When the bombs fall silent, life returns. She does it little by little, shyly, but with determination. After three weeks under the constant threat of a large-scale Russian attack, the citizens of kyiv try to steal spaces of freedom from the war. On the first day of the last days without attacks, this Saturday they take the opportunity to try to recover a life as similar to the one they had before February 24.
That is one of the objectives of Alex Cooper, owner of the Chornomorka restaurant, the first to reopen its doors in kyiv. “We are back again, although in reality the kitchen has worked at all times preparing menus for the Army volunteers and the Territorial Defense militias. Now, in addition, we will offer free food for five hundred elderly people who have stayed in the city and they will be able to come to the restaurant and sit here, as they did before, “says this businessman who has a chain of twenty-five establishments in the capital.
Andriy, a former skier, and Sergei, a former chess champion, are two of the first to arrive. Lifelong friends, they hadn’t seen each other for three weeks and hadn’t heard from each other. Andriy wears the yellow and blue tracksuit of the Ukrainian Olympic team, it is his only clothing, with the same one that he escaped from neighboring Irpin when the fighting broke out. “We are celebrating that we are alive. We know that the danger has not passed, that the Russians are still very close, but today we meet again and we are going to eat and take a walk, “explains the former skier in front of the tray of chicken and bulgur, the menu of the day in the Chornomorka, known in times of peace for his oysters. To drink they can choose between orange juice or water. The dry law is still in force in the capital.
fear of explosions
Diners keep coming in. They pick up their food from a counter and then sit at any of the tables. They have many things to tell each other and they do it in a hurry, fearing that the magic of this moment will evaporate in an explosion.
Day by day more lights are also turned on in the kiosks that populate this city for the sale of coffee. In all of them, a sign is placed in the main window to inform that the drinks are free for the security forces. Until now, only a few supermarkets and pharmacies, essential establishments, could be found open, but little by little other businesses are beginning to resume activity. They do it during limited hours and close at five in the afternoon, three hours before the curfew comes into force, which does not rise until seven in the morning.
resigned
“At any time they can launch a missile. We are condemned to live under threat»
The longest queues are seen in front of the pharmacies, but it is also surprising to find four people at the doors of the Fígaro hairdressing salon, one of the few that work in the center, perhaps the only one. It is even more surprising when from inside you hear a torrent of voices singing ‘Figaro’ from ‘The Barber of Seville’ by Gioachino Rossini. Aleksandr’s «la, la, la, la, la» flood the street and liven up the wait for those who patiently await their turn.
“End this nightmare”
Yesenia has been at the helm of this hair salon with a pink facade for three decades. She has decided to open “to be with my lifelong clients and make them feel more comfortable and handsome at times like these.” Every day she walks an hour and a half from her house to get here because there is no public service. She has a full schedule, impossible to find a slot. “People want to go back to their old routines and habits, to put an end to this nightmare,” says the hairdresser, who is able to attend to her work, applaud Aleksandr when he strains his voice the most, answer the phone and hold a conversation on the phone. video call with his daughter, who is in Switzerland.
Vladz is one of the lucky ones who can get a haircut. He is a blogger and activist on social networks, a front from which he tries to “fight so that the truth of the barbarities that the Russians are committing is known.” The young man assures that «the situation in kyiv is now better than cities like Mariúpol or Kharkov, but at any moment they can launch a missile, we are condemned to learn to live under threat. Let us trust in the capacity of our Army, which has been responding successfully so far.”
In front of ‘Figaro’ a family is now passing by jogging. Kiev resilience in a semi-deserted city where a few light windows open. They are few, but they shine brightly and do not want to be extinguished by the bombs again.
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