Escape to the West

The day has finally come. A long-awaited trip to the west of Ukraine, to relative safety. I went to visit my family and, at long last, get a good night's sleep. Kyiv has been under almost continuous attack by Russian drones — and occasionally missiles — for six or seven days straight. The breaks between air-raid sirens vary, sometimes lasting just 15 minutes, other times 2 hours. Same with the alerts. 12, 13 every day. Trains are delayed, supermarkets close, and the metro grinds to a halt. Russia is deliberately targeting supermarket warehouses and shopping centres during the daytime, when they are packed with people. As a result, shop shelves have emptied dramatically in just a few days. The loss of destroyed warehouses has been compounded by silly human panic. The whole chaos feels like a flashback to 2022.

I often tell myself I’ve grown immune to the sound of explosions, to the smell of smoke outside, and to the sight of enemy attack drones flying overhead (civilian aircraft including civil drones remain strictly grounded). But my nervous system knows better. My instincts refuse to cooperate, regardless of my composure. And so, proper sleep doesn't come. I sleep poorly, even with sleeping pills.

Approaching the station, traffic was at a complete standstill with the road blocked ahead. Luckily, the far-right lane kept moving to the right, and the taxi got me there on time. The main station hall was locked shut due to an active air-raid alert. Plumes of smoke rose on the horizon to the left and right of the tracks from recent Russian drone strikes.

Inside the carriage, it was hot, and not a single window would open. The train car was old and falling apart — hardly surprising, given that Russia continuously attacks passenger transport. Just in August, eight people waiting for a commuter train were killed at a station.

A handsome young conductor offered an apologetic explanation, pointing out that this was an extra train cobbled together from old reserve carriages. She had been working for 14 days straight without a day off and was desperate to get home to see her young son, who had just started kindergarten for the very first time. And she missed it.

I wouldn't say the 10-hour journey flew by. However, I brought along a new 918-page book, and it proved to be an absolute page-turner, just like everything else by this author.

My daughter surprised me — she and her husband met me right at the station. I had missed them so much...

Tomorrow will be a completely different day. But for now, it's time to sleep.