The Romanian vlogger Cosmin Avram returned to Ukraine, a year after his previous experience in this country.
Cosmin Avram started his adventure in the capital of Ukraine right from Independence Square, one of the places where he filmed a year ago. This time, he returned accompanied by his partner, Andreea.
“I returned to Ukraine because last year I promised you that I would come to visit other areas, other cities that I had no way to visit then. Looks like I’ll have a bit more luck this time. From here we leave for Kharkiv. In fact, we’re leaving there tomorrow morning. We have a train that goes around every 6-7 hours. I hope it’s ok. We will go as close as possible to the Russian border. Kharkiv is very close. We will go because this time I am not alone, Andreea is with me“, said Cosmin.
Apparently, things seem under control, and people are trying to adapt and lead a life as close to normal as possible.
“Here in Kiev, things, at first glance, look good. People are quiet, they are out for a walk. Today is Sunday”, were his first steps. A little later, things changed.
Current with the portion
“I think we have something here as a sign of protest. A person, a mannequin, rather, full of blood. I was telling you that at first glance things seem normal. People came out to the terrace to take a walk. But there are problems, they are bigger than last year. At least from my point of view, as I saw things. Because last year I didn’t run into the problems I ran into in these two days here in Kiev. Lack of electricity would be one of those problems. You get current with the portion, and that’s a serious problem, from my point of view,” continued Cosmin Avram.
Next, he filmed a supermaket submerged in darkness and a lot of flags marking the death of heroes on the front.
“Think what it means for supermarkets, for shops, those who have to keep products cold. We arrived at the place where these flags are placed, there are more and more of them. I think their number has doubled compared to last year, that’s how it looks at first glance. Last year we didn’t have so many big flags, I mean the taller ones. They are all located here in Liberty Square. I remind you that each flag represents a person who lost his life, who is no longer with us today, unfortunately. I also see a lot of young people. It’s sad, it’s painful to walk through these flags, like walking through a cemetery. It’s terrible, terrifying. You also see people who come and light candles, people who have lost loved ones or even family members. We also have some American flags“, he reported.
Flags of Death
And nearby he saw other emblems of a devastating war that had bereaved thousands of families and left perhaps tens of thousands of people with scars and wounds that would never heal.
“A sort of makeshift tomb. Look what’s here. What can I say? Welcome back to Ukraine, dear friends, welcome back to Kiev. Words are superfluous at this point. If you have something to comment, if you have something to say at this time, come here, because there is a QR code with the data of every person who lost their life here. Go to the QR code, contact the family and say those things to the family in front, because in the comments we are all good at writing and giving our opinion (…) This person in January was with us, he was with the family , and today a flag arrived stuck here, in this square“, explained the vlogger.
Unlike his visit last year, when the situation in Kiev was much calmer, this time things are different.
“This time, Kiev is bleeding, dear friends. If last year I didn’t even hear an alarm and I stayed here for about 8 days, if I remember correctly, this time, from the first evening I heard the alarms, even twice. The first was around 11 at night, then around two o’clock, it just wakes you up, you can’t sleep anymore, but that’s the situation. When I was just talking a little earlier about the darkness, I stayed in the dark, on my way to the subway. That’s about it in the city, friends. We have light, but not everywhere. There is light only in the areas where the generators are still running, because the rest is dark. You’ll have to go with the flashlight“, he continued.
A city plunged into darkness
The conditions in which people live are among the most difficult: they live in the dark and everyone manages as they can.
“Shopping malls are simply blocked. I think people with flashlights can enter here. We are in a shopping mall. I just came in to show you what it looks like. Yes, this is the reality. Darkness. People drive with flashlights. There are those who have not closed the shops yet. Think these people have been going through this every day for months now,” adds the Romanian.
In the rented apartment in Kiev, Cosmin has electricity only a few hours a day: “The price is acceptable, but I’d better leave you the pictures and get back to you later. This is what our apartment in Kyiv looks like. Decent apartment, we just checked in. We are in the center because we have a balcony with a direct view of Freedom Square. A very large bed, a sofa. The only problem at the moment is the current. We don’t have electricity. Apparently all of Ukraine suffers from this point of view. Only those with generators have electricity.”
At night, sirens blare and wake people up announcing yet another attack by swarms of Russian drones. Missiles and drones have already caused massive damage, and Ukraine’s energy system is down.
Night of the horror sirens
“It’s 1:30 in the morning and we’re about to wake up. It’s hard to sleep in these conditions”he said.
Not far from the house, he passed a bunker, a place where several soldiers were. It’s a detail that, he says, was not valid a year ago, which shows that the situation has worsened on the front.
“Here we have a kind of bunker. Soldiers come in here and guard the intersection, defend the intersection. There are more and more blocked roads here as well, because last year there was traffic here without problems. Now we have military checkpoints everywhere, almost everywhere, let’s not exaggerate. You are not allowed to film. There are a lot of cement blocks placed in front of certain buildings”, added the Romanian.
However, humans show adaptability and manage to live in the harshest conditions. The vlogger noted this aspect. In fact, even bunkers do not guarantee the difference between life and death in a city where every hour can bring the end.
“However, from what I saw last night, people just don’t give a damn about these alarms. They don’t care anymore. The same thing happened last year in Odessa. In Kiev, I told you that I did not experience anything like this, because last year we did not experience any alarms. But people have unfortunately become accustomed to this. For them it has become a normality. Besides, I don’t know what you could do, because by the time those alarms go off, it might be too late to hide. Even if you have a bunker next to you, even if you have a bunker in the basement of the block, it’s complicated. Because if you are unlucky enough to have the missile come to your block, to your apartment, that was it. You don’t have time to go to the bunker, you don’t have time to hide. It just depends on luck“, is Cosmin’s opinion.
The clip filmed by the Romanian vlogger during his first days in Kiev was viewed in 24 hours more than 110,000 times, during which time he collected almost 10,000 likes and more than 1,000 comments.
