Information about the Russian invasion, details and testimonies of Ukrainian civilians.
The main source for this article prefers to maintain its anonymity.
Until now Kyiv is holding against all Russian attacks. Urban war unfolds, with civilian militias acting as reserves (patrol the streets for diversants and inform the army). The “call to arms” by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t have any significant traction, all the main fighting against the Russian Army is being made by the Ukrainian army.
Ukrainians interpret the “call to arms” as a way to make the population “feel safe”. “Even if the people don’t know how to use a Kalashnikov [AK-47], they feel more safe with a gun at home.”
About the mass mobilization promoted by Ukraine’s president the source said: “(…) mass mobilization means that all men regardless if they have military experience or not have to enroll. But it’s extremely hard to actually make it possible as many people in large portions of the country can’t and don’t want to leave their homes.”
The civilian militias that are more active are the ones composed by civilians with war experience and veterans from the war in Donbass.
Most people just want to stay at home and are even afraid to do volunteer work at emergency services. Even in the already occupied zones people don’t leave their houses either because they are scared of the Russian Army, or because of the air and missile attacks taken by Ukraine (like in the Luhansk People’s Republic for example). In Kyiv, the Ukrainian Government ordered the people to stay at home.
All the stores are closed, and there are already reports of robberies. “This will be more frequent, as the warehouses with products and medicines will not have the logistics to supply the people with the products they need, (…) if the Russian government doesn’t manage the logistics of supplying medicine and other essential products to Ukranians there is a risk of a humanitarian crisis.”
About the imminent refugee crisis: the car circulation on the Ukrainian roads still exists, although only in the west. “In the eastern and central and southern part of the country people are mostly using cars to go to shelters/hospitals.” – “There are large plums of transit on the western borders as many people are trying to leave”.
Approximately 150 thousand people until now have left, men from 18 to 55 cannot leave the country.
The situation is getting worse and worse, the Russian Army, allied with the People’s Republic of Lugansk and the People’s Republic of Donetsk are having success “and pushing the frontline 20 kilometers further into Ukrainian territory”. Just now the Russian government announced a new offensive on all fronts.
The town of Stanytsia Luhanska has been taken by the PRL. Kharkiv, Summi and Chernihiv are surrounded by the Russian Army. And despite the bombardments by the Russian military, Kiev is also holding the attacks from the North. The President and major government officials decided to stay in the capital. The Russian Army also tried to take Nikolaev and Kherson in the south, but the assault on both cities failed.
More information about the Russian invasion of Ukraine to follow…
