Dídac Medrano | Photojournalist

Waiting for the Russians: one week in Lviv

On February the 24th, 2022, Russian forces launched a full-scale attack against Ukrainian positions, catching everyone by surprise, in a movement that was never imagined to take place. Russian forces started advancing towards the Donbass region and the northern oblasts, arriving to the outskirts of Kyiv in less than a week of hostilities.

The pictures below show the city of Lviv during the Russian invasion. Despite not being in a war situation, in Lviv we found a tense situation, with casual dressed people doing armed patrols and big queques of people in front of the armories, as guns tended to sell out swiftly. This isn’t, of course, a report in a conflict zone, but it shows how a whole city prepares to face an enemy that is expected to arrive in the next weeks.

This is how Lviv was waiting for the Russians

A little girl and her mom walk around the platforms of a crowded Lviv train station seeking for a train to Western Ukraine. (Dídac Medrano).
Monuments in Lviv’s Market Square covered and protected to avoid damage from possible Russian airstrikes. (Dídac Medrano).
Woman walking next to a giant billboard saying ”Russian soldier, fuck off ” in central Lviv, Ukraine. This slogan has been commonly displayed in many different places around the city, such as buses, roadsigns or even currency exchange shops. (Dídac Medrano).
Lviv’s Opera House is no longer covered with ballet advertisements bur with pictures of the newly made Ukrainian heroes: Vitaliy Skakun, the soldiers from the Snake Island and the Ghost of Kyiv. (Dídac Medrano).
Volunteering center in the Mariya Zankovetska theater, central Lviv. (Dídac Medrano).
Entrance of the theater, were new banners are displayed over the previous ones, which used to announce the different plays. (Dídac Medrano).
Woman walks next to a light post with a sticker encouraging the fight for Ukraine on it. (Dídac Medrano).
Patriotic painting representing Ukraine and containing Crimea peninsula in central Lviv. (Dídac Medrano).
Closed souvenir shop in central Lviv. The biggest city in Western Ukraine used to be one of the most touristic destinations in the country. (Dídac Medrano).
Closed shop with covered windows waiting for a reopening that is no way near close. On the top of it we can find the Ukrainian flag alongside the flag standing for the Ukrainian Insurgence Army, a heavily nationalist movement. (Dídac Medrano).
Permanently closed McDonald’s in central Lviv, due to the war situation in the country. (Dídac Medrano).
Underground kitchen used as a bomb shelter in Lviv’s Dream Hostel. When air-raid sirens sounded, up to 30 people would gather in the basement. (Dídac Medrano).
Sirens sound at 1:27 AM in Lviv. This is a clock representing the tryzub (the national Ukrainian emblem), as well as blue sky and yellow wheat, the features that inspired Ukrainian flag. (Dídac Medrano).
Decorated car from Lviv’s Gazda Cafe is now customized with a banner saying ”Russia go fuck yourself”. (Dídac Medrano).
Old car in the empty streets of Lviv’s Old town. Despite being in that situation, the city remained calm although showing some signs of tension. (Dídac Medrano).
Food delivery man in the streets of Lviv’s old town. Although all but essential services where suspended, food delivery was still going on. (Dídac Medrano).
Leaflet displaying different directions where food and medical aid could be sent to help the volunteering defenders of Lviv. (Dídac Medrano).
Sticker representing the Russian eagle in the coat of arms being crossed with a Ukrainian flagged prohibition sign. Underneath the slogan ”Death to the enemy” can be read. (Dídac Medrano).
Leaflet from Lviv’s territorial defense forces asking for the volunteering cooperation of different qualified people: doctors, geologists, engineers, chemists, dispatchers… (Dídac Medrano).
Speaker in the streets of Lviv’s old town. It is probable that this are the speakers used to reproduce the air raid siren sound around the city when suspected incoming attacks. (Dídac Medrano).

Deja una respuesta

Tu dirección de correo electrónico no será publicada. Los campos obligatorios están marcados con *