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The military do not scan the sky. They no longer believe in Russian promises to respect a humanitarian ceasefire. “The Russians continued to bomb every day, despite the evacuations of civilians,” says a soldier whose mission is to help invalids to leave their homes. And yet on Wednesday, in the middle of the morning, the guns fell silent in Irpin, a small town at the entrance to Kiev. The exodus of the inhabitants of Irpin and Boutcha, in the north-western suburbs of Kiev, thus continued calmly. Despite massive departures for five days, Irpin is not completely deserted; the most stubborn remained there. The deputy mayor also stayed – and offered us a tour of his city to prove that the Ukrainian flag is still flying there.
