After terror nights, Kyiv returns to city life

Kyiv's sky is lit up by fire at night and booming with explosions. But by morning, the streets are bustling in a style that would be familiar to any European city, as Gen Z teens speed past executives dressed impeccably on their way to work. A quote which has been widely shared on social media in Ukraine captures the mood. It says that Kyiv resembles Monaco, the glitzy Mediterranean state, by day and "like Afghanistan" at night. Three million residents of the city have endured a series of deadly Russian missile and drone attacks. Many of the city's residents, however, are determined to maintain some sense of normality and continue their daily routines. On Thursday morning, just after sunrise, Lycra-clad cyclists and joggers emerged from their homes near an apartment block that had been hit by a Russian bomb hours earlier. Firefighters, who worked through the night to put out the fire, packed up their hoses. Street sweepers removed a carpet of shrapnel and glass. A hip third-generation cafe opened around the corner. It is part of the cafe scene which has flourished over the past three and a quarter years, since Russia invaded its smaller neighbor. A young businessman came in to get a cup of coffee. Antonina, aged 66, was adorned with stylish sunglasses. She held a fluffy dog in her arms.

She said, "I came and looked around. I even cried a little bit."

She said she was prepared for the day.

"We continue to live."

Dmytro Yatsenko, the owner of a nail salon located across the street from the damaged apartments, examined the damage done to the plate glass windows in his shop. He showed a black and white CCTV recording of the moment that shards fell into his nail salon. Yatsenko said that he came here immediately to fix the problem and get back to work. The streets of the capital are buzzing all day long. Couples can find shade on benches under trees in the afternoon. Fashionistas dressed in elegant dresses are seen on the sidewalks of popular restaurants by evening. The air raid warnings will continue until they stop. Others in Kyiv expressed their resignation at the increased frequency of attacks, since diplomatic efforts to stop the war - now in its fourth anniversary - have stalled. Many expressed gratitude to the soldiers of their country for making life and work in Kyiv possible. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said that in the bombardment on Thursday, Russia fired around 400 drones as well as 18 missiles towards Kyiv and other areas.

In Kyiv, there were reports of two deaths, 25 injuries and damage in almost every district. One day earlier, Russia fired 728 drones in Ukraine at a record rate.

Kateryna (24), a translator, said as she waited at a bus station, "I took a shower and drank 2 coffees. I sat down to think for a while, realized that I couldn't do anything for the moment, and then went back to work."

"That's it." "That's it." (Written by Dan Peleschuk, edited by Frank Jack Daniel and Mark Porter

(source: Reuters)