OMAGH man Johnathan Baynard, diaries his life within a war zone…
Monday was a horrible day in Ukraine. There were coordinated attacks in cities all across the country.
Missiles and drones brought chaos, destruction and death upon once-peaceful streets.
It was brutal in Kyiv. For me, October 10 will go down as the day I realised that nowhere in Ukraine is safe.
Waking to shaking walls
WHAT we seen on Monday morning was a coordinated attack on infrastructure, not just in Kyiv, but in Sumy, Kharkiv, Lviv and across the south too.
They hit power stations and basically tried to reduce the building blocks of the country’s communication networks to rubble.
I awoke to the room vibrating. Everyone frantically texted loved ones and friends to find out if they were okay. When you awake to find that you haven’t been killed, your next thought is that somebody you know probably has.
In some places, including Kharkiv, the power was knocked out. They will live in blackness for the next few nights. In Kyiv the power will be off and on throughout the day due to the authorities trying to repair the damage.
Russian motivations
ALTHOUGH these attacks have caused devastation, are they a sign of strength, dominance or impending victory?
No. Certainly not. Quite the opposite. The abhorrent actions committed by the Russians display their weakness and frustration. Like the child who cannot get his own way, Putin threw a tantrum, albeit a terrible one with catastrophic consequences.
This is typical of the fragile temperament of the Russian military. They lose on the battlefield and then, like cowards, they send missiles into cities to create chaos and destruction. Their goal is obvious. They aim to make the Ukrainians’ lives as difficult as they can.
Iranian drones
THE Russians have acquired Iranian drones and – in terms of enabling them to meet their objectives of terror – they seem to work pretty well with many finding innocent victims.
They evade Ukrainian air protection and alarms so when they hit, they do so without warning, leaving no time to make it to a bunker.
On the streets, things can appear totally normal one minute, even safe. Then there is a flash. A bang. Flying shrapnel. Screams.
The footage we seen from Kyiv on Monday morning showed that the Russians are not only willing to target infrastructure. Craters could also been seen at a children’s playpark and a university.
At the time of writing, we understand that there have been at least eight people killed and 24 injured.
Bombs only embitter
IT would be foolish to say that these bombs do not strike fear in the people who inhabit the cities on which they fall. They do.
But they also deepen feelings of an already profound bitterness toward Putin and the Russian military.
Although they may be scared, the Ukranian people know that their spirit cannot be broken by his missiles.
From the centre of each explosion, new waves of radical anti-Russian feelings wash over the city, gripping young people, changing them, making them resent and hate.
Clues of history
IT is worth remembering that, in the last months of his reign, Hitler indiscriminately fired V2s into cities.
And Iraq’s Saddam Hussein did something similar when he began to feel power slip from his weakening fist.
Now, we see Putin exhibiting similarly desperate, deadly behaviour.
His actions do not seem part of a larger plan.
They seem desperate, ill-thought-out, ignorantly brutal.
The human spirit
BUILDINGS and bridges will fall beneath the blasts of bombs, but the collective psyche of a determined people cannot be battered into submission.
Unfortunately, however, Putin does not realise this, therefore he will do it again.
Hope behind the smoke
I WATCHED many Ukranians come out of hiding on Monday morning as they attempted to continue with their daily lives.
But, of course, it is not and cannot be the same.
I watched my neighbours and their kids as they looked out from a bunker next to our house.
The kids just smiled at me from the stairs and told me to come inside.
One day it will all be safe, of that I am sure.
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