Chernihiv - Hero city

11.10

Slept well on the train. Shortly after arriving in Chernihiv, the air raid alert on our phones went on: “Attention, air raid alert. Proceed to the nearest shelter. Your overconfidence is your biggest enemy”. Not nice welcome, but Ira was able to reassure us that it was not a critical situation. Probably drones with Kyiv as the target. Only after six hours did the signal come that the danger was over and the message “May the force be with you”. Message read by Scott Hamilton, Skywalker, in the film Star Wars. Dramatic and clear.

Chernihiv was attacked on 25.2 2022 but managed to hold out until the Russians withdrew at the beginning of March. The siege of Chernihiv is a story of how a militarily inferior force and civilian courage could hold out against the second biggest army in the world. In the first days, 500 men volunteered for service. Without weapons training, they were thrown into the fighting. The city was never occupied, and the Russian blitz attack on Kyiv was delayed. President Zelenskyy bestowed the title of Hero City upon Chernihiv.

We visited a shelter for pet animals. It is Saturday and many volunteers are here working. Over 500 dogs and cats and a terrible noise. Neat and clean, well organized, like most things I see in this country. I myself have a little difficulty understanding the great care for pets. Both here and in Sweden, dog and cat food is collected. Sacks of dog food are sent from abroad at the same time as residential buildings are terror-bombed and vital infrastructure destroyed. People are killed and mutilated every day. Right now there is a regulated power outage between different areas in Chernihiv.

Saved, but one leg lost

Ukrainians love their dogs and cats. At the front there are a lot of pets. Maybe a distraction for the soldiers from fatigue and death. A serving soldier claimed that cats sense danger before the soldier notices anything.

Lars from Denmark supports the Danish-Norwegian organization Vidar, which supports soldiers at the front. He himself considered enlisting. His wife did not. This trip was supposed to be a way to get rid of his (and hers) fears. It was only when he met the group that they felt the fear to disappear.

Autumn came early in Chernihiv

Right now, both electricity and therefore the Internet are gone and I have to wait with this posting.