Watch as spirited Ukrainians sing together in shelters as Russian invasion continues
Moving videos show resolute Ukrainians singing together as their country fights back against a Russian invasion.
University students in Kyiv sang songs at a shelter on Feb. 25, as fighting and explosions were reported in several several parts of Ukraine’s capital, according to a video from Storyful. The footage, originally posted to Instagram, shows students singing at the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics.
The students can be heard shouting “glory to Ukraine” at the end of the video.
Journalist Alejandro Alvarez, a digital editor with WTOP, posted another video of Ukrainians huddled inside a bomb shelter singing the national anthem on Feb. 25. Russian military forces have reached the Ukrainian capital and videos show a missile striking an apartment building in Kyiv on Feb. 26.
As of 12:40 p.m. ET, Kyiv remained under Ukrainian control after the country’s forces stood against “an overnight onslaught (from Russia) that included explosions and bursts of gunfire,” according to The Washington Post.
Another video showed locals inside a shelter playing guitar and singing.
Kyiv is considered “an important modern center for industry, education, and culture for not only modern-day Ukraine, but all of Eastern Europe,” according to the website GeoHistory.
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on three fronts early Thursday, Feb. 24, “bombarding cities, towns and villages” as forces advanced toward the capital of Kyiv.
As Russia’s invasion into Ukraine reached its third day on Saturday, Feb. 26, injuries and deaths continue to rise. As of Saturday morning, there have been 198 Ukrainians killed, as previously reported by McClatchy News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that his military forces are protecting citizens in eastern Ukraine who want to rejoin Russia, BBC News reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Joe Biden have rejected those claims.
“We are not putting down arms,” Zelenskyy said Saturday, Feb. 26. “We will be defending our country, because our weapon is truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this.”
Ukrainian forces are putting up a “very determined resistance,” particularly in Kyiv, which is under heavy Russian attack by artillery and cruise missiles, Reuters reported.
Ukraine, the second-largest nation in Europe by land mass, was part of the former USSR until it declared independence in 1991. It is not a NATO member.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Watch as spirited Ukrainians sing together in shelters as Russian invasion continues."