Ukrainian couple is reluctant to leave their city: “They try to break our minds, but they are not very successful”

Olekssi Otkydach and Kristina Bohdiazh are a couple of Ukrainians who speak Spanish very well and have decided to go to the front to tell how they live in Kiev since Russia began to invade Ukraine.

The young couple did not want to leave their country, despite the opportunities they had, and now they live between their apartment and the basement, where they go as soon as they hear the attack sirens.

A week has passed since the war began, what was your first impression?

We felt very scared, we woke up at 5 in the morning due to the explosion of a missile near our house and we understood that this is how it started. It is a large-scale war with Russia and we don’t know what will happen, or if it will be a nuclear attack or if in a few hours the Russian tanks will be in Kiev.

We took our emergency suitcase and went to the subway to wait for that attack, then we returned home and we are more or less used to living in those conditions. We are not so afraid, compared to the first days.

We spent a day on the subway to see what it’s like to spend a night on the subway, but our dog didn’t like it. So we decided to be home and here we have the basement as the bomb shelter, if the alarm goes off we go down and usually spend the day at home.

What is your routine in the midst of bombing?

When there is a curfew you cannot go out and the supermarkets are not open, the curfew is from 5 in the afternoon until 7 in the morning.

In your free time, you can go out shopping, but the government recommends staying hidden at home. We stay here, but when the alarm is heard we go down. Now we have electricity, water, light and one of the neighbors shared his Wi-Fi with us.

Based on what you have seen, which countries are providing aid to the Ukrainians?

About our case, we have many friends in Europe for the erasmus (study exchange) or coachsurfing. Almost everyone offered us help, offered to host us, many are now volunteers bringing medicine or food to people at the border.

We have friends who want to enroll in the foreign army and join our army.

It was heard about the Ukrainian nuclear power plant, is there a danger with the Russian troops?

In Ukraine we have four nuclear power plants, two of them are in the combat zone. The one in Chernobyl is where there were clashes because it is the one that is closest to the border with Belarus.

Do you think that the Ukrainian troops are having more control over Kiev?

Yes, of course, Kiev is under full control, they did not manage to penetrate any neighborhood, all roads are controlled. We have already built the barricades and the government informs us every half hour about the situation in each neighborhood.

The first days some divided groups of agents penetrated, but they put a curfew on Kiev from 5 p.m. on Saturday until 8 a.m. on Monday and in those thirty hours they completely cleaned the city and destroyed these small groups, there were 2 or 3 armored cars, now the fighting continues on the outskirts of the city.

And the situation in Kharkov, the second largest city?

It is still under bombardment and they are using reactive artillery, with missiles. However, it seems that the Russian troops do not have an effective way to act.

Have you heard of a new threat?

The Russians are always threatening the whole of Ukraine. It is a psychological war, and although they try to break our minds, they are not very successful, because we see that the Russian troops are very unmotivated

First, they understand that they are carrying out an act of aggression, second, they understand that they are not welcome here, they are received with hatred and weapons, even in pro-Russian territory.

The soldiers have little confidence in their generals, in their political regime because they understand that they are being used with interests. This shows how their government treats their soldiers and they do not have much motivation to fight.

There are videos of captured Russian cars with expired military food from 7 or 8 years ago.

Have you thought about leaving Ukraine after the bombings?

We had many opportunities, but for now they only let women and children and foreigners can leave Ukraine and I don’t want to leave Ole (his partner) alone.

We prefer to stay together, and be together like this until the end and, besides, if everyone is going to leave, who is left here to protect?

What is the help that foreigners can give in this situation?

One is support for the national bank of Ukraine. Russia’s blitzkrieg on Ukraine seems to have failed and now we are going to see how the negotiations unfold. We will continue in combat and we would like to ask the Spanish speakers to write in the publications of the Russian embassies in their cities requesting the real information, because it seems that they are blind and do not know what is happening.