‘Kyiv will be defended!’ Citizens prepare for battle as Russia begins missile attacks

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It’s 03:00 am on the 15 th of March and I am awaken to the now all familiar sound of air raid sirens in the distance. But this time, there’s something different.

A volley of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire rises to meet the challenge, but instead of dying off it becomes stronger, almost frantic.

Seconds later, I glimpse a flash of light in the night sky, then another, followed by an enormous hollow explosion that shakes the earth, setting off car alarms on the street below.

After gathering myself, I crack open a window and can smell smoke from a distant wreckage.

The next morning I learn that Russian rockets had hit three separate blocks of flat in the city, killing and wounding civilians as they slept in their beds.

Rescuers erect ladders onto the faces of burnt out buildings to help evacuate those still trapped inside – pensioners and others unable or unwilling to leave their homes.

It’s day 19 of Russia’s all-out invasion of its southwestern neighbor, and its troops and tanks have stalled outside Kyiv and most other Ukrainian cities.

But aerial bombings, artillery fire and rockets launched from well over the horizon have been stepped up in the apparent hope of breaking the will of Ukrainian military and civilian alike.

According to the Pentagon, the Russians have so far launched over 900 rockets at Ukraine, killing thousands as its razes towns and cities to the ground.

And there doesn’t seem to be any respite in sight – and that includes Kyiv.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitchko announced yesterday (Tues) that the city would be under curfew from 08:00 this evening until 07:00 AM Thursday.

“Today is going to be difficult and dangerous,” he said, warning citizens of the capital to be prepared for more attacks.

No one in the capital will be allowed on the street without a special pass, unless running for their lives to a nearby bomb shelter.

The mayor also called on those men who have left the city in order to escort their wives and children to safety to return and help defend it.

“The capital, the heart of Ukraine, will be defended! They will not bring us to our knees! Today every citizen of Kyiv has an important role to play, by picking up arms and joining the Territorial Defense, by helping build barricades, by feeding our soldiers or fellow citizens in need, by delivering food, and by many other ways.”

But Kyiv isn’t the only Ukrainian city that the Russians have stepped up aerial attacks on. Previously mostly untouched Dnepr in the east had its airport bombed the same night. Quiet Vynnytsya further west was also savagely rocketed. While the mayor of Mariupol has declared a humanitarian disaster in that southern city.

Kyiv’s neighbours to the north, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr have also been holding on for dear life, while in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, 600 homes have been destroyed by non-stop bombing, leaving thousands without shelter.

Only the country’s West and South West seem to be relatively safe, unless they happen to host an airfield.

Captured Russian soldiers and shot-down pilots have appeared in Ukrainian media to give account of their actions against innocent civilians. Some remain silent, others claim they were just following orders.

Ukrainians remain defiant, with the army boasting the killing of over 13,000 Russian invaders, 400 tanks, 150 artillery, 81 planes, 95 helicopters, and 36 air defense systems.

But not everyone who has stayed in Ukraine is ready to fight it out to the end. Around 20 MPs have fled abroad as attacks on the capital intensify, first deputy speaker Oleksandr Korniyenko announced yesterday, noting that the MPs all had pro-Russian leanings.

President Zelensky has promised swift military justice to everyone from saboteurs to traitors.

In the meantime, citizens of the capital have learned to live in a new reality, where days are short and busy, and nights are long and frightening. No one knows whose building will be next.

The State Emergencies Service has warned people not to publish information online about the addresses of homes hit, as the Russian army is said to use this information to correct its aim. “80% of information for directing its fire, the enemy gets from open sources,” the service announced.

Men gather in the courtyard of my building smoking nervously as dusk descends. Some discuss which areas are being targeted. Women drag home grocery carts with supplies to last the latest lockdown.

One or two children skip about enjoying the sunshine while it lasts.

“I’m not worried,” says a pensioner in my building. “The people on the other side of our building refuse to pray. They are the one who should be worried.”

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