July 15th Kyiv
The wail of air raid sirens is associated with grainy, black and white movies from WWII, something from my parent’s generation. I am on a rooftop in Kyiv when this haunting, unmistakeable, sound begins rolling across the city’s rooftops, slowly moving closer as more join in.
When missiles are detected a general alert is issued and then narrowed to a more specific area, if there is time. As the capital, Kyiv has stronger air defence than elsewhere but that is no guarantee of safety—the last attack three weeks ago destroyed a nine story residential building here in the city’s fashionable Shevchenkivskyi district, 3km away.
Nothing came “through” today but the attacks are not just symbolic, they send a message— no one is safe. Ukraine calls them a war crime. Russian authorities have described their targets as military but do not bother to do even this much anymore, targeting shopping malls and residential areas.