Russia can’t bomb this market away

Last week’s attack destroyed the shopping mall, along with the local market in Kyiv’s Lukianivska district; a few days later, elderly vendors return to sell fresh vegetables and flowers amid the ruins

KYIV, Ukraine — The fresh smell of burning still filled the air in the market, near the Lukianivskyi metro station in Kyiv.

Volunteers of Dobrobat, an initiative that assists with emergency cleanup and rebuilding after strikes, together with other civilians were clearing the rubble of the destroyed shopping center that was leveled in a massive strike on May 24. The area was cordoned off with striped tape to protect civilians from further collapses and preserve evidence of war crimes for investigators.

Against the backdrop of smoke and ash, the scent of flowers feels unexpectedly out of place. The return of life to this place carried the scent of fresh peonies, daisies, and daffodils.

“If Death has not come to you yet, then it won’t kill you,” said Halyna Klymenko, one of the local vendors who was selling flowers on the market.

Lukianivskyi Market in Kyiv. Photo by The Counteroffensive.

This area has long been shaped by informal street trade, particularly by elderly women selling flowers grown in their gardens or picked in the Ukrainian forests. The first informal flower stalls began to appear here, alongside the development of the surrounding residential district of the same name. Since then, it has become a local spot where Kyiv residents stop by in the mornings to buy fresh produce.

Lukianivska district has become one of the most destroyed and heavily struck areas in Kyiv, where in the last attack missile hits even damaged the metro station — causing residents to question whether there is a completely safe shelter in the district. Residents often do not have time to replace their damaged windows before the next blast wave hits.

Despite the frequent strikes and the near-complete destruction of the local market by fires, the stall sellers cannot wait until it is renewed. They need to make ends meet and continue to brighten locals’ mornings with fresh fruit and bouquets of flowers as a reminder that life goes on here despite the death and destruction.

Demolished ‘Kvadrat’ shopping center. Photo by The Counteroffensive.

Halyna Klymenko, wearing a traditional Ukrainian headscarf decorated with a colorful ornament, was gently adjusting bouquets of peonies in every shade of pink. She smiled at her customers, inviting them to buy her fresh flowers with a bright spark in her eyes.

A mother and daughter approach Halyna, saying they have never seen such fresh flowers before.

Halyna Klymenko, street flower vendor. Photo by The Counteroffensive.

“I planted them, and they bloomed after three years,” said Halyna.

Being 72 years old with a trade experience of 15 years, she regularly travels more than a hundred of kilometers from her native city of Pereyaslav in central Ukraine. She grows peonies there. Even though Halyna’s daughter helps cover her utility bills, her pension of around 4,000 hryvnias (approximately $90 USD) is not enough to live on, so she needs to continue working.

For the past two years she has been selling at this location, although earlier she worked closer to the Kharkivskyi residential district on Kyiv’s left bank of the Dnipro river.

“There were no people anymore [as many of them fled Ukraine during the war]. Here the sirens are going off, but people are still standing,” she said.

Halyna arrives here every day around 10 a.m., no matter what.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the immediate area around Lukianivska Square and its surrounding infrastructure has been struck at least eight times. While the market had previously recovered quickly after indirect attacks, the current damage is so severe that it will require reconstruction from the ground up.

Halyna has a simple belief that if death is destined it will happen, which has already become a common mindset for Ukrainians in the fifth year of the full-scale war.

Street flower vendors at the Lukianivskyi Market. Photo by The Counteroffensive.

That’s why a fairly large number of people stop by the destroyed market. Some choose flowers for a celebration, others buy carrots and potatoes to prepare a fragrant meal. The line briefly disperses under a cold May rain, but as soon as the sun returns people step out from under the awnings and continue their shopping.

Elderly women vendors near Halyna’s spot are laying out their goods brought in from their home regions. Another customer approaches them.

“The people here are good. I like supporting those who, despite all circumstances, still manage to get here at night by different trains and commuter lines,” says Vira Usenko, who has been buying natural, organic products at this market for more than 40 years. She keeps returning here as a customer every time.

Vira walks away smiling, carrying bags full of food, her thick hair blowing in the wind while leaving the ruins behind.

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NEWS OF THE DAY:

By Ivanna Shvets

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

ZELENSKYY WARNS TRUMP OF CRITICAL PATRIOT SHORTAGE: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued an extraordinary, direct letter to U.S. President Trump and the U.S. Congress, warning of a critical depletion of Patriot missile interceptors. The letter, published by journalist Barak Ravid, stresses that Ukraine remains “almost completely” dependent on Washington to counter missile threats, noting that the weapons supplied by the NATO-backed Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) have fallen short of the current threat level.

The plea follows a staggering barrage of Russian attacks on May 24, during which Moscow unleashed 90 missiles and 600 strike drones across Ukraine, including “Oreshnik” intermediate-range ballistic missiles that struck Bila Tserkva, a city 50 km from Kyiv.

RUSSIAN BANKERS TO START SHOOTING DOWN DRONES: Russian lawmakers have passed a bill allowing trained bank employees to shoot down and jam Ukrainian drones amid an increase in Ukrainian strikes on domestic infrastructure, Al Jazeera reported. The draft legislation mandates that financial institutions, including the central bank and the majority state-owned Sberbank, finance and install electronic jamming systems on their premises.

This would allow Russia to greatly expand its air defense capabilities as there are banks located in the majority of towns.

KYIV FORMALIZES TIES WITH BELARUSIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES: During her first official trip to Ukraine, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held talks with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv. The meeting centered on countering the threats posed by Russian destabilization and Belarus’s President Aleksander Lukashenko, and coordinating the release of Belarusian POWS captured while fighting for Ukraine, and political detainees imprisoned in Belarus for supporting Ukraine.

To strengthen systematic coordination, Ukraine has appointed Yaroslav Chornohor as its first ambassador-at-large for cooperation with Belarusian democratic forces, which officially opened a new mission office in the Ukrainian capital.

LATVIA RAMPS UP DEFENSE AFTER UKRAINIAN DRONE INCURSION: Latvia is reinforcing its 400-kilometer border with Russia and Belarus by deploying tactical teams equipped with 10-km radius “killer drones”, Reuters reported.

Neighboring Lithuania is conducting tests of drone detection systems in the Kaunas region, utilizing various drone platforms to benchmark tracking capabilities, Hromadske reported.

These defensive measures follow several incidents where Ukrainian strike drones, targeting Russia’s Baltic oil loading ports, were thrown off course by Russian electronic jamming and as a result flew into NATO airspace.

DOG OF WAR:

This Doberman is walked by our reporter Kateryna’s daughter. The girl says that Yarchik (the dog’s name) isn’t the best first client.

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Anastasiia