“No one assures you that between the bombs you will reach Kiev alive”

“It’s not a green corridor, it’s red because there are bodies on the road,” says Irina from inside one of the yellow buses waiting for civilians fleeing Irpin, north of Kiev. She has needed four days to make a journey that before the war took forty minutes. Although Russia announced for two days that it would respect the ceasefire, “it is a lie, the fighting has not stopped and that is why in the end it is one’s decision to come out of hiding. No one assures you that between the bombs you will arrive alive. Russian soldiers behave violently at their checkpoints, it is not easy to get there, “says Irina, who feels safe in Kiev.

The brokers are agreed in offices, where meetings between politicians and military are held. The Ministries of Defense announce them with great fanfare and the two parties tend to systematically accuse each other of not respecting the agreement if things go wrong. The problem is that those who negotiate these corridors know that they do not have to try them in the first person.

The Irpin corridor is “red” because of the blood of the civilians killed along the way, such as the Perebyinis family, killed on Sunday by a deliberately fired Russian mortar. Some flowers remind them, although no one has a minute to stop in front of them. This step sounds like the explosions that resound a few kilometers away and the detonations mix with the tears of the newcomers, broken by accumulated fatigue and tension. It’s a sour cry. Inconsolable. The smell of black smoke mushrooms rising into the sky after each detonation permeates everything.

elderly exit

The Ukrainian Army dynamited the bridge that connected Irpin with Kiev to complicate the advance of the invaders and now the escape route is a wooden walkway over the river. Most of those who leave are elderly and need help. In their arms, on improvised stretchers or on their backs, the younger volunteers and relatives help the older ones to overcome the obstacle in the middle of a freezing wind. They load them lovingly, but with the haste that war requires. The scene freezes the heart.

“I was alone when the war broke out because my children emigrated years ago. I was born during World War II, my father was killed then and my mother also died. I am an orphan since I was 7 years old and now, in my old age, I have to suffer the fighting again. Thanks to everyone who helps. I thank you with my tears. Help is needed because many people are still trapped without being able to get out », says María Vasylivna, who has made the path with the support of some neighbors from her own block of flats. In her neighborhood they had been without water, electricity, or gas for four days and the temperature inside the garage where they were hiding was below ten degrees.

They all share a similar story of suffering and fear. “He had a normal life. I was a happy person in my house, with my garden, and suddenly the war broke out and everything was over », says Oleg, who has dated his wife, his son, two dogs and a cat. In his case, he found out about the existence of the corridor through rumors among the neighbors, but when he left his house in the direction of Kiev, he was not sure what could happen. “No one reports anything. It’s a lottery », he laments.

“We have suffered missile attacks on the tallest buildings, seen helicopters flying low… and in many towns now the houses are occupied by Russian soldiers,” details Tatiana, who hopes that everything will end as soon as possible so that she can return home. .

They do not dare to set a date for the end of the conflict, but each day that passes the disaster is greater. More deaths, more destruction, more refugees outside the country and more internally displaced people.