War in Ukraine: fear returns to the streets of Kyiv following the Russian strikes | International

It had been months since Kyiv residents had to run for safety. the seven missiles that hit downtown Monday mornings were like a rude awakening from a sense of false security. And when the air raid sirens sounded again on Monday afternoon, the streets of the capital quickly became deserted.

One of the most unpopular features of the Ukrainian capital is the heavy car traffic on its streets. During the first six months of the invasion, there was a commonly heard comment among the remaining residents that the only good thing the war had brought was that the traffic jams were gone. The roar of traffic erupted again in the fall, as most of the people who had left the city at the start of the invasion returned home. The streets were once again full of life and the cafes were packed on weekends. Tempers were also improving as the Ukrainian armed forces continued to push back the invader on the front lines.

But Monday’s strikes have evaporated the good mood of the population. Businesses that had resumed activity during the summer were closed all day. The few supermarkets that remained open had long queues of people waiting to stock up on basics, fearing a military escalation in the capital that could force them into indefinite lockdown.

“People, despite everything, are calmer. There is no panic like at the beginning of the war, when Kyiv was besieged, although now there is more anger,” said Elisa, a 26-year-old woman who spent the morning take shelter indoors Olympic Stadium metro station. Stations and underpasses were packed with citizens, in scenes not seen since the early months of the war. The Russian missiles that fell on Kyiv four months earlier targeted a residential area far from the historic center and high places of power. But on this occasion, the Kremlin ordered that the heart of the city be punished in retaliation for the attack last Saturday sabotage on the Kerch Strait bridge in occupied Crimea.

“Of course, I imagined such an attack could happen, I watch the news all day. I haven’t forgotten that Russia is a terrorist state,” said Daria Reshetnikova, sitting in the metro station with a detective story to pass the hours. Reshetnikova left the city when the Russians arrived in the outskirts in February, but did not hesitate to return when the invaders withdrew from the area.

International diplomatic delegations followed a similar pattern. European Union Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders was in Kyiv during Monday’s attack. Staff from EU institutions in the city were summoned in the early afternoon and instructed to spend the night at the residence of the Ambassador to the EU. EL PAÍS was able to speak with a member of the Reynders team, who planned to spend more days in the capital. Among his luggage was a tennis racket. “It’s a sign of the good humor with which I came here,” said the senior EU official. Other European sources said they had been warned that there would be an escalation in Russian strikes away from the front in October, in response to battlefield defeats.

Cities closer to military action, such as Kharkiv in the east, or Mikolaiv in the south, are regularly targeted by attacks like the one Kyiv suffered on Monday. The difference lies in the symbolism of touching the heart of the country, in the neighborhoods that house the political power and the diplomatic representations of Ukraine’s international allies. A German visa office was partially destroyed and several Russian military Telegram accounts claimed that a missile that hit the capital’s glass bridge targeted an EU office next door.

Unlike previous days, on Monday the streets were already deserted hours before the start of the 11 p.m. curfew, reflecting widespread fears that the night could bring new death messages from Russia. And with Ukrainian troops gain ground during the war, the population assumes that terror campaigns like Monday’s will become more frequent.