Walking through Kyiv in recent days, it has been easy to forget the political storm clouds brewing overhead.

In the trendy Podil district, the Christmas markets have only just been squared away (winter holidays are celebrated well into January) and the festive mood remains palpable. Cafes were bustling with impossibly chic hipsters and crowds formed outside Kino42 for Stop-Zemlia, an avant-garde film about Kyiv teenagers.

A customer shops at a cooked meats stall at a weekly farmers market outside the Klovska Metro station in Kyiv on Friday.Credit:Bloomberg

On the historic Andriivs’kyi descent, children used cardboard boxes as toboggans over the snow still blanketing the city. Behind them stood a canvas commemorating Vasyl Slipak, a Ukrainian opera singer killed during the war in Donbas. But there were few other reminders that just 100kms away, Russia is threatening a fresh assault.

Moscow’s saber-rattling includes more than 100,000 troops, tanks and artillery encircling Ukraine’s borders and hybrid-war tactics intended to sow panic, like last week’s bomb threat in Ukrainian schools and mid-January’s cyber attack on government websites.

The Kremlin aims to return Eastern Europe to Cold War-era spheres of influence where it’s the law of the strong, not the strength of the law that counts. In Ukraine, this prompted a well-shared article on preparing your home for war, and the almost nightly fireworks on Podil now oblige a look outside for rocket fire.

A woman gets a manicure at a salon in Kyiv on Friday as life continues as usual in the Ukrainian capital.Credit:Bloomberg

For their part, Western media and intelligence agencies have responded with something approaching hysteria. The evacuation of staff from US, UK and Australian embassies in particular proved something of a tipping point.

By all accounts, Ukrainians ought to be hiding under the doona. But it seems no one’s told them that, and for now, Kyiv residents are keeping calm and carrying on.

It’s difficult to doubt Ukrainians’ clarity about the “red peril” on their doorstep. Russian aggression is an open wound here – not another drop in the leaky bucket of long-term memory.

Yevhen Mahda, executive director at the Institute of World Policy, was quick to remind me that Russia’s war against Ukraine is already eight years old and has cost 14,000 lives.

Members of Ukraine’s Territorial Defence Forces train in a city park in Kyiv.Credit:AP

But most think Russia won’t invade just because it can, and will meet stiff resistance if it does.

“Will Russia expand its aggression? It is possible, but we are ready for it. There is no panic or desire to capitulate among Ukrainians. I am sure that millions of our fellow citizens are ready to repel the aggressor,” Mahda explained.

Ukrainians received similar messaging from comic-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky. In an address to the nation, Zelensky said “we are not afraid because we protect our land. We will not give up because there is nowhere to run.”

To feel the mood for myself, I went to Yaroslava, a Soviet-era cafe and my favourite in Kyiv. With warm lights and floor-to-ceiling views of the streetscape outside. Standing in line, Stanislav Troianov, a local journalist, politely informed me that Yaroslava has the best buns in the city. I needed no reminding since they were my new winter belly’s chief suspect. I proceeded to order a cappuccino and he, a cinnamon bun. I was not forgiven. Though he was kind enough to share his thoughts with me anyway.

“From the very beginning, I collected my ‘just in case’ backpack. In it, I keep money, important documents, some clothes and a first aid kit. Now when I meet a person, I think in passing, ‘what is in this man’s backpack?’” he said.

“Each of us is ready, and although it’s not openly discussed, we all know what we will do in case of escalation – keep calm and not panic, as now.”

Serhiy Ogorodnyk put this in context for me: “war looms over Ukraine like the Sword of Damocles.” A journalist and teacher of Ukrainian language during the week, Ogorodnyk spends his Saturdays training with the Kyiv Territorial Defence Brigade, a volunteer military unit likely to lead resistance in a post-invasion Kyiv.

“I understand that Ukraine is now trapped, but we are ready to defend ourselves without fear. After eight years, I’m tired of being afraid.”

Surely, the results from last Wednesday’s high-stakes talks in Paris are a vote of confidence for diplomacy. The fact talks took place at all, and that more are scheduled for Berlin, gives hope sanity will prevail. But Kyiv residents seem ready if it doesn’t. For now at least, it’s all quiet on the Eastern front.

Tennyson Dearing is an international laws graduate from UNSW Sydney, now living in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.

Most Viewed in World

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article