"With my husband we decided not to run away, we will stay here, in Kiev. Because if we do it we will lose face not only in front of Putin, but in front of the world. But please, write it, let the Italians know: help us".
Marina is 59 years old, has a nice hat and while she talks about her a tear falls.
One.
Then the Teatralnaya metro stop swallows her.
Soon after she falls in the evening, the first night to break her knowing that she is under attack, with the Russians at the gates.
Advancing on the tanks.
Already this morning Kiev woke up dazed, attached to mobile phones and in confusion.
Those who got up early could distinctly hear the roar of bombs coming from the airport area.
But the city didn't immediately realize what was happening.
The traffic, until 7 in the morning, was regular.
Then, ghostly, the sound of the sirens rose.
And at that point it became clear that something serious was happening.
The machines have become more sparse, the shops have lowered the shutters, the offices have evacuated the staff.
At that point panic broke out, people got into their cars and started leaving the city, with a theory of traffic jams and queues at the gas stations.
But there are those who have no choice.
Like Olena, a retired piano teacher.
"I live near Maidan,
Anyway, where do you go at my age?
Better to stay here in the end. "
Yes, the displaced. They can also be seen in Kiev. At the Druzhbi Narodiv metro stop. Which means" friendship between nations ". Almost a mockery. Many women, many elderly, many children. Police cars, on the other hand, already in the late morning in the streets, through improvised megaphones, encouraged the citizens to take refuge in the subways and underpasses. And so the people did. The children are shaken. They cry. The mothers and the grandmothers try to console them, they take out their smartphones and down out of cardboard. But sooner or later the spell ends
.
This is the time for men to make choices that tear your bowels: family, companions, country.
It's up to decide.
A little further on is one of the volunteer recruitment centers.
There is a row.
They don't let foreigners in, understandably.
Viktor, 63, comes out enthusiastic.
"They rejected me three times but now they finally got me, I'm going to fight for Ukraine," he says proudly.
Next to him, further on, Maksim, 41, is smoking a cigarette.
He is brigade leader and after the conscription shift he will return to his unit.
"We have 500% more volunteers than in 2014", he assures us.
It will be enough to block the Russians.
Giggle.
Eyes to the sky.
He doesn't seem overly convinced.
"If we can mobilize a million people, yes ...".
But at that point the question of external aid returns.
"We need the help of Europe and the USA, weapons, money. At least the money. But not for us, we fight for free, for the country: it is to support our families while we are not at work".
Mobilization is a key issue.
The reservists have already been recalled and large companies are also having to deal with the resulting shortage of staff.
Some companies, the largest, the broad-shouldered ones, paid their salaries early today.
To put money in people's pockets.
Now he waits.
And the worst part is that you don't know what.
The sack of the city?
A surgical operation?
More bombings?
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the people to fight in every square.
Here, if this is really the case, the price of blood risks being really high.