War in Ukraine: “Putin went crazy and fooled – We are afraid he will push the nuclear button”

Before the Russian invasion, Bila Cherfka was a suburban city, ideally located for those working in Kyiv. Now, this city of 200,000 has the sad privilege of being on the rocket launcher launched by Russia vs. the capital by the Black Sea.

For the second time in an hour, sirens sound in the city, 75 kilometers southwest of Kiev.

“This is a warning: turn off the gas and electricity, take the box of medicine, food and water and go to the nearest shelter” a voice is heard, in Ukrainian, from the loudspeakers of a supermarket.

“The shelves are empty, they are bombing, rockets are falling from the sky”mourns Julia Ivatsuk, a mother of two, leaving the store empty-handed. “There is no more lactose-free milk for my little one. What else will happen? “I do not know if I want to know,” said the 45-year-old woman.

Some rockets landed at the airport and factories in the city. Over the weekend, the houses that were under construction on a plot of land near Ross, a tributary of the Dnieper, were leveled.

Here, no one understands why this is happening, why Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Putin has gone crazy and is doing crazy things”says Sergei Zambozny, another supermarket customer. “He is behaving strangely and people are afraid that he will push the nuclear button,” said the 63-year-old businessman.

The Kyiv is cut off from the rest of the country on three sides: fighting rages in communities in the north and west, while roads to the east are blocked by Russian tanks and minefields. The south is the only escape route and supply of the city with food and fuel.

In Bila Cherfka, people now fear that Russian tanks deployed in the west will occupy the city very soon.

“Everyone is worried. “We hear the sirens many times a day,” says Andriy Zalezniak. “We have already been beaten about ten times. It is difficult to count all the explosions. We have the feeling that all the days are the same “, he continued, at the same time helping to remove the wreckage of one of the three houses that were destroyed in the weekend attack.

Russian fighter jets are often heard flying over the area. On the way, people show each other the shots with the rockets aimed at Kyiv, which they shot with their mobile phones.

Zalezniak said the six-member family living in one of the three houses was fortunately not there the night the missile landed. “Everyone would have been killed,” said a friend, Bogdan Remeni.

Today, the Bila Cherfka looks like he is getting ready to go to war. In the largest supermarket, which still has several items, the shelves with the dairy are empty. The alcohol corridor is closed. The sale of alcohol was virtually banned across the country when the government decided to allow civilians to take up arms to form a new army of volunteers.

Long queues form in banks and grocery stores.

In contrast to Kyiv, there are no checkpoints, no sacks full of sand and gunmen directing traffic at intersections. So far, in Bila Cherfka, as well as in Kyiv before the arrival of the Russians, some residents remain optimistic and courageous. “If they come here, they will not go further,” said one student, Bogdan Martinenko, while smoking with his friends in a parking lot. “We have self-defense units, the police, our men. “We all know each other, (the Russians) will not dare,” he says with a smile on his face.