A civilian security guard stands at a checkpoint in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Russian troops flooded into Ukraine’s capital, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter.
Emilio Morenatti / AP
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Emilio Morenatti / AP
A civilian security guard stands at a checkpoint in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Russian troops flooded into Ukraine’s capital, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter.
Emilio Morenatti / AP
After a night of heavy fighting In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, people are grappling with the new realities of war in their daily lives.
In just a few days, the Russian military made a lot of progress, harming civilians as well as military targets. More than 120,000 Ukrainians are estimated to have fled the country.
Ukrainian journalist Andriy Kulykov, who was in Kyiv covering the conflict for Radio Hromadske, told Scott Simon of NPR that he saw explosions in the sky and felt his windows shake overnight. Kulykov also heard automatic rifles firing during the night.
“I also see very few people sitting in cars on the street,” said Kulykov.
He said ATMs often ran out of money and people had to wait in long lines at convenience stores to buy cigarettes and carbonated drinks right before the curfew started every day at 5pm.
Ukrainian journalist Andriy Kulykov was in Kyiv to cover the conflict for Radio Hromadske.
Andriy Kulykov
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Andriy Kulykov
Ukrainian journalist Andriy Kulykov was in Kyiv to cover the conflict for Radio Hromadske.
Andriy Kulykov
He said about a five-minute walk from where he lived, a rocket hit a new uninhabited high-rise. But nearby, in another building, two civilians died when their home was attacked, he said.
Related press report that American officials offered President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the chance to evacuate Ukraine, but he declined, saying, “The war is here.”
Ukrainians are closely following updates from President Zelenskyy
Kulykov said that the Ukrainian people are eagerly listening to Zelenskyy’s messages. “Some of them were very enthusiastic about what he said; some of them, of course, weren’t. But that’s the nature of a democratic society,” Kulykov said.
He said he has spoken to some Ukrainians who believe Zelenskyy should make more concessions to Russia, but the prevailing sentiment is that the Ukrainian president is on the side of his people and they will remain on his side. he.
As for how Ukrainians feel towards the US, Kulykov said that many were upset with President Biden before the attacks began, given his repeated warnings of an impending invasion Russia’s outburst is just “inflaming tensions”. But after the attacks began, Kulykov said, attitudes toward Biden changed dramatically.
“We have never questioned the general sympathy of the American people,” he said.
Kulykov said that it is currently unclear whether Ukrainian forces will be able to thwart Russia’s advances. But he said that many people in Ukraine are take the weaponhelp police and defense forces.
“I’m pretty sure the resistance is strong,” said Kulykov.
