Nearly a year ago, Putin’s invasion force tried to seize Ukraine’s capital. This time the city is not nearly as afraid for its own safety – but fighting in Bakhmut reminds residents the war is far from over
Near Nezalezhnosti Square in central Kyiv, several Ukrainian soldiers were smoking and drinking coffee outdoors. They were about to be deployed to Bakhmut, the city in Eastern Ukraine that has come under vicious attack by Russian forces, so they were enjoying their last moments of downtime away from the front.
In a gift shop in central Kyiv, retail worker Lana Shevchenko, 40, said she was nowhere near as afraid now as she was in late February and March of last year, when Kyiv’s downfall seemed imminent. “I think the Russians will not come any time soon,” she said. “Just let them try! We believe in our people. We believe in our military. We cannot forget about the war but we can live almost normally.”
Ms. Shevchenko said that regular blackouts and air-raid alerts kept her 10-year-old daughter’s school closed in the autumn. “They were online for four months,” she said. “Now she is back in the classroom. We don’t panic any more. We get up, take the children to school and go to work just like we used to.”
In early February, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Russia was planning an offensive to coincide with the first anniversary of the war. He said the Ukrainian military believed the number of Russian troops amassing along the border and in occupied territories was approaching 500,000 – far more than the general mobilization of 300,000 that Russia revealed in September.
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