Ukrainians on the Ground Are Speaking Out Amid Conflict

Shelling outside of the capital Kyiv caused some residents to flee, creating traffic jams in the process.

Credit: Kyiv, Ukraine - FEBRUARY 24: People take shelter in a metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Credit: Kyiv, Ukraine - FEBRUARY 24: People take shelter in a metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

More than a dozen Ukrainian cities and towns have been shelled by Russian forces, causing some residents outside the capital Kyiv to flee and creating traffic jams in the process.

Some people are focusing on getting their children out safely. And at least one man, interviewed by Reuters, called on Ukrainians to fight back. Other Kyiv residents tried flying out of the city, but have been left stranded by flight cancellations.

Alexander Bazhanov fled with his wife and child from the eastern city of Mariupol, Ukraine, and traveled hundreds of miles to cross the border into Poland.

“At 5 o’clock some colleague called me, and said ‘War started,’” Bazhanov says.

Anastazja, a Polish student studying abroad in Ukraine who did not provide her last name, told Reuters that many people on the ground feel helpless: “Really, we are feeling bad because it was unexpected. We all want peace and quiet, we don't want war, please like stop because people suffer from it,” she said.

Previously, some media reports suggested that Lviv, a city in the western part of Ukraine, could be a safe area in the event of a Russian invasion as it’s far from the Ukraine-Russia border. Still, Lviv residents were reportedly shocked to find out there has already been a bombing close to the city.