Muristek
Panic, scare as Ukrainians wake up to explosions, missiles flying over head
Kyiv, February 24
The missile fragment pierced the ceiling of Mikhail Shcherbakov's apartment in Kharkiv. In an instant, Ukrainians found that war, after weeks of warnings, had hit home.
"I heard noise and woke up. I realised it sounded like artillery," Shcherbakov said. He jumped from the couch and ran to wake his mother, and something exploded behind him. The missile left a nearby computer and teacup shrouded with dust, instant artefacts of Europe's latest war.
At dawn on Thursday, Ukrainians' uneasy efforts at normality were shattered. Smoke rose from cities, even well away from the country's disputed eastern border. A morning commute turned into lines of cars waiting at fuel stations or fleeing from the gray and drizzly capital, Kyiv. People with luggage took shelter in the subway, unsure of where to go. Some panicked immediately. Others clung to routine, with irritation.
"I'm not afraid. I'm going to work. The only unusual thing is that you can't find a taxi in Kyiv," one resident complained, even as air raid sirens wailed. Many seemed unsure of how to react. Kyiv's main street, Khreshchatyk, rippled with anxiety as people checked their phones. Some walked their dogs or waved at friends. "I'm not scared at the moment. Maybe I'll be scared later," resident Maxim Prudskoi said. — AP