Residents of Kiev in Ukraine woke up this morning (Wednesday) to a certain sense of relief.
The deadline given in the British media for the Russian invasion - three in the morning, in addition to a cyber attack that hit the city, also brought the most calm and determined citizens to a sense of nervousness.
Last night the city's many cafes and bars were relatively deserted and passers-by on the street hurried to their homes, in order to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
In a conversation with some former volunteers in the Ukrainian combatant forces, voices were heard that had not been heard before.
"I'm in a panic, my children are here in the city and so are my elderly parents. The parents are afraid of the corona and there is no one to take my children out of the city if the worst happens," said Daniel, a former fighter who has lived in Israel in the past.
Kiev City Hall is illuminated in the colors of the national flag of Ukraine, Photo: IPI
The other faces at the table also looked tired and gloomy.
The feeling was that the pur might have fallen and they still do not know about it.
"At least this time it's not 2014, we can give them back properly for all the last 150 years," said Dima, also a former fighter.
I went to sleep with a heavy heart and apprehensive around four-thirty after Sabbath had passed and nothing seemed to be happening.
Unity Day
The target date of the Russian invasion was chosen by the President of Ukraine, Ludimir Zalansky, to mark in a demonstration of national unity dubbed "Unity Day".
Thousands marched across the country to demonstrate national pride in the main streets and squares and opposition to foreign intervention in Ukraine's affairs.
Students in schools sang the anthem and waved the flag outside the educational institutions.
"I read the President's statement on Unity Day and for me it seems like a message to the great question of the citizens, the question 'what should we do?' Anastasia Ringis, a journalist living in the capital, Kiev.
Women march under a large Ukrainian flag as part of Unity Day, Photo: EP
But not only in Kiev citizens have sided with the president's initiative.
In the city of Mariupol, an enclave near the territories occupied by the pro-Russian separatists, hundreds of citizens gathered in the main square to mark Unity Day.
Daina Berg, a human rights activist and local local, said: "The idea is to channel panic and anxiety into something unifying.
Zlansky is not the president I voted for, but it is an expression of our freedom of assembly.
So we lined up in the square, sang folk songs and talked about freedom. "
Alongside this, thousands of students in dozens of Jewish educational institutions throughout Ukraine, members of the Or Avner education network, gathered this morning for a special Jewish event for the peace of the country.
The events, which included prayer, giving charity and learning about peace between a person and his friend, took place at exactly 10 o'clock in the morning.
The students sang the Ukrainian anthem that was sung at the same time all over the country as part of "Unity Day", as a combination of the hands of the Ukrainian people towards the possibility of a Russian invasion.
As part of the special one-hour program, they also prayed for peace, the coming of the Messiah and complete redemption.
Russian Army rocket launchers in training in Belarus, Photo: AP
A letter issued last night by the Jewish Federation reads, among other things: "Dear and beloved Ukrainian Jews, we are in tense and fateful days following the current situation in the country and abroad, but as Jews believe, we are sure that everything comes under supreme supervision, no evil comes down from above, And congratulations. "
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