When Jorge Zepeda went out for a walk through the streets of Kievin Ukraine, saw two young men dressed as soldiers pass by, but without Army uniform, who were on their way to their defense training. They are not soldiers, much less have they belonged to the Armed Forces, but they prepare as if they were for combat.
In Eastern Europe, according to the US account, there are winds of war. The Secretary of State of that country, Anthonny Blinken, assured that the Russian invasion of Ukraine it’s imminent, and it’s due to arrive this week, as the world’s attention turns to the Winter Olympics.
Blinken’s statement came on Friday morning, accompanied by satellite images showing Russian troops concentrated on the border with Ukraineand the reactions of the international community – the Western allies – began to arrive as an inventory of responses.
The United States and the United Kingdom asked their citizens residing in Ukraine to leave the country, Israel began the evacuation of its diplomatic personnel, the Pentagon sent 3,000 more soldiers to Poland and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ratified once once more that it is united and ready to respond to an attack.
But little is felt regarding this dispute over political declarations by the leading figures of the international media in a Kiev that he tries to continue his life normally and Jorge Zepeda’s story is proof of this: he has gone skiing, studying and “patching” in the middle of the night.
“This is a country that is ready for defense. There are people who say ‘I do go to war’, men and women, mainly in the border areas that have been in the conflict for years. Everyone knows that if a confrontation breaks out, it would be of very large proportions, ”he considers.
Since November, the United States has insisted that Russia is close to invading Ukraine. The “imminent”, “immediate”, “near” incursion, in the same words that the White House has quoted, are mixed with the fear of the 100,000 Russian soldiers concentrated on the borders with Ukraine.
Added to these troops are the military exercises that Vladimir Putin’s regime carries out in that area and others that it develops in alliance with Belarus, its ally in the region and also a neighbor of Ukraine. Because Kiev, in a certain way, is surrounded militarily.
In Russia and Belarus, Kremlin troops move without shooting at them; In Moldova, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, NATO positions line up with units from the Pentagon, members of the European Union and positions from the Transatlantic Alliance itself.
There are more on the list. In addition to the 3,000 soldiers that the United States announced this Friday for Poland, another 1,700 were already there, there are 1,000 in Romania and 300 in Germany, for a total of 6,000, a short figure compared to the 80,000 that the Defense Department claims to have in Europe on missions.
Joaquín Carbonell has been living in Ukraine for 11 years, between Donbas and Kiev. His time in the tense Eastern European country led him to experience Russia’s invasion of the Crimean peninsula and Sevastopol in 2014, and Donbas, where he spent a few years, is now pro-Russian occupied territory.
“In 2014 Russia acted discreetly, now I see that the threat is brazen,” he says. At the end of January, the Embassy of his country contacted him to confirm his full name, residence information and telephone number and he says that he is expecting that, as has already happened with other citizens, they will recommend him to evacuate.
But the crisis between Ukraine and Russia has as many realities as there are spheres of dispute: soldiers are on the border, the economy in Kiev is trying to stay afloat, and diplomatic channels remain open in government houses to avoid an armed conflict. Yes, there is a crisis with winds of war, but of cold war.
Those who experience the tensions remember the times of yore when Ukraine belonged to the Soviet Union, the famine of the 1930s, the friction of the 1990s to achieve independence and the 30 young years of history that the nation adds. That is why many look with patriotism at the sign on a main avenue in Kiev that reads “Glory to Ukraine, thanks to our heroes. We are going to continue fighting” in a territory that remains in expectation of a new contest.
