Kyiv fights on

Terror came to Kyiv yet again last night in a barrage of missiles and drones. When will Russia be forced to end this war on light and life?

As I arrived at the train station in Kyiv last night, the first air alarm began: staff quickly began closing the station doors and ushering everyone outside. People began walking briskly towards the tunnels under the station to wait for their trains: the departure board began showing east-bound services would be delayed.

At this point the skies were quiet but the Telegram channels were full of warnings about an impending mass attack. The US embassy had warned its citizens to shelter in place, while British intelligence was predicting that Russia would once again launch its ‘Oreshnik’ medium range ballistic missile, hitting the town of Bila Tsverka.

Our service to Odesa left precisely on time, but during the night Kyiv came under the most intense Russian missile and drone attack since the start of the full scale war. It almost seems meaningless quantifying attacks like this. ‘The most intense’ doesn’t hold much meaning when each week is more violent than the one before. But this night, attacks hit practically every district of the capital.

In Luky’anivka, often targeted by drone strikes, the local market burned to the ground, while blast waves sent debris right down into the metro station where people were sheltering, bringing down part of the ceiling.

In Podil, home to trendy cafes and bookshops, the Chornobyl museum was badly damaged, the National Art Museum of Ukraine had its windows broken - while the Zavertailo cafe where I had been for coffee the day before had all its windows blown out, the interior littered with debris and glass.

For the first time, there was damage to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, the Government HQ and the main Post Office right in the centre of town.

The friend I had been staying with said a high rise block next to a place where we’d just been for dinner, had been damaged, with bits of wreckage still strewn around the street.

Two people have lost their lives and scores were injured. Devastating for countless families.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

I lay awake on the train as it sped onwards to Odesa looking at footage of apocalyptic scenes and messaging all my friends to make sure they were OK. “Very scary. But we are OK”. “I am glad you did not have to witness this”, wrote another.

This is not some kind of ‘retaliation’: Russia has been launching attacks like this day after day for more than four years, hitting cafes and markets and blocks of flats and hospitals and schools, millions of pounds to wreck a supermarket or tear a hole in a flag. As President Zelenskyy put it before he visited the scene of attacks in Podil: “they really are unhinged.” and called for pressure around the world to make “that old Oreshnik (nut-job) in Moscow finally utter the word ‘peace’”

As for the spirit of Ukraine, look closely at this photo of the burning market at Luky’anivka published by the state emergency service and you can see a Glovo delivery driver on his way past the flames, continuing with his delivery, come what may.

Kyiv greeted the dawn today beneath clouds of smoke and the smell of burning and dust, but Kyiv lives on - and it will continue to fight for light and for life.