Our report out of Kyiv this morning as it awakes to the sound of explosions and the Russian invasion begins.
led by @JohnReedwrites on.ft.com/35hwOQp
led by @JohnReedwrites on.ft.com/35hwOQp
Lines of cars jammed the main roads out of the capital as residents fled, leaving the city centre deserted.
People with suitcases in hand crowded into metro trains, tried to buy medical supplies at pharmacies, and lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash.
People with suitcases in hand crowded into metro trains, tried to buy medical supplies at pharmacies, and lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash.
A few people, some with children, camped out in the metro, huddling on the floor and checking the fast-moving news on their phones, which showed Russia bombing a string of targets across Ukraine and intense fighting in the country’s east — @JohnReedwrites witnessed
Boris Misharyn, a 30-year-old Kyiv resident who runs a small IT company, told me he was trying to maintain calm among his friends.
“We’re all frightened now, we don’t know what to expect from Putin,” he said. “Right now I can sense mass panic…But it’s important to remain calm.”
“We’re all frightened now, we don’t know what to expect from Putin,” he said. “Right now I can sense mass panic…But it’s important to remain calm.”
Misharyn said he would be staying in Kyiv, in the hope that political negotiation would put an end to the conflict before it reached the city.
“What I don’t understand,” Misharyn said, “is what the Russian people are fighting for… And why are they staying silent?”
“What I don’t understand,” Misharyn said, “is what the Russian people are fighting for… And why are they staying silent?”
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