Right now the sirens are blaring across Lviv, a city in the west of Ukraine, a city untouched but the alarms mean one thing, the sound of war is creeping closer.
Here in Lviv, life looks and feels normal. The city streets are busy, shops are open and people are everywhere dressed in warm winter coats holding takeaway coffee cups, talking on their phones, walking their dogs.
It’s a stark contrast to the scale of destruction in the besieged Ukrainian cities on the outskirts of Kyiv. Cities like Mariupol, Sumi and Khakiv.
But don’t for one minute think Ukrainians here in Lviv are blinded by freedom. War is all too consuming here - many tell me they’re ready, they believe it will only be time, maybe days until Vladimir Putin will come for Lviv.
Locals here are helping in their country’s defence – young men like Nikolai Luti who I met, a former IT Sales Manager who quit his job and registered for the army. His message to Putin and to Russia is “you will die”.
Others finish work and head to the railway station to volunteer, helping fellow Ukrainians by serving hot tea, coffee and soup.
Lviv Station is the central hub for hundreds of thousands to fleeing from all parts of Ukraine. Mostly women and children queue in freezing temperatures to buy a ticket for a seat on the so-called evacuation train to Poland. All have a story to tell against a backdrop of war with Russia.
During a live cross into the 6pm news, a displaced woman walked with a smile that beamed like no other. She told me her name was Lena and continued to tell me her story in Ukrainian. She then made the rock’n’roll sign with her hand and left.
Language barriers meant I couldn’t understand what she said but from her smile and gesture she was rock’n’rolling.
Even in a war, Lena reminds us it’s the simple things that matter and only reinforced more that the plight of Ukrainian refugees should make us show more compassion to everyone fleeing.
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