To better understand the local environment, we asked Sarah what she observed in Lviv and how locals reacted more than two months after the war. Here is what she told us by email:
For the environment in Lviv. War happens in your pockets, not all at once. In Lviv (there is) a strange combination of awareness – war can occur at any time and (still is) complete calm.
In the areas between the air raid sirens, which usually do not lead to a real missile strike in Lviv, people live as normally as they can.
About how the locals behave. The sirens turn on, some pedestrians we see walking down the street, then look up and then continue calmly; some quickly get lost in the buildings they did not intend to enter
No panic, just pragmatic steps to find a sense of security just in case.
For the contrast of war and family life. The signs of war greet you when you enter the city. Checkpoints with soldiers with weapons slung over their chests and makeshift barriers.
In a local park, families play with young children and dogs walk around. But there are several stairs near a grassy hill in the park that seem to go down straight into the ground. These stairs lead to old bunkers reinforced with concrete.
When the sirens sound, some families approach the bunkers. Nobody seems to be coming in.
What else?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has become the highest-ranking US official to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekend on her unannounced trip to Kyiv.
Pelosi’s office said Sunday that he had led an official congressional delegation to Ukraine, the first since Russia’s invasion of the country on February 24.
Zelensky shared a video Sunday of his meeting with the delegation and thanked the United States for supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression.
In the video, Pelosi tells Zelenski: “We are visiting you to say thank you for your struggle for freedom, that we are on the verge of freedom and that your battle is a battle for all. That is why our commitment is to be with you until the battle is over. “
But the visit comes as Russia’s brutal war enters a new phase with no end in sight. Here’s the latest:
The route for evacuation of civilians has been stopped. The evacuation of civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine has been suspended until Monday, the Mariupol City Council said on Sunday, citing “security concerns”.
The city council said in a telegram that the evacuation would begin at 8 a.m. local time near a shopping center in Mariupol. The announcement came hours after Zelenski announced the evacuation of civilians from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Zelenski said later Sunday that for the first time, a vital corridor for evacuating civilians from the plant has begun work, adding that more than 100 civilians have been evacuated. But the complex came under fire again Sunday night, according to a Ukrainian soldier in Mariupol speaking to Ukrainian television.
Thousands of war crimes are being investigated. Ukraine’s chief prosecutor said her office was opening new cases of alleged war crimes by Russian forces, with a total of 9,158 criminal cases “involving purely war crimes”.
Prosecutor Irina Venediktov said on Ukrainian television: “We have already identified specific war criminals,” adding: “In the Kiev region, for example, there are 15 people; 10 of them in Bucha. We hold them accountable for torture, rape and robbery. “
Last week, Ukrainian prosecutors named 10 Russian soldiers as suspects in various crimes in Bucha.
Ready for the long game. Last week, in response to Zelensky’s requests, a group of 40 nations gathered by the United States in Germany agreed to streamline and speed up arms supplies to Ukraine. “We must move at the speed of war,” said Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, who met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation that would allow Biden to use World War II law, known as the Land Leasing Act of 1941, to lend arms to Ukraine quickly. This law was originally created to help forces fighting Nazi Germany and reflects the urgency of Congress to support the Ukrainian armed forces.
President Joe Biden also asked Congress for a $ 33 billion additional funding bill to help Ukraine over the next few months.
The president outlined a proposal that would put additional pressure on Russian oligarchs over the war in Ukraine, including using money from confiscated assets to finance Ukraine’s defense.
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