DAY 35 - UKRAINE'S INVASION OF RUSSIARussian military recruitment poster shows a Ukrainian soldier carrying a small child. Liars! They couldn't find a single photo of a Russian soldier doing anything humane, so they hijacked this photo of a Ukrainian soldier in Irpin instead:
And here's where the photo came from:
Trapped: The battle to escape Putin’s wrath
Kim Sengupta reports from Irpin, a prime target for Russian forces trying to encircle Kyiv, where civilians face a life-or-death struggle to escape the conflict
07 March 2022 08:54 GM
Ukrainian soldiers help a fleeing family to cross the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv (AP)The emergency packages of food and water had been delivered and the evacuation process was under way. But then, suddenly, shellfire erupted bringing with it widespread panic as people began to scramble out of the bus, which was due to take them to safety.
The civic society activists, who had come to Irpin to collect civilians, pleaded with them to get back on board, saying they would be trapped behind enemy lines otherwise. But the families, calling out to each other, with children crying and pet dogs barking, ran to a church nearby – and soon it was too late for them to escape.
The roads out of the district of Slayvo – “Radiance” – was being cut by Russian troops who had come through a wood. The Kyiv activists were now themselves desperate to get away, fearing the worst if they were to fall into Russian hands. They roared away in their cars, the bus left behind.
But within minutes, two local cars ahead of them were hit by mortar fire, forcing them into screeching U-turns. Three people, one of them a child, are reported to have been found in the burning wreckages.
The fighting was in Irpin, a town of 62,000 which sits about 20km (12 miles) to the northwest of Kyiv, which has become a prime target for Russian forces trying to encircle the Ukrainian capital. The city has been battered by prolonged missile strikes and artillery fire, with intense firefights, as Ukrainian troops try to claw back streets and districts. . . .
. . . Some had injuries; one limping man was being supported by his brother. He had been hit by shrapnel from what sounded like a howitzer round about 500 yards away. An ambulance was coming to the other side of the bridge, said a soldier, to take him and other casualties to hospitals back in Kyiv.
A young captain, also bandaged, around his left arm, said: “People don’t want to leave their homes, everything they have built up. But the Russian attacks are now continuous. We will have to retake the areas they have moved into, and so maybe not having too many civilians in the city now, that will mean fewer civilian casualties.”
The officer, who wanted only his first name, Mykhailo, published, continued: “We know the Russians are desperate to get control of Irpin, that is why they are putting so much resources into it. They are not doing well on the ground and that’s why we have so many airstrikes and the long-range shelling.”
Shelling intensified as dusk began to fall, and the crowd took shelter under the remaining arch. Flares went up in the sky followed by red darts of exchanged fire and flashes as buildings, closer and closer, began to get hit.
A Ukrainian soldier holds a child crossing the River Irpin (AP)The crowd swarmed to cross, with difficulty, over the twisted metal and smashed stonework, over the water. Groups huddled together, many carrying packed plastic bags, rucksacks and suitcases, some with children on their shoulders.
An elderly woman slipped and fell. Helping her up, Andriy Osadchuk, a volunteer military radio operator, exclaimed: “Can you imagine someone having to go through all this at her age? Why are the Russians doing what they are doing? It’s barbaric.” . . .
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kyiv-escape-irpin-russia-ukraine-war-b2029736.html
