(UTV | UKRAINE) – After two months of war, Ukraine’s capital is treading carefully towards a new normal. Kyiv was Vladimir Putin’s prized target when he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, in what he termed a “special military operation”.
But after failing to seize the capital, which sits in the country’s west, the Russian military this month refocused efforts on seizing the entirety of Ukraine’s Donbas region in the east, a move that is allowing Kyiv to gradually come back to life.
Walking through Kyiv today, the city is far from its usual bustling self. But it is a dramatic shift from just a few weeks ago, when the streets were almost deserted.
While air raid sirens are an everyday occurrence and the threat of attacks remains, businesses are reopening and people are doing normal things – such as buying a coffee or going to church.
Café Khlebniy, on Velyka Vasylkivska Street, reopened on April 16 after having been closed for weeks since the war began, and is serving pastries and coffee once again.
Andriy, an employee, said it was “cool” to witness people returning to Kyiv. “There are more and more guests every day. It is gratifying that most people are returning to normal,” he told.
A short walk down the street at St Nicholas Roman Catholic Church, residents flock to attend weekly Sunday service.
The faithful sit tightly together in pews with boxes of humanitarian supplies crammed beside them, a scene which appears symbolic. People are looking for answers but prepared to live with the war in their country.
Katia, however, who owns Wine Love, a wine bar hidden between bulky grey Soviet-era buildings and shopping plazas in downtown Kyiv, remains in war mode.
As the war began, she quickly transitioned her bar into a restaurant, providing meals for city residents.
“The last day we worked was February 23. For two days, we were in shock. But after, I started to cook for people who need the food,” she said.
With a team of 20 volunteers and a partnership with World Central Kitchen, a Washington-based organization, she prepares meals including borscht, a beetroot-based soup staple in Ukraine, for about 900 locals a day.
“We will not open the [wine bar] until the end of the war. Every day, people in different parts of Kyiv need food. People from the east [of Ukraine] come every day, and people need food,” she insisted.
Meanwhile, there are signs that diplomatic offices are returning. On Friday, the United Kingdom announced it would soon reopen its Kyiv embassy.
The announcement came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the capital earlier in April, while officials from the European Union have also travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks, including European Council President Charles Michel.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a former professional boxer, recently relaxed the city’s curfew time, but warned in a televised address that the city was still not safe as he urged displaced residents against returning.