Russian troops withdraw from kyiv but its inhabitants do not believe that this is the end of the war

Although Russian troops are withdrawing from Kyiv (Kyiv) and Chernigov province, north of Ukrainethe communities on the outskirts of the capital, close to the battlefront, still do not feel out of danger or trust the negotiations that resumed this Friday electronically.

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The Russian Army has abandonedpartially” the occupation in the kyiv area and its troops are heading towards the border with Belarus, since “the enemy has suffered significant losses and failed to blockade and capture the capital” and will focus on controlling the east and south, reported the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian authorities celebrated on Friday that more towns in the northwest of kyiv are under their own control, but there are still Russian troops in the strategic cities of Bucha or Hostomel, for which they asked their inhabitants not to return to the area yet, where they believe that the Russians have planted mines and poisoned the water.

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SKEPTICISM ON THE STREET

However, skepticism reigns among the population of kyiv about the true intentions of Russiaand they doubt that the negotiations that the parties resumed this Friday online will serve to find a lasting solution.

“I don’t know if they are leaving. They are currently regrouping. We’ll see if they go to Donbas, to Mariupol or return to kyiv”, said Viktor, a 37-year-old from Kiev, who believes that Russia is using the negotiations only to buy time and not for a ceasefire.

In the village of Sofiivska Borschahivka, a residential area located halfway between the center of the capital and the Russian-occupied towns on the northwestern front of kyiv, they are still talking about the missile that fell on a building three nights ago, killing a neighbor. .

Housing in the urbanization where a missile fell a few days ago, in Sofiivska Borschahivka, a town located west of kyiv, close to the areas occupied by Russia. (Photo: EFE/ Sara Gómez Armas) (Sara Gómez Armas/)

The Russian troops came to be about 10 kilometers from his urbanization. Now they are further away, about 25 kilometers away, still within missile range, so the danger persists.

“I no longer believe that we are safe anywhere, nor that the peace negotiations can reach a ceasefire soon”, Vladislav told EFE, while observing from the street how the wooden planks that protect the windows of his house have been left, whose windows were shattered by the impact of the missile.

The projectile fell on that quiet middle-class urbanization shortly after midnight, while Vladislav watched on television in the company of his dog the daily speech that the president offers at that time Volodymyr Zelensky.

Urbanization where a missile fell a few days ago, located in Sofiivska Borschahivka, a town located west of kyiv, close to the areas occupied by Russia. (Photo: EFE/ Sara Gómez Armas) (Sara Gómez Armas/)

“We didn’t have time to panic or react. just to hide”, —he points out— since the sirens did not sound as it was a small and undetectable missile for the alarm systems, but powerful enough to reach Sofiivska Borschahivka from Russian positions.

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MISSILES STILL CLOSE

A large hole in the ground in front of the front door of Vladislav’s house is the footprint left by the missile, but it also caused holes in the facade, smashed the door, knocked out windows on the first five floors and blew out several parked cars.

“That night was all horror. The blast knocked me out of bed and I hit my face”, recalls his neighbor Vadim Volderiv, a 55-year-old man proud of his soldier son, in command of a tank on the eastern front.

But like Vladislav, he never considered leaving his home to go somewhere safer. “I’m not going anywhere”, he cries.

In another residential complex in Sofiivska Borschahivka, its neighbors have organized themselves to guarantee the protection, surveillance and security of the entire urbanization, in which more than 3,000 people lived before the war, but now only 700.

Many left because Russian troops came within 5km, but some 200 have returned in recent days as Ukrainian troops gain ground in the area.

“We have organized ourselves into seven groups to have this defended seven days a week, 24 hours a day, during the 37 days of war. Every day we look for enemies and defend ourselves against anything”, Explains EFE Volkov Mykhailo, one of the leaders, stationed at an improvised checkpoint that supervises the documentation of all the neighbors every time they enter and leave.

Concrete blocks, wood and sandbags make up barricades that, placed every few meters, mark out the street that leads into this upper-middle-class private development, with a school, park and shops inside. But once you pass the automatic barrier, you experience a false oasis of peace, with children playing, couples walking hand in hand, scenes that are not seen in the rest of kyiv.

Nadia and her son, on a bench in the Sofiivska Borschahivka housing estate where they live, near the front in western kyiv. (Photo: EFE/ Sara Gómez Armas) (Sara Gómez Armas/)

“He seems calm, but I’m not sure we’re sure yet. A few days ago there was a lot of noise from the battles nearby, we were lucky that no shells fell here”, says Nadia, a 44-year-old resident of the urbanization, who also does not believe that another place in the country could be safe for her.

“At least here is my house and I want to believe that this will end soon”, she says half sobbing because her husband was recruited to go to the front only four days ago. “The war has not ended”, he warns.

Source: Elcomercio