Waiting for Zelenskiy

I was waiting in this crowd for an hour, outside the Grand Hotel in Lviv, hoping, like everyone else, to see President Zelenskiy. I knew that he (and his wife) had visited the military cemetery in Lviv but hadn't realised that he was still here, until I walked into town after lunch and saw Police everywhere, and then the beginning of a crowd outside the hotel, people saying, "Zelenskiy is in there!" The crowd got bigger and bigger, but he still hadn't emerged after an hour, by which time I was frozen and gave up waiting. It's hard to imagine getting this excited about the visit of a British politician!

I was amazed by the lack of security, other than the presence of Police and soldiers. There were no crowd control measures, no barriers; people were lining the streets, right up to the hotel doors and traffic continued to pass. Zelenskiy still hadn't emerged after I came back, half an hour later, after buying the ground coffee we like. I hope the crowd was eventually rewarded.

A further blue and yellow theme can be observed on the bus seats...

I want to believe that a country so proud and patriotic that it colours everything it can in blue and yellow, will prevail. But I know this is a romantic notion and Zelenskiy really has a job on his hands now...well, actally, his military leaders as he leaves battle strategy to them. Bakhmut is encircled and it looks likely that there will be a strategic retreat, before everyone in this city that has been reduced to rubble is killed. Then there is a fear that towns further up the frontline will be taken, or reoccupied, like Kupiansk where a mandatory evacuation of families and vulnerable residents has been ordered. The increased military support that has been promised by the US and Europe cannot come quickly enough.

We are still having an enforced period of inactivity because Bob has been hit so hard by COVID, although I seem to have escaped very lightly.