The Russian army has still not entered Kiev. It has been four days since a 60 km column was identified by satellite at the gates of the Ukrainian capital. According to our reporter on the spot, the Russian troops are advancing, but very slowly.
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Russian troops and tanks were 20 km from this village near Kiev on Wednesday, they are now right next to it, less than 10 km away, on Friday March 4. We hear the artillery fire. A 66-year-old man (who does not want to say his first name) confirms it to us: the Russians are advancing very slowly, and it is because the Ukrainians are defending themselves valiantly. “Vladimir Putin thought he could do a ‘Blitzkrieg’ in a few days, but in fact we are resistingexplains the Ukrainian. He kills men, women, children… It’s absurd what’s going on.”
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The column of 60 km identified by satellite is advancing very slowly, and the Russian army has not yet entered Kiev, the capital, a week after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. The conflict seems to be bogged down. Despite an agreement on the principle of humanitarian corridors, “The worse is yet to come”, according to the Elysée after an exchange between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Poutine. “I say a big thank you to France and the United Statessays the 66-year-old. Let them help us and understand that Putin is a madman who will not stop in Ukraine and that he is a danger for Europe.”
To leave the village, we have to cross a dozen checkpoints. In one of them, members of the territorial security agree to speak to us. A dam is being built with trenches and a concrete wall, with about twenty men. “We were born on this land, the Russians have nothing to do here”, launches the member of the territorial security. When asked what conditions they have been living in for five days, he laughs: “Look at us, we’re all smiling, we’re at home.”
These tense smiles fail to hide the extreme tension that reigns. Illustration thirty seconds later. A man arrives in a Jeep and refuses to submit to the control. Six men aim at him with their Kalashnikovs. One of them fires a gun in the air and starts punching him. This scene illustrates what these soldiers are going through, now on the lookout 24 hours a day. Because the Russian troops are advancing slowly and are beginning to disperse in an attempt to encircle the capital.
Approaching Kiev, the Ukrainians resist the Russian advance. A report by Valentin Dunate, with the technical means of Arthur Gerbault and the translation of Maxime Bilyestki
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