Islanders fear for loved ones in Ukraine as attacks intensify

Victoria Grando ended her telephone call Friday with her cousin — who lives in Ukraine — in tears.

Her cousin, also called Victoria, lives in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and was just getting out of a taxi, on her way to a bomb shelter.

The city’s mayor had urged all Kyiv’s residents to seek shelter in bomb shelters or the subway.

Just before Grando hung up her cell phone, the sounds of sirens blaring and young children screaming could be heard over the phone.

“They started bombing, they started bombing”, Grando sobbed Friday, from the office of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Victoria.

Russian attacks on Kyiv accelerated Friday — with apartment buildings being bombed and civilians increasingly in the line fo fire.

“So basically today, all day, there were on and off alarms, and the Kyiv was bombed heavily,” Grando said, fighting through her tears.

More bloodshed is inevitable for Ukrainian civilians, especially in Kyiv, says Serhy Yekelchyk, a Slavic studies professor at the University of Victoria, who has written books on the ongoing Russian Ukrainian conflict.

“Significant civilian casualties are unavoidable, in part because the Russians see it as very important to control the capital,” said Yekelchyk Friday.