Ukrainians waiting for another Russian strike

Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Residents of Kyiv waited with resignation and patience on Tuesday for another Russian bombardment that was tipped to be imminent.

Concordant sources maintained that the invader would carry out major strikes on Tuesday or Wednesday.

According to an official of the Ukrainian intelligence service, this information was « rather serious ».

It is indeed common for the Russians to strike with regularity week after week at the same intervals.

Citizens were preparing accordingly on Tuesday morning and in the afternoon, traffic in downtown shopping centers was low.

From 12:30 p.m., a siren sounded to announce bombardments, but the alert was short-lived.

In one of the big shopping centers in the city center, the clientele was sparse, except at the small supermarket.

The Globus, located under the famous Maidan Square, received few visitors, either at the food court or in the shops.

In the surrounding restaurants, however, the crowds were quite good. The McDonald’s in Maidan Square turned out to be busy in the afternoon, as were the many small cafes on Khreshchatik Street, a vast commercial thoroughfare in the capital.

On this cold and overcast Tuesday afternoon, passers-by did not linger in the streets.

The Ukrainian intelligence official told The Canadian Press that authorities are apprehending salvoes from different types of systems, whether on the sea (sea-to-ground), on land (ground-to-ground) or from the air (air-to-ground). ).

Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense has perfected its methods and has state-of-the-art equipment provided by its allies, but it cannot intercept all the missiles and drones launched in the direction of the capital or the whole of Ukrainian territory.

On Monday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Russia had launched as many as 16,000 missile attacks on Ukraine over the past nine months.

Last week, a particularly devastating Russian attack damaged the Ukrainian electricity network, which had already been damaged in recent weeks, and even rendered Kyiv’s drinking water supply network inoperative.

City residents were expecting the worst on Tuesday. Mariia Shuvalova, a teacher who lives in the capital, hinted that she and her friends were preparing for a doomsday scenario and another complete blackout.

“You have to be extremely careful and attentive,” she explained during an exchange with The Canadian Press.

Citizens rely both on their relatives in the military, on non-governmental organizations and on official Ukrainian intelligence sources to be informed of an impending bombardment.

Several air raid shelters are available to citizens in the event of an attack. There are toilets, enough to charge your phone, and even nearby cafes that have generators.