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The fronts in kyiv are marked by Ukrainian checkpoints. After weeks held, the Russians advance from the north to the north and north of the capital and on each of the flanks security forces are formed by volunteers that determine the border. On the eastern front is the Brovary boundary, just 27 kilometers from kyiv. When you pass this city of 100.000 inhabitants and head towards Kalinovka, the soldiers cut off the vehicles and force everyone to turn around. "You can't pass, we don't know the exact distance they are, but it's not safe," said the person in charge of the control at the insistence of foreign journalists.
At the end of the Ukraine there is a kind of no man's land that extends to the first Russian position. This no man's land is pure silence and anxiety since at any moment it can cease to be so and fall into the hands of the rival.
One of the first moves ordered by Russian commanders on Friday was the taking of Brovary. A column of tanks advanced towards this place, which until the beginning of the war will be famous for its craft beers since its own number translated from Ukrainian means brewery, but was surprised by an ambush that the Ukrainians recorded with drones and the images gave the Around the World. One after another the tanks were thrown into the air and the enemy soldiers were seen running in terror.
This is how #Russia has left with 3 missiles the main meat and fish supply warehouse of #Ukraine, located in #Brovary, at the gates of #Kievpic.twitter.com/2hwr0ImCmJ
– Mikel Ayestaran (@mikelayestaran) March 13, 2022
Russian revenge came with the launch of three missiles against the largest freezer plant in Ukraine. The projectiles hit the huge ship where most of the fish and meat consumed in the capital was stored and destroyed it. Twenty-four hours after this attack, in which there were no fatalities, one of the person in charge of security opens the doors to journalists to show "this direct hit to the food supply line for those of us who live in the entire area of Kyiv. It is a collective punishment because there is nothing here that can be related to a military issue, this is just food and now we have lost it. In war there are many fronts and logistics is key.
The huge mushroom of gray smoke rises to the top and merges with the leaden tone of a sky that responds with snow trying to help the firefighters. They have had to spend several hours to put out the flames and what remains inside is a huge mass of charred iron twisting in impossible directions. The place where food for millions of people came from, today is hell. This situation will soon be felt in the stores that are still open for those Ukrainians who have chosen to stay and resist the Russian attack. In kyiv, according to the mayor, there are currently half of its four million inhabitants and it will now be easier for them to find meat and fish.
civilian evacuation
The road in front of the attacked plant is the exit corridor for thousands of civilians fleeing from nearby towns towards Brovary Square, where a line of dozens of yellow buses awaits them to take them to kyiv. The authorities fear that this city will become the new Irpin and prompt civilians to leave their homes. The problem in this type of situation is that people resist until the end, until the bombs fall so close that leaving is as dangerous as the option of staying.
Endless rows of nozzles ready in #Brovary to evacuate civilians. #russia advances
#RussiaUkraineWar pic.twitter.com/nMm41BEh8p
– Mikel Ayestaran (@mikelayestaran) March 13, 2022
Vladimir hopes peace with peace at the first bus stops. All vehicles carry a small sign on the front with a red cross and the word "evacuation", a distinctive feature that Russians respect convoys. He is traveling with his wife and two of his children and left because "the explosions are continuous and at any moment the house-to-house fighting will begin, we have no choice but to escape in search of a safe place."
There are already 2,7 million Ukrainians who have found refuge abroad, according to United Nations data, and the number continues to grow as Russian troops advance on the ground. Recent human agencies assure that in the coming weeks they will reach four million refugees.
wait tense
To leave Brovary in the direction of kyiv, you have to pass a fortified checkpoint that the Russians attacked a few days ago. A blown-up van rests forever next to a burnt-out car and an Army armored vehicle also disabled by the missiles. On the side of the road, the Army have taken over a house that they have turned into their volunteer barracks, although the roof was blown off during the Russian operation. There they warm up around a campfire that also serves to keep the soup ready. Everything is little to face the low temperatures.
“At the beginning of the war I may have been a little scared, but after this attack on us, it's gone. Here we are going to be waiting for them, nobody is going to leave this important position and we will fight until the end. But I don't want to talk any more, I want to shoot... and curse Russia for all the harm it is doing to us", one of the volunteers in charge of monitoring the cars that leave for a capital with more and more exits blocked by the enemy.
