Too late to evacuate besieged Kyiv: mayor
As Russian troops draw closer to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv’s mayor is filled with pride over his citizens’ spirit yet anxious about how long they can hold out.
In an interview with The Associated Press yesterday, after a gruelling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for several seconds when asked if there were plans to evacuate civilians if Russian troops managed to take Kyiv.
‘‘We can’t do that, because all ways are blocked,’’ he finally said, speaking in English. ‘‘All ways are blocked and right now we are encircled — everywhere is Russians and we don’t have a way to evacuate the people. And everyone who had plans to evacuate himself already moved.’’
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Thursday, the capital city of 2.8 million people initially reacted with concern but also a measure of self-possession. However, nerves started fraying when grocery stores began closing and the city’s famously deep subway system turned its stations into bomb shelters.
The mayor confirmed to the AP that nine civilians in Kyiv had been killed so far, including one child.
A Klitschko-ordered curfew began about sundown on Saturday, local time. His order pointedly stated that any unauthorised person outside during this time could be considered a saboteur.
‘‘We are hunting these people, and it will be much easier if nobody is on the street,’’ Klitschko explained, saying that six Russian saboteurs were killed on Saturday night.
Russian troops’ advance on the city has been slower than many military experts had expected but the overall Russian military advantage is well-known to all.
‘‘ . . just talked to the president (Volodymyr Zelenskyy). Everybody is not feeling so well,’’ Klitschko said, adding that city government employees were in shock but not depressed. ‘‘We show our character, our knowledge, our values.’’
In the last few days, long queues of people – both men and women – were spotted waiting to pick up weapons throughout the Ukrainian capital after authorities decided to distribute arms freely to anybody ready to defend the city. There are concerns, however, about arming nervous civilians with little military experience amid warnings of Russian saboteurs disguised as Ukrainian police or journalists.
‘‘To be honest, we don’t have 100 per cent control,’’ said Klitschko. ‘‘We built this territorial defence (system) in a short amount of time – but these are patriotic people.’’
‘‘Right now, the most important question is to defend our country,’’ he added.