Residents in Kyiv have organised huge resistance efforts to deter the Russian invasion. On the ninth day of the conflict, FRANCE 24 joined the civilian and military forces who have sworn to defend the Ukrainian capital against Putin’s army.
Trellis fencing, combat boots, sleeping bags: Kostya Kravets throws anything he thinks might be useful into two large black sports bags. The 43-year-old accountant knows that his Territorial Defence unit needs anything and everything he can provide.
“The absolute priority at the moment is bullet-proof vests and helmets. We also need drones, walkie-talkies and diesel generators,“ Kravets tells FRANCE 24, before leaving for his base in Tarasivka in southwest Kyiv. Every minute counts in the fight to fortify the capital and surrounding areas.
He has barely left before others enter the ordinary-looking building in Kyiv, now transformed into a hive of resistance operations. Entire rooms have been set aside for storing medicine, water, clothes and electronics. Similar hubs have opened up around the capital since the start of the war. The sense of solidarity, the flood of donations and the dedication of volunteers contains echoes of Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution in 2014 – a series of violent protests that overthrew the country’s Russia-backed government.
Today, the juggernaut of the Russian military may be in close proximity, but it has not dented the spirit of the resistance.
‘We are 100% ready’
“From a military perspective, we are 100% ready. The Russians are going to try and enter Kyiv, but they’re going to realise it’s impossible…
Source : france24
