By Joe Lindsley, American editor of Lviv Now
For most immediate updates, please follow Joe Lindsley’s personal Telegram Channel, Ukrainian Freedom News.
Lviv, Ukraine – The tension increases today as some airlines, including KLM, dramatically cancel flights to Ukraine and over Ukrainian airspace. Embassy staff are relocating from the capital Kyiv to Lviv, about 540 km / 330 miles to the West, although the British ambassador and a small team remain in the capital.
But among the people, life is vibrant: The cobbled streets of Lviv are filled with locals and visitors enjoying a sunny Sunday while street musicians play. The sound of choirs broadcasts into the streets from churches--Lviv’s equivalent of, say, Istanbul’s prayer calls. The cafés are busy, full of people laughing and talking.
At the Greek Catholic Garrison Church of Sts Peter and Paul, after the English-language Sunday liturgy, a childrens’ choir wearing the vyshyvanka, the traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, sang a Christmas concert: among the last events of the festive season which is celebrate longer here than in the West. This church, a military church, has many tributes within to those who have died for Ukraine during the past eight years of conflict with Russia.
In Kharkiv, across the country and 20 miles from Russia, I heard from a friend who until this weekend was not very nervous. But the news that commercial airlines are suspending flights to and over Ukraine, and the removal of embassy staffs to Lviv, is causing a new angst.
That friend in Kharkiv writes, «Most of our people are worried about the future now. It is a new feeling. You are keeping the money, you don’t consider buying anything valuable during this period, you keep your passport wherever you go. Crazy times.»
Still, he says: «I think that ‘invasion’ won’t be so easy for Russians as it was in 2014. Country is prepared to fight.»
American friends who are Russia experts and security experts tell me that there’s chatter among defense experts on Twitter that Russia’s 1st Guards Tank Army, is assembling around Belgorod, the nearest Russian city to Ukraine’s Kharkiv (when I was in Kharkiv two weeks ago, taxi drivers at the train station were offering rides to Belgorod).
1st Guards moving to the border of Ukraine is highly concerning. They are a frontline breakthrough division, specializing in “Exploitation in Deep Operations” https://t.co/mOIxGo3jG9
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 13, 2022In the city of Uzhhorod, near the Slovakian border, life is normal, according to friends; they are after all far away from any threat. «Time and space work differently here,» a friend says, adding that the threats from Moscow and the warnings of war from Washington are «themes for chatting at dinner tables or pubs.»
Because the situation can change rapidly, I ask that if you want quick updates, that you also follow on these channels:
My personal Telegram Channel: for the most rapid updates. I prefer Signal but Telegram’s format is superior for such a purpose, and unlike social media, it allows me to reach people directly without algorithmic interference.
My personal Facebook and Instagram
Meanwhile, the city’s life continues. You can find the live music schedule here. And tonight please note this recently-added show at the Mad bar house.
Joe Lindsley, an American journalist (follow on Instagram or LinkedIn), is editor of Lviv Now
Follow Lviv Now on and . To receive our weekly email digest of stories, please follow us on Substack.
Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
