I’m in Kyiv, and It Is Terrifying

 

"Mr. Putin claims that he is a liberator, and that Ukraine will profit from the invasion. But even my 76-year-old granny, a typical Soviet babushka who still misses the Soviet Union and its “stability,” thinks he has gone mad.

I called her early on Thursday morning, while most of Kyiv was still sleeping. She sounded puzzled but was fully awake. Another sign of strangeness: A sleepyhead, she usually wakes up well after 10 a.m. “Save yourself, your husband and your dog,” she told me. “I will stay in my apartment. If a Russian missile hits my apartment, well, so be it. I had a long life. I would rather die in my perfectly decorated flat than in some dirty basement.”

I tried to urge her to pack her belongings and documents, but she refused. “I would rather cook some soup,” she said with sad laughter, and ended the call."

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By Veronika Melkozerova