How Ukrainian civilians are bearing the burden of Russian invasion - Los Angeles Times

The first week of war: How Ukrainian civilians are bearing the burden of Russian invasion

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Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24. A nation of 44 million people that is slightly smaller than Texas, Ukraine has sustained land and air attacks across its territory.

A week of fighting has taken a toll on the Ukrainian people. As Russian troops began their attack, many residents sought shelter or fled the country. Others mounted armed resistance. Times reporters have documented the war since its first days. This is what they saw.


On the first day of war, Ukrainians seek shelter

People crowd inside a dark subway car with plastic bags of personal belongings. Some are seated on the floor. A man at the center checks his phone.

Prompted by the sound of air raid sirens, hundreds of Ukrainians filled a cold underground metro station in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Then they waited.

They huddled on the platform and crammed into darkened subway cars. Some could only find space on the floor. No one knew if it was safe to go home.

Battling poor reception underground, people checked cellphones for updates while others dozed off or just stared off into space.

Many people brought yoga mats, which parents rolled out on the floor for their children.

Unsure of what was to come, many waited all day underground. This was the first day of the war.

Because Kharkiv is so close to the Russian border, many residents feared that Ukraine’s second most populous city would be the first to fall to Russian forces.

A map of Ukraine shows its most populated areas. Kyiv has the largest population, with 3 million people.

Belarus

Populated areas

Poland

Russia

Kyiv

3 million

Lviv

720,000

Kharkiv

1.4 million

Ukraine

Dnipro

1 million

Romania

Odessa

1 million

Moldova

Crimea was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014, but the region is not internationally recognized as part of Russia.

Black Sea

Crimea

A map of Ukraine shows its most populated areas. Kyiv has the largest population, with 3 million people.

Belarus

Populated areas

Poland

Russia

Kyiv

3 million

Lviv

720,000

Kharkiv

1.4 million

Ukraine

Dnipro

1 million

Odessa

1 million

Moldova

Romania

Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, but the region is not internationally recognized as part of Russia.

Crimea

Black Sea

A map of Ukraine shows its most populated areas. Kyiv has the largest population, with 3 million people.

Populated areas

Belarus

Russia

Poland

Kyiv

3M

Lviv

720K

Kharkiv

1.4M

Ukraine

Dnipro

1M

Odessa

1M

Moldova

Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Romania

Crimea

Black Sea

A map of Ukraine shows its most populated areas. Kyiv has the largest population, with 3 million people.

Populated areas

Russia

Kyiv

3M

Lviv

720K

Kharkiv

1.4M

Ukraine

Dnipro

1M

Odessa

1M

Moldova

Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Romania

Crimea

Black Sea

The Russian army first crossed into Ukraine at four areas on the border, striking on the periphery before setting its sights on Kyiv, the capital.


Civilian casualties grow by the day

A stuffed chihuahua dog lies on its side among the rubble of an shelled apartment building.

Six people were wounded Saturday morning when a Russian shell struck an apartment tower on Lobanovsky Avenue in Kyiv. The impact destroyed a chunk of the building between the 16th and 21st floors and covered a parking lot with debris.

A small patch of light illuminated signs of humanity among the rubble, reminders of the lives disrupted by war.

About 80 people were evacuated from the tower, after which people visited to survey the damage.

Despite Moscow’s insistence that it has only targeted Ukrainian military installations, many civilians are being killed.

On Wednesday, a U.N. human rights report said there had been 553 injuries and 249 civilian deaths so far in Ukraine, 17 of them children, though the war’s actual toll is estimated to be much higher.


A resistance mounts

A younger Ukrainian man holds a rifle as two older men show him how to use it. On the wall behind them are portraits of historical Ukrainian figures, bows and arrows and a shield.

In Kyiv, Ukrainians gathered inside a small business to mount their own resistance to the invasion.

The publishing shop is filled with owner Peter’s collection of knives, old weapons of war and portraits of Ukrainian leaders who fought for independence generations ago.

Here civilians learn how to handle Kalashnikov rifles.

Through the militia’s quiet preparations, the sound of clinking bottles carries across the room. “We’re making Molotov cocktails,” Peter says.

Three floors down in the shop’s basement, the militia members formed an assembly line to craft explosives to help repel Russian tanks and soldiers. Some crumbled Styrofoam into empty beer and wine bottles as a woman tore strips of fabric for wicks.

The people in Peter’s shop, like many Ukrainians around the country, were answering calls from President Volodymyr Zelensky to fight back against the attack.

“It’s our land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that,” Zelensky said in a video statement Friday.

Last week, Ukrainian authorities distributed 18,000 guns to anyone willing to fight.


More than a million flee the country

People with packed bags flood a Kyiv train station.

With news of a 40-mile Russian military convoy approaching the capital Tuesday, more residents of Kyiv began searching for ways out of the city and country.

Anxious residents poured into one of the many train stations and gathered around a board listing departures.

Many of those fleeing were parents with their children.

Each departure brought with it the sense that this could be the last train out before the Russians arrived.

The violence has forced a mass exodus of more than a million people to neighboring European countries. Some fled by cars and buses, and others walked miles in 30-degree weather while relatives waited at border crossings.

A map showing more than half a million refugees flee Ukraine

Poland

547,982

Belarus

374

Russia

47,800

More than

1 million

refugees

Slovakia

79,059

Ukraine

Hungary

133,009

Moldova

97,827

Romania

51,261

Crimea

Other European

Countries

88,147

Black Sea

As of March 3

A map showing more than half a million refugees flee Ukraine

Poland

550K

Belarus

374

Russia

47K

More than

1 million

refugees

Slovakia

80K

Ukraine

Hungary

133K

Moldova

97K

Romania

51K

Crimea

Other European

Countries

88K

As of March 3

A map showing more than half a million refugees flee Ukraine

Poland

547,982

Belarus

374

Russia

47,800

More than

1 million

refugees

Slovakia

79,059

Ukraine

Hungary

133,009

Moldova

97,827

Romania

51,261

Crimea

Other European

Countries

88,147

Black Sea

As of March 3

Long lines at border crossing

Satellite images captured miles-long lines at border crossings in Slovakia, Hungary and Romania on Feb. 28.

A map with three satellite images showing long lines at border crossings

Kyiv

UKRAINE

Poland

Detailed

Slovakia

Hungary

Romania

40 miles

Satellite images ©2022 Maxar Technologies

A map with three satellite images showing long lines at border crossings

Kyiv

UKRAINE

Detailed

Poland

Slovakia

Hungary

Romania

40 miles

Satellite images ©2022 Maxar Technologies

A map with three satellite images showing long lines at border crossings

Kyiv

UKRAINE

Detailed

Poland

Slovakia

Hungary

Romania

40 miles

Satellite images ©2022 Maxar Technologies

On the seventh day of the war, the Russian military launched more deadly strikes on Kharkiv and the miles-long convoy continued its advance on Kyiv.

Meanwhile, President Biden told reporters “it’s clear” that Russia is deliberately targeting civilians.