Ukrainians raised nationwide flags and performed the nation’s anthem on Wednesday to point out unity towards fears of a Russian invasion that Western powers have mentioned could possibly be imminent.
The yellow and blue banner fluttered outdoors faculties, hospitals and lots of outlets to mark “Unity Day,” a vacation President Volodymyr Zelenskiy created this week after Russia massed troops close to Ukraine‘s borders.
Russia has denied it would invade, however has warned it may take unspecified “military-technical” motion if its safety calls for, together with restrictions on NATO, are usually not met.
On Kyiv’s principal Khreshchatyk boulevard, the place flags embellished authorities workplaces, it was enterprise as standard for a lot of.
“Only a regular day, however these flags are right here for a goal, to point out we concern nobody. They didn’t scare us,” mentioned Mykola, who operates a small espresso stand.
A loudspeaker at an area authorities workplace within the capital Kyiv blared patriotic songs, whereas tv and authorities Youtube channels broadcast speeches and rousing reminders of Ukraine‘s nationhood.
In a televised handle, Zelenskiy mentioned Ukrainians have been united round a typical need “to stay in peace, fortunately, in a household, kids with dad and mom.”
“Nobody can love our house as we are able to. And solely we, collectively, can defend our house,” he mentioned.
Zelenskiy, himself an lively social media consumer, known as on Ukrainians to publish footage and movies of the Ukrainian flag and add hashtags. On Instagram, customers posted beneath #UnityDay.
Zelenskiy has lengthy mentioned that, whereas he believes Russia is threatening to assault his nation, the probability of an imminent invasion has been overstated by Western allies, responding to Moscow’s efforts to intimidate Ukraine and sow panic.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy’s chief of employees, mentioned this week the president had chosen Feb. 16 because the patriotic vacation partly sarcastically, in response to media reviews an invasion may happed on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Russian defence ministry mentioned it was returning some troops to their bases after workout routines. The USA and its allies mentioned that they had not verified the transfer thus far. U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned greater than 150,000 Russian troops have been at present deployed close to Ukraine.
Hours after Moscow’s announcement, Ukraine mentioned the web networks of its defence ministry and two banks have been overwhelmed by a cyber assault. Though Kyiv didn’t title who was behind the incident, a press release prompt it was pointing the finger at Russia.
“Everybody desires to scare us and we’re right here to remain,” mentioned Ludmila, a pensioner, who wore a tiny Ukrainian flag within the lapel of her coat.
(Reuters)