Kyiv-native and former university lecturer Maksym Mykhailenko has shared his experiences on occasion since the war began.
On Thursday, after Russian troops withdrew from around Kyiv, Mykhailenko tells The Age and Sydney Morning Herald what the feeling on the ground is like now.
“Me and my family, we are in the Kyiv region. Not far from Kyiv,” he said.
“We live on the right bank of the Dnieper [river]. On the left bank, not far from us, fighting was heard all the time. Now on the left bank of the fighting is not heard.
“Apparently in this area the invaders were defeated. In the village where we are, there are many refugees from the occupied regions of Ukraine. All people help those who are lucky enough to escape from the invaders.“
“People are very good at organising themselves. One can feel sympathy and concern for those who were forced to leave.”
Mykhailenko said he signed a contract with the territorial defence, and is active now, with detachments placed in all regional centres where there is a threat of attack or sabotage.
He calls the footage from Bucha, where hundreds of civilians were found shot, “shocking” as well as from the cities of Gostomel and Borodyanka, both communities northwest of Kyiv near Bucha.
People began to understand that the Russians had come not only to seize territory. The Russians came to kill the population, which does not allow them to keep this territory.
Russians kill everyone, including very young children. The atrocities and crimes they commit cannot be committed by humans…It’s hard for me to even describe this horror. These mass robberies, atrocities, rapes, executions.
Refugees themselves tell about many terrible things here.
We are at war with people who have no soul, with [Russians] who hate everything bright, kind and beautiful, with a crowd of dangerous zombies who have altered consciousness.
This time, Ukraine actually saved Europe, including the Baltic countries, from the horrors of Russian occupation.
But here everyone understands that…this is not Russia’s last attack on Ukraine.”