The Fort Worth Press - Kyiv residents resolute as Russia signals pullback

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 68.345223
ALL 91.574579
AMD 389.145335
ANG 1.812375
AOA 912.503981
ARS 999.314589
AUD 1.519295
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.823845
BBD 2.030401
BDT 120.165991
BGN 1.8241
BHD 0.379074
BIF 2968.993332
BMD 1
BND 1.329137
BOB 6.964144
BRL 5.737904
BSD 1.005642
BTN 84.841703
BWP 13.337063
BYN 3.290903
BYR 19600
BZD 2.02695
CAD 1.39318
CDF 2866.000362
CHF 0.875866
CLF 0.034749
CLP 958.828741
CNY 7.179204
CNH 7.119295
COP 4328.157784
CRC 514.384296
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.82557
CZK 23.557404
DJF 179.073996
DKK 6.957104
DOP 60.558586
DZD 133.324008
EGP 49.274957
ERN 15
ETB 124.505712
EUR 0.932604
FJD 2.238204
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.774144
GEL 2.720391
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.491817
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.503851
GNF 8668.811489
GTQ 7.773581
GYD 210.388399
HKD 7.77435
HNL 25.372313
HRK 6.88903
HTG 132.326199
HUF 379.790388
IDR 15654.85
ILS 3.74981
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.38315
IQD 1317.293794
IRR 42092.503816
ISK 138.740386
JEP 0.765169
JMD 159.54679
JOD 0.709104
JPY 152.65504
KES 129.715112
KGS 86.203799
KHR 4083.55481
KMF 460.375039
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1398.203789
KWD 0.30667
KYD 0.837973
KZT 495.034271
LAK 22070.219611
LBP 90051.475731
LKR 294.204318
LRD 190.562783
LSL 17.597892
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.879937
MAD 9.930713
MDL 18.035156
MGA 4652.398937
MKD 57.45792
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 8.051942
MRU 40.06248
MUR 46.403741
MVR 15.450378
MWK 1743.740383
MXN 20.176204
MYR 4.382504
MZN 63.903729
NAD 17.597892
NGN 1668.080377
NIO 37.002844
NOK 10.999904
NPR 135.746724
NZD 1.676306
OMR 0.384818
PAB 1.005642
PEN 3.771996
PGK 4.036928
PHP 58.455038
PKR 279.24409
PLN 4.03435
PYG 7863.104397
QAR 3.6669
RON 4.641704
RSD 109.153038
RUB 97.915792
RWF 1378.467851
SAR 3.755989
SBD 8.340754
SCR 13.420525
SDG 601.503676
SEK 10.813404
SGD 1.325604
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.850371
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 574.719075
SRD 34.97037
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.799366
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.593137
THB 34.215038
TJS 10.689514
TMT 3.51
TND 3.122208
TOP 2.342104
TRY 34.340368
TTD 6.83359
TWD 32.250367
TZS 2684.944281
UAH 41.514524
UGX 3680.701264
UYU 42.010538
UZS 12858.674873
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 44.647491
VND 25275
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 611.700471
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753952
XOF 611.700471
XPF 111.21369
YER 249.825037
ZAR 18.463855
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.377256
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    61.4000

    61.4

    +100%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.53

    +1.18%

  • BCC

    1.4700

    142.32

    +1.03%

  • SCS

    0.0600

    13.14

    +0.46%

  • NGG

    -0.3600

    63.94

    -0.56%

  • RELX

    0.3200

    47.98

    +0.67%

  • BTI

    -0.0100

    35.39

    -0.03%

  • GSK

    -0.3700

    36.29

    -1.02%

  • CMSD

    0.2350

    25.125

    +0.94%

  • RIO

    -3.0400

    64.43

    -4.72%

  • CMSC

    0.1600

    24.84

    +0.64%

  • BCE

    0.3000

    28.37

    +1.06%

  • RYCEF

    0.0100

    7.15

    +0.14%

  • AZN

    -0.2000

    64.49

    -0.31%

  • VOD

    -0.0100

    9.31

    -0.11%

  • BP

    -0.8800

    28.93

    -3.04%

Kyiv residents resolute as Russia signals pullback
Kyiv residents resolute as Russia signals pullback

Kyiv residents resolute as Russia signals pullback

At 80 years old, Kyiv retiree Yuriy Mykhailin has seen Ukraine battle through a lot to forge its own path in the world, and he's not going to let Russian pressure daunt him now.

Text size:

On Tuesday, hearing reports from Moscow that suggested some Russian forces were pulling back from the border, he choked back tears of emotion.

"I want to sign up to the Kyiv territorial defence to protect my family, my children and grandchildren," he said told AFP.

A poll this month said nearly 60 percent of Ukrainians "would resist" Russia if it invades.

"That way, I think the victory will be ours," Mykhailin said.

Ukraine has faced sporadic fighting with Russian-backed separatists in the southeast of the country for the past eight years.

But the recent massive deployment of Russian forces on its borders -- including in Belarus, a few hours drive from Kyiv -- brought the pressure to a new level.

Alongside threats from Moscow, Ukraine's airwaves were filled with dire warnings from US officials that a Russian invasion could be just days away.

The US embassy in Kyiv shut up shop, and a "core team" of diplomats moved to Lviv in western Ukraine, considered further from the potential frontline.

- 'We are strong!' -

Washington insisted it would stand by its partner and, with the EU, has threatened Russia with economic sanctions if it does invade.

US charge d'affaires Kristina Kvien took to the streets of her new home town safely 470 kilometres (290 miles) west of the capital to try to reassure Ukrainians.

"I'd like to just reiterate that this is a temporary move and, as much as we love Lviv, we hope very much to be back in Kyiv very soon," she said.

"It's Russia that has caused this change in our posture," she said, denouncing Moscow's troop build-up and "aggressive and hostile rhetoric".

But, with foreign nationals rushing to leave and airlines beginning to cancel flights into Ukrainian air space, some here complain they are being abandoned.

On Tuesday, a bare-breasted protester from the Ukrainian activist group Femen mocked the US fall back to the west outside the closed Kyiv mission.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to the mood by declaring Wednesday -- the day some US reports suggested an invasion could begin -- a day of unity.

"On this day we will hang our national flags, put on blue and yellow ribbons and show our unity to the whole world," he declared in a televised statement.

"We are calm! We are strong! We are together!"

- Pride in unity -

But in truth there has been little sign of panic in the streets of Kyiv, lit brightly this week by chilly but cheerful spring-like sunshine.

Ukrainians have gone about their business, some expressing pride that Russian warnings and intense media reporting of their plight have not shaken them.

There was a protest in Kyiv on Tuesday morning. Around 100 demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament, watched by a larger group of police.

But they were not responding to the threat to the border, nor denouncing the government response: they were quietly opposed to coronavirus vaccine mandates.

In a street near the central Maidan square 22-year-old lawyer Artem Zaluzhniy admitted that he sometimes shunned media reports to avoid too much stress.

But he gave Zelensky some credit for his work to deter the Russian threat, and said he might turn up on Wednesday to see Day of Unity events.

"I work nearby, so I will probably come and take a look. In general, I think such a celebration is urgently needed in Ukraine today," he told AFP.

"Because in times like this the national idea and the unity of the nation is formed."

T.Gilbert--TFWP