A lady is dead in Hoholiv, lying next to her house. It is the poorest house — and the only one hit in this attack by Russian troops — among all of them on that small town block, 43 km from Kiev.
She is dressed in many pieces of clothing, at least two blouses and a pair of wool pants. Covered by a cheap but thick jacket made from red nylon fabric and faux wool.
Just before she died, she was chopping wood. That’s what the many thin branches around its shrunken body indicate. A small axe, lying on the ground, as if abandoned in a hurry, strengthens the possibility.
The position of the body, with its back to the tool and the firewood, signals that the lady tried to move quickly, but there was no time to find a safe place. It is likely that, in the last seconds of her life, she realized that something very wrong was about to happen: a strong explosion nearby, for example. Mortars and missiles are launched in sequence, never as a unit. They can come in pairs, tens and even hundreds at once, never in units.
There was no blood. Around, many holes and tears caused by pieces of burning iron: in the wall of the house, in the partially collapsed wall, in pieces of tin scattered around the yard and, most likely, in some part of her body.
It is possible that the elderly woman tried to get up, as demonstrated by her rigid right arm pushing her body against the wall.
Surely she felt cold. Not just for the clothes she wore, but for the fragility of the house (thin windows and old doors). Hours after her death, the thermometer read -1°C, with a feeling of -3°C. Maybe she lived only with the company of animals. Her body had been there for hours, without anyone bothering to bury it or at least remove it.
When the report was in Holoviv, a neighbor passed by the street, said that it was a tragedy, but did not approach the body – unlike four cats, all white and black, some whiter, others blacker. The animals stayed close to her and only left when strange people appeared carrying cameras.
Hoholiv is on the side of the E95 road, which connects Kiev to Belarus, the country from which armored and artillery companies departed.
Between late Wednesday afternoon (9) and early morning this Thursday (10), a column of armored vehicles advancing along the road was intercepted by the Ukrainians. More than 30 Russian tanks were surprised by air strikes, likely carried out using drones.
In videos shared by the Ukrainian government, Russian soldiers can be seen running desperately to their tanks. Some died, many fled in a huge line of armored vehicles disappearing into the horizon.
Some vehicles in good condition were abandoned by the Russians, such as an MT-LB used to transport infantry troops. With ignition problems, it was left behind alongside many hygiene and personal items — bags, jackets and military hats. Hours later, a Ukrainian Army mechanic started the tank and took it to his troops as a kind of trophy.
Russian retaliation came in the form of randomly launched missiles and mortars. One of them probably caused the death of the lady described at the beginning of this text.
The confrontation also strongly affected other people, people who lived normally until the Russian invasion. Like farmer Igor, 32, who two weeks ago joined one of the armed civilian militias formed to fight the Russian occupation.
During the previous day’s fighting, he was shot in the right hand, which had to be amputated. Igor was in Brovari hospital for treatment.
In the same hospital, Katia, 14, was hit in the arm by a projectile. Vladimir, the surgeon in charge, told sheet that, unlike what happened with Igor, he hopes to preserve Katia’s arm.
Nearly 2 million people have already fled the Ukrainian capital, said Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, as Russian forces advance on the city from Brovari and other locations in the region. “One in two Kiev residents has left the city,” the ex-boxer politician told Ukrainian TV on Thursday.
Kiev’s streets are mostly empty. There are constant siren alerts, announcing the possibility of air attacks, and there is an excess of barricades, which prevent cars and people from accessing many areas of the capital.
Shops, cafes, restaurants and public buildings are closed and transport services such as the subway are interrupted. However, there are still many men in the city, many of whom had never touched weapons – like the farmer Igor, who had his hand amputated. These men are banned from leaving the country and will soon have to face, like it or not, the Russian army.
