The people of Kiev do not hamster or panic, but enjoy life, even though the threat of war is now hovering over the capital, writes HS correspondent Jenni Jeskanen.
Kiev
Ukraine is again the center of international attention after a break of many years, it is clearly visible.
Cities in every direction of the air are occupied by the media. There is not such a small village in war-torn eastern Ukraine that a German or American film crew would not emerge from the ruins of a long-bombed house.
On the other hand, Russia’s fear of a new attack – in which case the media is on call in Ukraine – shows no signs of anything other than the intensified firing on the front line in recent days. And good so.
On Friday, the United States issued a new intelligence-led assessment of the Russian invasion: “the next few days,” reportedly targeting Kiev. The day before, HS interviewed a researcher who feared Russia would attack Ukraine with force.
Read more: A Russian analyst fears a “dramatic” attack on Ukraine
Sound shocking. Will Ukraine survive in one piece, I was worried for a moment. An acquaintance from Finland sent a message in which he updated the “wild” situation in Ukraine.
I have been working in Ukraine for a week and a half, following the Ukrainian news coverage of the multinational media with one eye, observing local life on the other. It feels like an obsessive compulsive disorder.
The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs receives text messages from your Finnish mobile phone at regular intervals instructing you to leave Ukraine immediately. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Tourism Promotion Center is sending out emails urging it to stay calm and enticing to visit Ukraine.
In Kiev, the shelves of grocery stores have not emptied, nor the people hamster. The large market hall in the center of the capital has a good selection of fruit.
In eastern Ukraine the war has been burning with varying intensity for eight years, but Kiev is now, for the first time, threatened by war. It is not noticeable in the street scene.
On Sunday, the parents of Kiev were happy to walk their smiling toddlers, and a queue of coffee kiosks was formed in the city center. In the capital, as nowhere else in Ukraine, there has been no panic.
There are no gaping shelves in the grocery stores, and no way out of the city on the way out. At the weekend, the best-dressed families enjoy a leisurely Sunday lunch at the restaurant. I myself relaxed, even though the news drummed the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine.
Coffee life is booming in Kiev. Life on the surface in Kiev carelessly despite the fear of war shaking Europe.
Everyday continues on the surface in the usual way in Kiev, Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region and the border city of Kharkov. Yet the pressure that Russia has increased in recent months cannot help but keep in mind.
At the beginning of the corona pandemic in Finland, we noticed how different people reacted in the midst of the crisis. Ukrainians, too, have an attitude towards the tense situation.
Talking to the locals has revealed a couple of main lines. In eastern Ukraine, many residents of small towns and villages say they have stopped following the news to protect their health. They focus on chickens or gardening.
Enlightened residents of large cities are practicing national defense, demonstrating, and preparing to resist.
The mind is sometimes low, but what they have in common is that they believe in peace and want to enjoy what is still possible in life.
The young man skated on the steps of the National Opera on Monday in Kiev.
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