By Maria Tsvetkova

KYIV, Reuters – On Thursday, a huge road jam closed off Kyiv’s main exit. This was as people attempted to flee Kiev after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Meanwhile others waited in lines to try to make money and get supplies.

As planes flew overhead and explosions could be heard, signs of anxiety were increasing. An emergency siren was also audible in the early morning.

After weeks of warnings by Western politicians and Ukrainian officials that Russia was coming, there were still some residents in the three-million-strong city.

I didn’t anticipate this. “I believed that nothing would ever happen until this morning,” Nikita, a marketing specialist aged 34, said as he stood in line for water bottles in his cart, while waiting in the long queue at a supermarket.

I was awakened. I am a mature, healthy man. I bought and packed food, but will be staying at home to care for my family.”

The shoppers who were planning to remain in Kyiv also filled other grocery stores and supermarkets. There were long lines at ATMs as credit and debit cards still worked.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin approved what he called an “extraordinary military operation in eastern Ukraine,” other residents decided to move to the relative safety of west Ukraine.

People carried suitcases and bags as they tried to find a way out of their city by car, bus or plane.

JAM OF TRAFFIC TRAFFIC

The four-lane road that leads to Lviv’s western city was jammed, preventing traffic from moving. It is far away from areas where attacks are most likely. Witnesses at Reuters said that cars stretched for dozens upon kilometres.

“I’m going away because a war has started, Putin attacked us,” said Oxana, the driver of one of the cars who was stuck in the traffic jam with her three-year-old daughter on the back seat. We are afraid of being bombarded.”

Her immediate goal was to escape Kyiv which is the capital of Ukraine, home to the presidency, parliament, and government. After she had left, she’d decide on where she went, she stated.

Tell Russia that they cannot do it. It is too scary,” she stated.

Some others headed towards the bus station and to an airport, not knowing if they could leave.

“We had intended to fly from Kyiv today to Baku. “But we were told the flight was cancelled by the escalation in war in Ukraine,” stated a female traveller who only gave her name as Gulnara.

No one can tell us where we should go, or what to do about it. No one knows where we should go. “No one responds to us,” she stated.