Russians gather their troops
When will the full-scale attack on Kyiv take place?
3/11/2022 1:36 am
Kyiv has been the number one target of the Russian army since the beginning of the invasion. After a quick advance, nothing happens for a long time, there are only minor skirmishes in suburbs. But now the Russians are massing more and more troops in the north and east. The expected major offensive could begin soon.
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv is preparing for a major Russian offensive. The city has been “turned into a fortress,” says Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Ukrainian television. “Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been reinforced.” According to the Ukrainian general staff, the Russian armed forces continued their “offensive operation” to encircle the capital on Thursday night. Armored Russian vehicles are said to have pulled up on the north-east edge of the city. During the night, the village of Welyka Dymerka outside the gates of Kiev came under massive fire.
The icy wind brings tears to Wasyl Popow’s tired eyes. The 38-year-old stands at the door of Welyka Dymerka’s grocery store and looks out for the Russian troops. Just a few hundred meters from the shop, Russian Grad rockets have just triggered an explosion. “I hardly sleep anymore,” says Popow. “If you hear the slightest noise, you immediately run to the window to see what’s going on while wondering if someone is about to come in,” says the ad salesman.
Welyka Dymerka is around five kilometers from the Kiev city limits. Here is the last checkpoint of the Ukrainian army on the north-eastern edge of the capital. Five soldiers are stationed at the checkpoint, with a Javelin anti-tank missile at their disposal. “Last night there were Grad rocket attacks and bombings,” says soldier Serhiy. An evacuation campaign is currently underway to bring the elderly women in the village to safety. “But they don’t want to come out.”
It has been quiet for a long time in the north-east of Kiev
Unlike the suburbs in north-west Kiev, which have been under constant Russian fire for more than a week, the situation in the north-east of the capital was comparatively calm until recently. But the Russian tanks are now advancing in this zone as well. Ukrainian soldiers have been able to push back a Russian tank column in the past few days. The highway beginning at the northwestern outskirts of Welyka Dymerka is littered with the debris of the partially destroyed column. However, the Russian armed forces did not withdraw far.
The United States and several NATO allies have pledged further arms deliveries to Ukraine in recent days. In Welyka Dymerka, however, many people feel abandoned by the West. “If NATO is such a powerful organization, why isn’t it closing the sky over Ukraine?” asks pensioner Grigory Kushka in a despairing voice. “Why can’t we sleep at night? My family, my little girl, the children: why do we have to run from basement to basement?”
Close the skies over Ukraine: The government in Kyiv has been asking NATO to do this for days. However, the western military alliance rejects the creation of a no-fly zone over the country – the fear of a military confrontation between NATO and Russia is too great.
“Run away? Where would I go?”
In Velyka Dymerka, the open skies mean people have little protection from Russian air raids. The surroundings of the village are characterized by fields and open roads. Those who have not yet fled often have no choice but to seek shelter behind the simple gates that surround many of the wooden dwellings here.
She is not afraid of death, says 75-year-old Walentyna Rut. “I’m afraid for my children and grandchildren – nothing more,” she adds while feeding her chickens. She doesn’t want to go. “Why would I run away from my home? Where would I go?”
Computer repairman Roman Taranenko says he now lives in a dangerous no man’s land between advancing Russian troops and territory controlled by the Ukrainian army. However, the 47-year-old believes that a long-term occupation of Kiev by Russian troops is out of the question. “Even if they invade Kyiv, what are they going to do? How are they going to stay in power?” asks Taranenko. The Ukrainian resistance would remain immense, he is certain. “People would shoot at them from every house, they would burn their vehicles.” In his words, the Russians would “never be able to hold power – not even with assault rifles”.