.
School buildings in Kursk have been fortified with sandbags, while many windows are sealed with tape due to the risk of Ukrainian attacks.
Displaced people fleeing fighting near the border are regularly seen gathering at aid centres and some residents say they live in fear of aerial bombardment.
"You cannot show fear to your children. Because if you are afraid and they realise it... they become scared," said 36-year-old Margarita Kotova.
The mother of three said her daughter's school lessons were often interrupted by air raid sirens, and that state media was glossing over the impact of the conflict.
"If you watch Russian and Kursk news, we are doing well, everything is great, everything is going according to some plan you don't understand," she told AFP.
"We were not told for a long time what was happening on our border," she said, adding that she now used social media to find out "how things really are".
Russia says it is "achieving the goals" of its two-and-a-half-year offensive in Ukraine, but this statement rings hollow for many in a city home to thousands of internally displaced people.
'Everyone is fed up'
At an aid centre in Kursk, Oksana Barsukova appeared glum as she queued for supplies.
The 44-year-old nursing assistant was told she could return to her home near the border within "three days" of fleeing Ukraine's offensive.
But like thousands of others, she remains displaced by fighting, with little idea of when she can go back. "We left everything, and came here in the clothes we were wearing," the mother of three said.
When she and her family tried going back home, they found its windows were shattered and "everything was broken".
They quickly left after hearing shooting.
In the city, many residents go about their day as usual and passers-by give no reaction when an air alert sounds.
Residents said they had adapted to the grim reality of the conflict. "At school during a missile threat, they sit in the corridors, or go down to a shelter if the school has one," Kotova said.
School principal Marina Starikova said pupils had become "used to the sirens". "Everyone is fed up," said 27-year-old gym teacher Vladimir Kuroptev, who was displaced by Kyiv's offensive.
He hopes the conflict will be over soon, but does not know when. "Not this year, of course, but in a year or two, everything will be over."
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