How an artistic metropolis became a war zone in less than a week

On Sunday, Kiev was a bustling European city with trendy cafes, artwork on every corner and fresh sushi available for midnight orders. Now, it’s a war zone.

Sirens echoing through the city, the unmistakable rumbles of explosions and attacks. The transformation inflicted on the city by the Russian invasion of Ukraine was surreal. Follow the special coverage of CNN.

Just a week ago, Dniprovs’kyy Park was packed with people running and cyclists taking advantage of the sunny weather to train.

The traffic-free park sits on an island across the river from the old town, its banks flanked by the town’s sandy beaches, where children typically run around and watch the ducks swim by.

In historic Mariinskyi Park, families strolled and children enjoyed the park’s playground, which features large boat-shaped climbing bars.

Now, the same town is reeling from a steady stream of news of terrifying incidents. A six-year-old boy killed in an intense gunfight. A tall apartment building being attacked. Kiev reservoir dam destroyed. The streets are deserted, the feeling of dread is in the air.

Many fled the city, encouraged by the authorities to leave while there was still a chance. The state railway company has been dispatching additional trains to the west for days, Kiev’s main train station is full of families waiting to catch the next one.

The same cheerful people who shopped in trendy stores on Kiev’s boulevards, dined in trendy restaurants, are now crammed into basements, underground parking lots and subway stations.

Instead of hanging out with friends, enjoying the sun, they now sleep on the floor, trying to calm down their kids who don’t understand why they can’t go to kindergarten.

Despite the shock and suffering of the last few days, the residents of Kiev show incredible determination and resilience.

Within hours of the start of the invasion, more than 18,000 people responded to a call to defend the city and sought their firearms from the authorities, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.

At the hotel where many Western journalists are staying in the center of town, staff, who are now staying there instead of being at home with their families, alternate between delivering blankets and bottles of water at the bomb shelter and serving four different types of egg dishes. at the breakfast buffet.

And Kiev’s roads, which were once clogged with heavy traffic, are now empty. Electronic billboards that a week ago displayed traffic updates now show a very different message: “Glory to Ukraine!”