“From the teenager to the babushka, a whole people is mobilizing”
As columns of Russian tanks advance on Kiev, we joined in the Ukrainian capital the political scientist Olivier Védrine, who describes the calm before the attack.
Residents of Kiev join a train station to leave the city, the 1is mars 2022.
AP / EMIULIO MORENATTI
Satellite photos show a Russian convoy stretching for tens of kilometers and advancing towards the Ukrainian capital. What is the situation there?
As I speak to you, it is quite calm in the center where I am, while certain outlying districts are bombarded. The curfew begins at 8 p.m. and people continue to leave town in long columns of cars heading south. Those who remain line up in front of the supermarkets, as in the Soviet period. People are stocking up and preparing for a big attack.