International reporting
War in Ukraine: in Kiev, the quest to survive and the desire to help the fighters
Audio 02:37
In the Ukrainian capital, metro stations have been converted into shelters for Kiev residents.
© AP/Felipe Dana
By: Pierre Olivier Follow |
Bertrand Haeckler
4 mins
As the noose tightens on the Ukrainian capital, how are the residents and refugees of Kiev surviving, while helping the fighters fighting on the front lines?
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From our special envoys in Kiev,
A few steps
from Maidan Square
: Krechtatik metro station.
You have to go down endless escalators.
The Kiev metro is the deepest in the world.
On the platforms, in stopped trains, dozens of people have taken refuge and live here.
“
I sleep on the train, with my daughter and a neighbour
,” says this retired teacher, who fled her apartment in the suburbs, too close to the fighting.
Here she feels safe.
“
When we hear the sirens announcing bombings, everyone goes inside the trains.
We cut the light, we lie down and we wait for it to calm down
, ”she explains.
In the darkness of the corridors of the station, refugees from all over Ukraine survive, supported by young volunteers from Kiev.
“
There are a lot of volunteers helping out.
They give us soup, borsch… three times a day.
I'm amazed at how much everyone helps us!
They brought us mattresses, blankets, pillows, everything we need not to be cold
,” exclaims the former teacher.
►Also read: The inhabitants try to flee the city of Irpin under the bombs
In the stores that remained open, shelves quickly empty
On the surface, in the deserted streets of the capital, queues are forming in front of pharmacies and supermarkets.
Wrapped up in his down jacket, this local resident waits, under the snow, to be able to enter this grocery store.
Part of the staff has fled the city, and customers have to enter in dribs and drabs.
"
Since the first day of the war, February 24, people have been queuing outside supermarkets to find basic necessities
," he says.
In Kiev, there is still food in the shops.
Supply trucks can enter the city, but the shelves empty quickly.
“
Because of the stress, people are stocking up.
Too much !
As a result, some shelves are empty!
»
In this supermarket in Kiev, on March 3, 2022, the shelves are partly empty.
© REUTERS/Mykhailo Markiv
Inside this supermarket.
You have to deal with the missing products.
“
There is no more meat
,” laments this customer.
Despite these difficulties, this woman wants to stay in Kiev.
This is where she belongs, she said.
She stays, but she recognizes it: the anxiety is permanent, in Kiev.
“
What we see on television every day is terrible!
When you wake up in the morning, it's a good sign.
It means that we are not dead
, ”she relativizes.
"Defending my country is the first of my motivations"
Not dying and helping the fighters have become the two obsessions of the people of Kiev.
In a place that must remain secret, in the basement, a kitchen has been fitted out.
A smell of fried onions escapes gigantic pans.
“
We prepare food for the soldiers.
A thousand meals!
Today it's fish, bulgur and buckwheat
,” says Igor, a cook.
He works in Germany.
But since the war started, he immediately came to Kiev.
"
I'm doing this to defend my country!"
This is the first of my motivations.
»
►Also read: Donbass veterans return to duty to defend Kiev
In a corner of the kitchen, two women, residents of the neighborhood, are peeling potatoes.
“
We wanted to help at the hospital where there are a lot of injured people.
But I don't have the skills and all that blood… But here, in this kitchen, we are useful
”, assures one of them.
These women add that they will come and cook for their soldiers until the end of the war.
►Also listen: The female faces of the resistance in Ukraine
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