“If I’m scared? But no ! The tables at Barman Dictat, an underground bar a stone’s throw from Maidan Square in central Kiev, are all busy on Sunday night. Chandeliers illuminate the playful faces, while a saxophone lets out intoxicating notes. “The music is really good! That’s why I’m here tonight. »
While the eyes of the whole world are turned towards the stormy sky which overhangs Ukraine, the inhabitants of Kiev assure that they are not giving in to panic. “It’s just news for now [que la Russie pourrait attaquer l’Ukraine]. This is not the reality, ”argues Yana Holub, who came to spend the evening in this jazz club with her mother.
“I didn’t stock up on food. But maybe I should stock up on some gin and tonic [pour passer à travers la crise], launches the young woman jokingly. We continue our lives, as usual. »
While one evening singers follow one another at the microphone, Alina Zalozna patiently waits her turn. “I came to participate in the jam sessions,” says the 21-year-old, who still says she is a little worried.
“But you have to filter the information,” she slips under the light of a candle. There are a lot of provocations at the moment. And our country has been at war with Russia for so many years [dans l’est de l’Ukraine]. I think Westerners are more worried about Ukrainians than we are. »
In 2014, when the revolution broke out in Maidan, the authorities suppressed the youth with blood and Russia later launched an offensive that ended in the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of the region from the Donbass, these young people full of composure seated in the Barman Dictat were still only teenagers.
“I can’t believe that a foreign country could attack us”, summarizes, incredulous, Andril, seated a little further. Draped in denial, naivety or perhaps realism, the young man says he is continuing his life as usual, working in a music studio. “If I stop, the music won’t be heard. »
Dnieper River
Outside, a spring air blows over the city. In Mariinskyi Park, facing the parliament, many parents walked their babies on Sunday under the February sun. Young children were throwing snowballs in the direction of the Dnieper River – so crucial in this crisis – while adults were chatting, coffee in hand.
At the same time, the headlines of the newspapers chained the news in bursts: the discussion in high places between the American president, Joe Biden, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, stumbled, Ukraine could be bombed or invaded as early as Wednesday, International flights to Kiev are canceled due to insecurity in Ukrainian airspace.
A stark contrast between the reality on the streets and the news wires, amplified by the absence of a visible military presence in the capital, a possible echo of the government’s incessant calls for the population to remain calm.
However, the streets of Kiev are less busy than usual, we are told. Is it because of the Omicron wave that is sweeping the city, forcing thousands of infected people to stay at home, or the Russian threat that weighs more heavily than many inhabitants of the capital let believe?
In the last days, residents living in the east of Kyiv have left the capital. “What’s going to be critical in the event of an attack from Russia is being west of the Dnieper River,” says Daniel Kovzhun, a Kyiv resident who fought pro-Russian separatists in the east. of Ukraine in 2014.
If Putin decides to go on the offensive, Ukrainians will flock to the west of the country. However, in the region of Kiev, it is necessary to cross the Dnieper river to pass to the west. “Normally, the bridges are completely congested,” continues the veteran. If war breaks out, they will be stormed by the population wishing to flee the capital and the east of the country, or they will be destroyed by foreign troops who want to destroy the infrastructure.
In the event of an attack, several residents will also find refuge in the dizzyingly deep Kiev metro. At Arsenalna station, the deepest in the world, you have to descend for long minutes on escalators engulfing the ground at breakneck speed to reach the platforms, 105 meters below. The equivalent of thirty floors.
moment of truth
A shelter, which however will not be able to protect the Ukrainians forever against the belligerent flights of the Russian neighbor. “The West must have a moment of truth with Putin, insists Kostyantyn Batozsky, a political analyst met in a cafe in Kiev. Does he want to go to war or find a solution to the conflict that has been going on for eight years? »
The current verbal inflation of the American president, aimed at responding to the presence of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers massed on the Ukrainian border, has its source in the American inaction of 2014, when Joe Biden was vice-president, believes- he. “Because of the American silence, Russia did what it did with Crimea, analyzes Kostyantyn Batozsky. Biden doesn’t want to make the same mistake again. »
As Putin continues to toy with Ukraine’s future and Biden tries to redeem his mistakes, jazz tunes continue to soar in Barman Dictat. “Politics is never a good topic of discussion in a bar,” recalls Alexei, brewing a drink behind the desk. But it may become so if Kiev residents were to rush into the jazz club — which also serves as a shelter — in the event of Russian bombardment. “We don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Alexei before returning to his bottles. I think it’s 50/50. »
With Bohdan Chaban
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund.The duty.