On the last day of winter and the fifth day of Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine, Kyiv’s defense line moved away from the outskirts and suburbs of the capital. The enemy has been driven back, the military are clearing Kyiv from saboteurs. But the civilian population has to make ever greater efforts for elementary survival. For the first time in decades, the people of Kiev faced a shortage of bread, some basic foodstuffs and medicines. Transport works intermittently.
Unprecedented queues
On the morning of February 28, after a one and a half day curfew, many more people and cars appeared on the streets of Kyiv than on previous days. After a long forced stay at home and in bomb shelters, the people of Kiev needed to replenish their supplies of water, food and medicine. The city authorities promised to organize the delivery of food to the shops, but the shortage was felt throughout the capital.
In front of food stores – long queues
To enter the Velyka Kyshenya supermarket on Pecherskaya Square in the center of Kyiv, a DW correspondent had to stand in line for more than two hours, stretching for almost an entire block. People stopped people leaving the store, who said that there was no bread yet, there were dairy products with exceptionally long shelf life, and there were no vegetables and fruits either. But on the shelves there was no shortage of cakes, pastries, tobacco products and alcohol, which on the same day in the evening was banned from sale.
Buyers greeted the disappointing news calmly and with understanding. However, everyone is alarmed by the prospects for further food supply to the city. And the nearest agricultural market was closed even after the first morning shelling of the outskirts of Kyiv on February 24th.
Lines, but not so long, lined up in pharmacies. So, in three pharmacies on Lesia Ukrainka Boulevard, there were 20-30 people in them. But there was more anxiety. “Why haven’t pharmacies been classified as critical infrastructure facilities?” a woman of retirement age asked. “Both I and my family need drugs for insulin-dependent and hypertensive patients, my sister has a bad heart, my son-in-law has epilepsy. Pharmacies should be transferred to round-the-clock duty” .
Mode Gain
The Kiev administration managed to organize stable work of communal services. With the exception of the quarters where there were street battles, the dwellings of the people of Kiev have electricity, heating and hot water. Fiber-optic and mobile Internet lines, mobile communications of all Ukrainian operators work stably. The only inconvenience is that garbage is practically not removed in the city.
Inspection of a suspicious car, Kyiv, February 28
On the fifth day of the defense of the capital, local authorities went to meet the military commandant’s office and increased the duration of the curfew. It now starts not at 22.00, but at 20.00, and lasts until 8.00 in the morning of the next day. The requirements for drivers of private cars have also become stricter. They are strictly prohibited from using the public transport lane. “Cars moving along this lane will be considered as vehicles of sabotage and reconnaissance groups. The response will be appropriate,” the official statement says.
The use of this lane is restricted to special cargo vehicles, public transport, military equipment, police and ambulances. The Kiev authorities recalled that the people of Kiev live under martial law and urged the citizens to remain calm and not endanger themselves.
The reason for tightening the rules was the threat posed by sabotage groups, as well as the first, as yet rare cases of looting. The Operativno VSU channel on social networks warned that saboteurs could change into Ukrainian military uniforms or civilian clothes, travel in ambulances or civilian cars with Ukrainian numbers. A list of vehicles captured by Russian saboteurs and their numbers has been published – almost 30 vehicles. Authorities urged to monitor their movements and report to the army and authorities.
life underground
The only way to hide from air raids are bomb shelters. In underground metro stations, people are located on the platforms, and when there is not enough space – at the entrance to the metro. During the curfew, civilians are allowed to go to the nearest bomb shelters, but it is no longer possible to leave the metro outside before the end of the curfew. At some metro stations, hermetic seals are periodically closed.
Kiev residents spend their nights on metro platforms
In the evening people go to spend the night in bomb shelters. Under them, basements of houses and underground parking lots are also equipped. Residents bring with them the minimum necessary supplies of food and water. At metro stations, you don’t even have to worry about water. Fountains with drinking water are installed here, toilets work according to the schedule. Deep underground, no explosions or sirens can be heard. Children and pets can feel much more relaxed here.
In the morning the flow of people goes in the opposite direction. They rush home to replenish food supplies, relax, walk cats and dogs. During the day, air raid sirens regularly wail, but many simply do not pay attention to them. “The sirens are often turned on, but the air raid alert is not always given. I can’t run back and forth all the time,” a middle-aged man told DW, calmly entertaining two children during the next howl of sirens on a playground in one of the Kiev courtyards .
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