It is an uninterrupted stream of civilians fleeing on foot from the town of Irpin, at the gates of Kiev. “I left my parents behind me. I wanted to bring them by force, but my father pushed me away. I didn’t insist…” confides Nikola. This lawyer, walked for a long time on this road, in the middle of a forest, before reaching this position held by the Ukrainian army, far from the Russian forces, which tighten their grip on the capital and try to s seize this city.
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Irpin – and its 60,000 inhabitants – is of strategic importance as it is the last obstacle northwest of the capital. To bring it down, the Russian forces have been pouring a veritable deluge of fire since Saturday, throwing thousands of civilians on the roads like Nikola. “Those who remained are few, as there is constant shelling of residential areas. Yesterday, fighter jets attacked the city six times.“he explains, breathless.
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The last steps are the most difficult: Irina also catches her breath before boarding one of the yellow buses that will take her to Kiev. “We took some clothes, some food. Our papers and we left. We walked through burning houses. The missiles flew above our heads. There were loud explosions around us.”
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This battle raging in Irpin, Alexi went through it. He left Bucha, another city besieged by the Russians, further north, and walked 22 km with his wife Tatiana and their barely 3-year-old daughter. “And she didn’t cry once! She’s a real Ukrainian, not once even when we were crossing roadblocks, when we were walking under bombs, in the middle of tanks and armored vehicles… She’s braver than me.“, he smiles.
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His wife Tatiana remains shocked by what she saw: “I can’t believe I was able to leave this hell of bombs. We even saw the Russian tanks go by while we were walking with my daughter in our arms. If no one manages to stop Putin, we will end up with a second Donbass.“