Nicolas Tonev (in Irpin, Ukraine)
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10:23 p.m., February 11, 2023
Several explosions were heard in kyiv on Friday, where residents took shelter in the metro. While Ukrainians fear a massive offensive from Moscow in the coming weeks, in Irpin, near the capital, residents do not want to see Russian soldiers return.
The situation remains complicated this week in Ukraine, after a massive Russian attack against energy infrastructure. Several explosions were heard in kyiv, where everyone fears a massive Russian attack, a few days before the anniversary of the invasion. In Irpin, very close to the capital and long at the heart of the fighting, the central square is now quiet. A few retirees sunbathe in the relative mildness of -4°C displayed on the thermometer. Here, everything has seemingly returned to normal, even if fears persist.
“I don’t know anyone who rejoices in life”
Encased in her coat, Valentina, 72, has no illusions. “There’s nothing normal because when you talk to people, every one of them has a soul trauma, in every one of them. Someone survived and there, in that house, behind, people lived and there are only ruins left. I don’t know anyone who rejoices in life”, she confides at the microphone of Europe 1, without emotion.
A kilometer further, in a street, a worker changes windows, blown by the bombs. Olenna returned in July, happy to be back in her building and her job. But the news already puts in his mind the anguish of another hasty departure. “Yes, I’m scared. If there is another offensive, we will still run away. It’s very hard. I don’t want to imagine that,” she explains. Strange feeling of inhabitants, who struggle to regain a foothold in their homes knowing that their fate is decided, far from it, much further east.