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1of18A signs reads "mine" in Moshchun, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, March 5, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack. But against this backdrop of war, residents of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv are living their lives as normally as they can as Russia's invasion of their country enters its second year.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less2of18Sand bags are placed in a corridor of a building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less3of184of18Concrete blocks are laid out to make a checkpoint in a street of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 6, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attackThibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less5of18Barbed wire is laid on the ground in a street of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 6, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less6of187of18A statue is covered with sand bags to protect it from the Russian shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 9, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less8of18A bracelet with the colors of the Ukrainian flag is attached to a destroyed Russian tank displayed outside of St. Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 9, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less9of1810of18Journalists sit on sand bags inside a building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less11of18A trench in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 6, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less12of1813of18Metal anti-tank barriers can be seen in a street of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less14of18A net covering sandbags of a checkpoint is seen in a street of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 6, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less15of1816of18A signs reads "shelter" in a street of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 11, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less17of18A sticker of the Ukrainian coat of arms is attached to a car painted with a camouflage pattern, in a street of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 11, 2023. There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted onto walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.Thibault Camus/APShow MoreShow Less18of18
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — There are sandbags around the statues and anti-tank obstacles by the side of the streets, trenches in the nearby forests and land mine warnings in the woods. Signs painted on walls point to the nearest shelter, while air raid sirens occasionally wail across the city, which still sometimes comes under missile attack.
But against this backdrop of war, residents of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, are living their lives as normally as they can while Russia’s invasion of their country continues into its second year.
Although many fled in the opening stages of the war, residents have gradually returned to their homes as Russian forces were pushed back from north of the city last year, and the conflict became centered mainly in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.
Shops, restaurants and bars are open — even if customers have to wrap up their evenings early and rush home in time for the 11 p.m. curfew. Nobody pays attention to the angular steel anti-tank hedgehogs by the side of the road, or the occasional pile of sandbags.
Outside the landmark Saint Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in central Kyiv, people pose for photos beside destroyed Russian tanks and armored vehicles. Nearby, yet more photos are being added to a wall with pictures of those killed in the fight against Russia.
It’s a strange type of new normality, where the harsh objects of a brutal war have been incorporated into the scenery of regular city life.
