Russia's Military Might Meets Ukraine Mighty Resistance

"This is the price of freedom. This is terror against Ukraine."

"There were no military targets in the square -- nor are they in those residential districts of Kharkiv which come under rocket artillery fire."

"Our soldiers, our border guards, our territorial defense, even simple farmers are capturing Russian soldiers every day, and all of them are saying the same thing: They don’t know why they are here, These are not warriors, they are just lost children."

:Even though there are ten times more of them, the enemy’s morale is getting lower and lower. We are a people who have ruined our enemy’s plans in one week."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelinski

The aftermath of a rocket attack on a university building in Kharkiv   Getty Images

"He thought he would roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined."

"He met the Ukrainian people."

"From President Zelenski to every Ukrainian, their fearlessness,their courage, their determination, inspires the world."

"Putin's war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn't respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home." 

"Putin was wrong. We were ready."

U.S. President Joe Biden

"Our military already seems to be holding its own, but it's great that the world is finally imposing real sanctions rather than the laughable ones they imposed in 2014 [after Russia's annexation of Crimea]."

"Morale is excellent, and people are still being polite, calm and reasonable, although everyone's been watching how war crimes are already being committed in Kharkiv by that carpet bombing. We in Kyiv could also get the same if we take on that big armoured column near here."

"Otherwise, though, I feel quite safe. Ukrainians are far calmer in these situations than North Americans would be."

Cristina Weretelnyk, 40, Ukrainian-Canadian, Kyiv

People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)

 

It took but a week from the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine for Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, to come under siege. Ukrainians, on the edge of a conflict they imagined might happen, but didn't believe actually would, live now in a silent city of three million inhabitants. Silence on the empty streets, interrupted now and again by the sound of air raid sirens, punctuated by the thump of Russian ordnance, on occasion.

 

Medical workers operate on people injured by shelling in a residential area at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes on the key southern port city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

 

On the outskirts of Kyiv waits and squats a spider's web of Russian armour. The column deployed on the edge of the city, awaiting further orders is comprised of missile launchers, ground attack helicopters and tens of thousands of Russian troops. A presence large enough to be made out from space, stretching for 60 km, leaving the capital in a virtual stranglehold ... waiting.

There is a yawning space of 32 km where the waiting army stands restively. U.S. intelligence parses the situation as one that may have 'stalled' awaiting supplies. Outside military experts are puzzled that Ukrainian forces have made no attempt to counterattack the Russian force. It is thought by many that the Ukrainans are familiar with Russian tactics; should they act to defend the city  before the convoy sweeps into Kyiv, Vladimir Putin would spin the counterattack as a reason to all-out bomb Kyiv.

Russian forces have taken to attacking Kharkiv and Chernihiv from afar, shelling the cities with intensity, signalling the land advance has decelerated. Russian munitions, including cluster bombs, have been pounding the city in areas of residential housing blocks, yesterday hitting the operahouse and concert hall, presumably identifying them as 'military sites'. 

 

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has interpreted the increased artillery fire as a reflection of "logistical difficulties" being faced on the ground by Russian forces; food and fuel shortages.

 

A man walks past a queue of cars heading to the Poland border near Shehyni, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again, and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital. Ukraine's embattled president said the tactics were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk)

 

It is that very sustained shelling of Ukraine's second largest city that keeps Kyiv on high alert for the infiltration of Russian saboteurs tasked to identify targets and to guide artillery from the interior. Vehicles have been apprehended driving around the city, their interiors full of weapons and landmines. Yet aspects of life in Kyiv remain as close to normal as unimaginable. The Kyiv Express is still operational, regular trains connecting Kyiv to Lviv near the Polish border.

Supermarkets as well remain open and fairly well stocked for the time being; rumours of food shortages aside. People wait in long line-ups for entry and the opportunity to stock up and most foodstuffs are still available.Kyiv's mayor declared a ban on the sale of alcohol, although wines are available still in fair abundance. The rationale for the ban likely linked to the fact that tens of thousands of rifles have been issued to the populace for self-defence.

 

Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)

 

The International Criminal Court on Monday pledged it would investigate war crimes charged against Russia, along with crimes against humanity incurred in the past week by Russia. Many Ukrainians look to the attack on Freedom Square in Kharkiv, representing the largest civic plaza in the country, as evidence the Russians mean to break the spirit of Ukrainians. It was that attack that prompted President Zelensky to accuse his Russian counterpart of war crimes.

Approximately four-fifths of Moscow's pre-staged troops have now been dispatched into Ukraine, with over 500 missiles launched on Ukrainian targets to date. Despite which, the swift fall of Ukraine to the Russian military anticipated by Moscow has failed to occur, as no major cities have yet come into Russian control, nor has the Russian air force managed to establish air dominance.