Monday, March 7, 2022

Russia Ukraine conflict: Kyiv takes up arms

In front of every twitching net curtain, there is a window and behind every window, a smartphone in an invasion in which little escapes the invaded this was a housing estate in the southeast of Kyiv and the firefighters are battling the aftermath of a Russian cruise missile no one really knows why the Russians targeted tower block 7 on the past street it may have been a stray and miraculously no one was killed but this morning the survivors were less interested in the how and more in the wires no one had the answer not the old lady on the fourth floor oblivious to the fact that her balcony was on the verge of collapse not the woman next door on the seventh floor busy shoveling glass out of her living room all of them wondering.

What the point of the clear-up is when this is just day two of an invasion that could last weeks while holding their capital city and their president to political ransom are you scared yeah you're going to stay here or leave you're going to stay here uh I live here but I can't stay here now right where would you go I don't know all of them conscious that their lives are suddenly as random as this piece of debris floating towards the missile crater thanks to a man who has accused Ukraine of being a nation of neo-Nazis and is waging war to make the lie the madness of this war found an unforgettable image today in this scene also filmed for many disbelieving windows a tank skidded running over an innocent car and then reversed back over it astonishingly the driver lived to be liberated by a neighbor's cobra but don't count on too many miracles in the same district of Oberon and madness takes many forms in a situation this unhinged here they were handing out automatic weapons to civilians no questions asked no training required eighteen thousand machine guns have been given away so far perhaps the giveaway guns explain the chaos at the central train station but notice how no one is running away the need to keep their place on the platform trumps the fear of getting shot the throng is only heading in one direction west away from Russia towards Poland one Ukrainian who is staying put is president Zielinski and his band of government brothers he lists them one by one in his favorite selfie format before the obligatory battle cry glory to Ukraine they're also staying put in their new home the metro station under the railway terminal the citizens of Kiev have traded the lockdowns of Ovid David for the subterranean lockdowns of war life in the bunker in 2022 as they wish the new commuters to the front line a good day at the office now this has been called the biggest ground war in Europe since the second world war men a fighting age are now forbidden to leave under Ukraine's mobilization order.

While cues of people have formed outside recruitment offices obeying the call to come to the country's defiance our international editor Lindsey hills on joins me now from Nieto in the east of the country Lindsey matt it's a cold misty night here in juniper, I don't know what this poor visibility is likely to do for Russian operations tonight what I do know is that Kharkov which is north of where I am is under heavy bombardment at the moment that is the second city now Ukrainian forces are doing what they can they're they are lined up they are trying to push back the Russian advance and they have had some successes they have managed to destroy some vehicles I have certainly seen evidence that they have managed to kill a few soldiers here and there we understand that they are also blowing up bridges blowing up the infrastructure of their own country in the hope at least if they can't stop this advance at least in slowing it down the kind of mood we have seen today is yes defiance but also edged with fear because people know that this army is massive and yes they are handing out weapons and yes they do want to fight on the streets but what can you do against missiles at the same time as what's happening in Kharkov also around the black sea and the sea of Azov we're hearing reports of an amphibious landing in Mariupol that is not confirmed yet but what we do know is that the Russians are advancing there and that is several hours drive south of where I am a battle in the city of Multipool today that's south of here towards the sea of Azov an area where the Russians have been advancing fast the building is apparently a hospital caught on camera on the road to cursing on further west why bother to dismantle the CCTV tower everyone knows what's happening Russian forces are invading and occupying a democratic country and look at a Russian armored vehicle flying a Soviet flag Ukrainians film the missile strikes.

If they dare tonight at least part of kirtan is said to be in Russian hands this woman in person wasn't going to accept it she refused to take orders from a Russian soldier publisher we found dozens of men who normally work in i.t or local government queueing at a military recruitment center there are scenes like this all over the country men between the ages of 18 right up to 60 have been called up and the people I've been speaking to say they're determined to fight they hate the Russians they're united by this fierce patriotic pride they can't stop Russian tanks or missiles but they say they can make a Russian occupation impossible I joined the force of Ukraine and this city to beat the Russian aggression can you really beat Russia this huge army they can't handle I will shoot them you will shoot them yes I will kill them in our streets today the shelling in and around Kharkov Ukraine's second city intensified it sounds terrifying but maybe someone needed to tell this Kharkov couple that it's not the brightest idea to stand near an unexploded rocket on guard as the shelling gets closer the wreckage of Russian vehicles on the outskirts of Kharkov evidence that Ukrainian forces are fighting back tonight a fireball caused by a missile exploding in an industrial area northeast of Kharkov glowing in the dark like a beacon of fury and despair now the other important area is in the far east on the border with Russia, I'm talking about the so-called separatist areas which president Putin recognized as individual states the other week in his attempt to justify what he's doing at the moment now the Ukrainian forces have been firing into that area a place called Horlivka Russian which is on the Russian separatist side they did apparently hit a school today there's no evidence that anybody was killed in that but what that shows are that there is fighting on that side as well and we understand that someone in the Ukrainian forces and it's not clear who and it's not clear whether this was an official act actually fired and hit an airbase in Rostov o the Russian side that wasn't officially announced but it seems to be common knowledge on all those WhatsApp Ukrainian of groups amongst different Ukrainian soldiers so what you sense here is not exactly anarchy but there are different units doing different things at different times and it's not clear how much of total control the Ukrainian military are able to have because they are facing one of the most powerful enemies in the world and more than that they know that as the Russians advance.

It will become ever more difficult for them to maintain this kind of level of resistance and that's when it will be down to these men in the streets who think they're going to fight the Russians it's hard to see how that will really work and it's also hard to see what tomorrow is going to bring for the people of Ukraine you can say that again Lindsay thank you very much indeed but let's speak to Kira Rubik a Ukrainian MP who says that she is armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and will fight herself against the Russian army, if she has to Kyra, Kyra thank you very much for coming on the program um when did you buy your gun do you know how to use it and do you think you'll actually have to use it uh hello uh so I did not buy it I was given it by our authorities first as an MP and second as a member of the resistance force I have never used a gun in my life and even two days ago before it, all started if you ask me I would call you crazy if you would imply that I could ever use but after you spend some time at a bomb shelter after four eight n times during the last two days we have heard sirens about the air force attacks after seeing your family hiding under the stairs you just have to do something and so yesterday we were given the guns and it's about 20 000 guns right now distributed between the members of the resistance in Kyiv and yesterday today I spent my time with the team where I'm learning how to shoot I don't want to evacuate I don't plan to flee because I think right now we should all do what we have to do is fight Russian soldiers on our soil fight people who came from nowhere well we know from where and want to take what is ours we want to take our land want to instill some Russian pride here and with just because we they don't allow us the right to exist Putin said he doesn't allow our country to exist I don't doubt your determination and your resolve but you and the rest of the citizen's Russian army will not be a match for the Russian army will you I mean this could really end very badly for you so I will tell you the story that happened today where when a group of five Russian soldiers tried to get into Kyiv uh dressed as Ukrainian army they were disarmed not by our regular forces and they were killed not by our regular forces but by the people like me by their resistance because we were able to move quickly and our troops were able to find and disarm the intruders so I have I really pray to god that I wouldn't ever have to use and fire the gun however I know that I will do.

If I have to and right now I know technically how to do it and get as and as my fellow friends say get fewer bruises does your family understand why you're Do this to your children yeah my family does understand this and everybody here in Kyiv who stayed who didn't flee they know that we will have to protect ourselves people are preparing Molotov's cocktails people are preparing for what's coming um you know we have been at war with Russia for eight years so we know very well what kind of force is coming in and we know very well that we will have to uh to do what's right now and we will do it um I don't know if you heard the crumbs of artillery or shelling that I heard just a few minutes ago not far by the river which is and what's going on in that particular bit of shelling what are they trying to do you think uh I think they are trying to get to the uh train station and the airport which is nearby however uh our um our military is actually uh pretty good in disarming uh all the rockets that are coming in that's why I actually was very um very glad to hear that Ian Stoltenberg said that they are giving us more uh more help and support on the air force so that we'll be able to um to if we cannot get the no-fly zone from NATO forces we can get it ourselves with the ammunition that you're provided that they're providing us but they are destroying your air force aren't they they've destroyed quite a few airfields your airpower was very weak anyway um unless NATO really steps in here and enforces a no-fly zone which would probably mean war with Russia you're not going to get very far so um my party and I for three months were asking demanding talking to the NATO reps and uh all the uh all the members about providing Ukraine with no-fly zone and unfortunately, it went from no way to okay maybe and we don't see it as that will be a direct war with Russia ever on terms of protection, we still see that it could be an option uh we understand that the air force is our weakest point uh as of right now and that's why we need all the help that we can get from anybody to um to get uh to get it up right now because you see you see what's happening right here now you feel it indeed and Kyra there was a suggestion earlier today that president Zielinski might be prepared to negotiate with Moscow in order to achieve some kind of neutrality and thus save tens of thousands of lives is that still the case and would you support it so here is the thing we have again we've been at war with Russia for the last eight years we know what Putin's word means and it means nothing and so discussion about neutrality and anything else it's just like a way to for Putin to play his muscle but it will not end up anywhere and it will not stop the war uh yeah the question that we have all been juggling with for the last like six months since the news about the uh that he's planning to invade started reaching out was is there a force in the world right now that can stop putting because the old security system is not working obviously and the world security structure for the world for uh for Europe rope uh is not working because it's not stopping Putin and if it will he will not stop in Ukraine and I know we know we all know it right so the question if there is a force that can stop him right now and if there is this force then we can start to negotiate and there is no force then we will fight you.

In front of every twitching net curtain there is a window and behind every window a smartphone in an invasion in which little escapes the invaded this was a housing estate in the south east of Kyiv and the firefighters are battling the aftermath of a Russian cruise missile no one really knows why the Russians targeted tower block 7 on past street it may have been a stray and miraculously no one was killed but this morning the survivors were less interested in the how and more in the wires no one had the answer not the old lady on the fourth floor oblivious to the fact that her balcony was on the verge of collapse not the woman next door on the seventh floor busy shoveling glass out of her living room all of them wondering what the point of the clear-up is when this is just day two of an invasion that could last weeks while holding their capital city and their president to political ransom are you scared yeah you're going to stay here or leave you're going to stay here uh I live here but I can't stay here now right where would you go I don't know all of them conscious that their lives are suddenly as random as this piece of debris floating towards the missile crater thanks to a man who has accused Ukraine of being a nation of neo-Nazis and is waging war to make the lie the madness of this war found an unforgettable image today in this scene also filmed for many disbelieving windows a tank skidded running over an innocent car and then reversed back over it astonishingly the driver lived to be liberated by a neighbor's cobra but don't count on too many miracles in the same district of Oberon and madness takes many forms in a situation this unhinged here they were handing out automatic weapons to civilians no questions asked no training required eighteen thousand machine guns have been given away. 

So far perhaps the giveaway guns explain the chaos at the central train station but notice how no one is running away the need to keep their place on the platform trumps the fear of getting shot the throng is only heading in one direction west away from Russia towards Poland one Ukrainian who is staying put is president Zielinski and his band of government brothers he lists them one by one in his favorite selfie format before the obligatory battle cry glory to Ukraine they're also staying put in their new home the metro station under the railway terminal the citizens of Kiev have traded the lockdowns of Ovid David for the subterranean lockdowns of war life in the bunker in 2022 as they wish the new commuters to the front line a good day at the office now this has been called the biggest ground war in Europe since the second world war men a fighting age are now forbidden to leave under Ukraine's mobilization order while cues of people have formed outside recruitment offices obeying the call to come to the country's defense our international editor Lindsey hills on joins me now from Nieto in the east of the country Lindsey matt it's a cold misty night here in juniper, I don't know what this poor visibility is likely to do for Russian operations tonight what I do know is that Kharkov which is north of where I am is under heavy bombardment at the moment that is the second city now Ukrainian forces are doing what they can they're they are lined up they are trying to push back the Russian advance and they have had some successes they have managed to destroy some vehicles I have certainly seen evidence that they have managed to kill a few soldiers here and there we understand that they are also blowing up bridges blowing up the infrastructure of their own country in the hope at least if they can't stop this advance at least in slowing it down the kind of mood we have seen today is yes defiance but also edged with fear because people know that this army is massive and yes they are handing out weapons and yes they do want to fight on the streets but what can you do against missiles at the same time as what's happening in Kharkov also around the black sea and the sea of Azov we're hearing reports of an amphibious landing in Mariupol that is not confirmed yet but what we do know is that the Russians are advancing there and that is several hours drive south of where I am a battle in the city of Multipool today that's south of here towards the sea of Azov an area where the Russians have been advancing fast the building is apparently a hospital caught on camera on the road to cursing on further west why bother to dismantle the CCTV tower everyone knows what's happening Russian forces are invading and occupying a democratic country and look at a Russian armored vehicle flying a Soviet flag Ukrainians film the missile strikes.

If they dare tonight at least part of kirtan is said to be in Russian hands this woman in person wasn't going to accept it she refused to take orders from a Russian soldier publisher we found dozens of men who normally work in i.t or local government queueing at a military recruitment center there are scenes like this all over the country men between the ages of 18 right up to 60 have been called up and the people I've been speaking to say they're determined to fight they hate the Russians they're united by this fierce patriotic pride they can't stop Russian tanks or missiles but they say they can make a Russian occupation impossible I joined the force of Ukraine and this city to beat the Russian aggression can you really beat Russia this huge army they can't handle I will shoot them you will shoot them yes I will kill them in our streets today the shelling in and around Kharkov Ukraine's second city intensified it sounds terrifying but maybe someone needed to tell this Kharkov couple that it's not the brightest idea to stand near an unexploded rocket on guard as the shelling gets closer the wreckage of Russian vehicles on the outskirts of Kharkov evidence that Ukrainian forces are fighting back tonight a fireball caused by a missile exploding in an industrial area northeast of Kharkov glowing in the dark like a beacon of fury and despair now the other important area is in the far east on the border with Russia, I'm talking about the so-called separatist areas which president Putin recognized as individual states the other week in his attempt to justify what he's doing at the moment now the Ukrainian forces have been firing into that area a place called Horlivka Russian which is on the Russian separatist side they did apparently hit a school today there's no evidence that anybody was killed in that but what that shows are that there is fighting on that side as well and we understand that someone in the Ukrainian forces and it's not clear who and it's not clear whether this was an official act actually fired and hit an airbase in Rostov o the Russian side that wasn't officially announced but it seems to be common knowledge on all those WhatsApp Ukrainian of groups amongst different Ukrainian soldiers so what you sense here is not exactly anarchy but there are different units doing different things at different times and it's not clear how much of total control the Ukrainian military are able to have because they are facing one of the most powerful enemies in the world and more than that they know that as the Russians advance it will become ever more difficult for them to maintain this kind of level of resistance and that's when it will be down to these men in the streets who think they're going to fight the Russians it's hard to see how that will really work and it's also hard to see what tomorrow is going to bring for the people of Ukraine you can say that again Lindsay thank you very much indeed but let's speak to Kira Rubik a Ukrainian MP who says that she is armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and will fight herself against the Russian army, if she has to Kyra, Kyra thank you very much for coming on the program um when did you buy your gun do you know how to use it and do you think you'll actually have to use it uh hello uh so I did not buy it I was given it by our authorities first as an mp and second as a member of the resistance force I have never used a gun in my life and even two days ago before it, all started if you ask me I would call you crazy if you would imply that I could ever use but after you spend some time at a bomb shelter after four eight n times during the last two days we have heard sirens about the air force attacks after seeing your family hiding under the stairs you just have to do something and so yesterday we were given the guns and it's about 20 000 guns right now distributed between the members of the resistance in Kyiv and yesterday today I spent my time with the team where I'm learning how to shoot I don't want to evacuate I don't plan to flee because I think right now we should all do what we have to do is fight Russian soldiers on our soil fight people who came from nowhere well we know from where and want to take what is ours we want to take our land want to instill some Russian pride here and with just because we they don't allow us the right to exist Putin said he doesn't allow our country to exist I don't doubt your determination and your resolve but you and the rest of the citizen's Russian army will not be a match for the Russian army will you I mean this could really end very badly for you so I will tell you the story that happened today where when a group of five Russian soldiers tried to get into Kyiv uh dressed as Ukrainian army they were disarmed not by our regular forces and they were killed not by our regular forces but by the people like me by their resistance because we were able to move quickly and our troops were able to find and disarm the intruders so I have I really pray to god that I wouldn't ever have to use and fire the gun however I know that I will do if I have to and right now I know technically how to do it and get as and as my fellow friends say get fewer bruises does your family understand why you're Do this to your children yeah my family does understand this and everybody here in Kyiv who stayed who didn't flee they know that we will have to protect ourselves people are preparing Molotov's cocktails people are preparing for what's coming um you know we have been at war with Russia for eight years so we know very well what kind of force is coming in and we know very well that we will have to uh to do what's right now and we will do it um I don't know if you heard the crumbs of artillery or shelling that I heard just a few minutes ago not far by the river which is and what's going on in that particular bit of shelling what are they trying to do you think uh I think they are trying to get to the uh train station and the airport which is nearby however uh our um our military is actually uh pretty good in disarming uh all the rockets that are coming in that's why I actually was very um very glad to hear that Ian Stoltenberg said that they are giving us more uh more help and support on the air force so that we'll be able to um to if we cannot get the no-fly zone from NATO forces we can get it ourselves with the ammunition that you're provided that they're providing us but they are destroying your air force aren't they they've destroyed quite a few airfields your airpower was very weak anyway um unless NATO really steps in here and enforces a no-fly zone which would probably mean war with Russia you're not going to get very far so um my party and I for three months were asking demanding talking to the NATO reps and uh all the uh all the members about providing Ukraine with no-fly zone and unfortunately, it went from no way to okay maybe and we don't see it as that will be a direct war with Russia ever on terms of protection, we still see that it could be an option uh we understand that the air force is our weakest point uh as of right now and that's why we need all the help that we can get from anybody to um to get uh to get it up right now because you see you see what's happening right here now you feel it indeed and Kyra there was a suggestion earlier today that president Zielinski might be prepared to negotiate with Moscow in order to achieve some kind of neutrality and thus save tens of thousands of lives is that still the case and would you support it so here is the thing we have again we've been at war with Russia for the last eight years we know what Putin's word means and it means nothing and so discussion about neutrality and anything else it's just like a way to for Putin to play his muscle but it will not end up anywhere and it will not stop the war uh yeah the question that we have all been juggling with for the last like six months since the news about the uh that he's planning to invade started reaching out was is there a force in the world right now that can stop putting because the old security system is not working obviously and the world security structure for the world for uh for Europe rope uh is not working because it's not stopping Putin and if it will he will not stop in Ukraine and I know we know we all know it right so the question if there is a force that can stop him right now and if there is this force then we can start to negotiate and there is no force then we will fight you.

                                          Thank you for reading 





No comments:

Post a Comment