The city on the great river becomes a trench to protect Kiev. A reconnaissance drone shot down: “They want to study us, they’re close”
In the world on the other side of wars, where the unthinkable becomes ordinary and reality takes on the psychedelic forms of the surreal, comfort comes from unexpected places, often under the gaze of irony, that weightless gravity of which Calvino spoke. A bulletproof vest used as a door stop, a guy who comes out of a trench and asks you to follow him on Instagram because he has just published a new song and “he will certainly break”, candles in the event of a blackout, all scented with lime and bergamot, the only ones left. “That if we have to fight – says the saleswoman who sells them – it’s better to do it with style”. Again: a lady in a camel-colored coat, a parrot in a cage in one hand, a gun in the other. And then Anonymus’ declaration of cyber-warfare, who announces that he has started operations against the Russian Federation and a few hours later Russian TV channels start broadcasting Ukrainian songs. They won’t stop the bombs, but at least, for a few moments, they allow you to look elsewhere.
Dnipro, besieged by the news that the Russians would be getting closer – 35 kilometers to the south and another contingent 200 kilometers to the east – is preparing for the shock wave. Inhabitants consume themselves in long lines in front of recruitment centers, banks, and mobile points for donating blood. In front of the shops, almost all closed, sandbag barriers are raised, the windows are protected with wooden boards, those who have remained in the almost deserted city hurry home before the curfew. On cell phones comes the terrible news from Kiev and 30 cities under attack across the country. Mariupol has been surrounded, Russian forces are conquering village by village, country by country near Volnovakha. Numerous troops would be moving towards Zaporizhzhia in two directions, one column from Tokmak, another towards Berdyansk, and have already entered the area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. “For all those who want to take part in the defense of Ukraine: go to Mariupol with a blue band above the elbow,” said the mayor of Berdyansk Oleksandr Svidlo in a video message. The hope is that the city will not fall.
The swarm of waiting in Dnipro was interrupted only by a barrage of shots from the army, which yesterday shot down a Russian reconnaissance drone as it flew over the city center, between Polya and Pushkin streets. “They want to study us, they’re on their way,” the military murmur. But it was a moment, there is no time to waste, the city must be protected. And while at the Municipal Theater other beds are being prepared for the evacuees arriving from Donesk, Lughansk and Kharkiv, in front of the glass collection of the supermarkets young men select bottles of the right size, put them in cardboard boxes and cut strips of fabric. There will be dozens and dozens of Molotov cocktails. A little further afield, a little boy comes out of the recruiting center disconsolate: “They didn’t enlist me because I’m only 16,” says Oleg.
While news arrives of the 100,000 displaced people who in 48 hours managed to escape to safety in Poland, in sports halls and border churches, dozens of messages arrive on phones and social media: “Ukrainian friends, if you can get to Poland our home is open, we are waiting for you! ». The same thing happens in Dnipro: the inhabitants offer free accommodation and a hot meal in their homes to those fleeing from the East and Mariupol: “At least as long as it is safe, there is room for at least 5 people in my house” says Anton, 32 years old, dentist. He has not yet told his wife that he has just enlisted: “I will do it now, calmly, she will understand. I enlisted after hearing from my friends in Kiev on the phone this morning. They were crying, they were terrified, they couldn’t even speak, you could hear the banging in the background ». Many are hoping for a truce, but after the last thrust of General Igor Konashenkov, hopes are thinning: “After the Ukrainian side abandoned the negotiation process, all units were ordered today to continue advancing in all directions according to plan, ”said the spokesman for the ministry. «We don’t listen anymore – Anton says – so much they are all lies. They want to take everything, but they will soon understand that we will never give up. ”
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