Marta shared that the bombing of their city airport was completely unexpected, as it’s in Western Ukraine.
According to her, with the bombing, it feels like it’s not safe anywhere in Ukraine right now.
Fortunately, there has been no further escalation in Ivano-Frankivsk as of this writing.
Marta, who described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “surreal”, said the bombing of their city airport as more of a “provocation” in order to scare the residents.
“They bombed to scare people to make them run away, to create panic. But nothing has happened after that. Basically, the Russians just sent a small rocket here,” she shared with us during a half an hour video call from her apartment, where she is staying with her parents and 88-year-old grandmother.
While the situation in the city remains “stable” for now, it is full of military, Marta said.
“People are staying home. We are not allowed to work from offices, so we are working from home. Honestly, we are just observing the news because the biggest fight right now is happening in Kyiv. And we know that Kyiv cannot fall because it will be pretty bad for all of us if that were to happen.”
Marta, who is married to a Malaysian, shared that while the invasion has obviously made people fearful — a powerful emotion that can paralyse many — they still have faith and take pride in their military forces.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has said that over 1,000 Russian servicemen have been killed so far.
Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that there has been an exodus of frightened people on Friday amidst the fighting in eastern Ukraine intensifying and the capital city under siege.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, has reportedly posted a video from central Kyiv, surrounded by several top officials, to show that the country’s leadership has not fled the capital.