The eighth of March is a famously celebrated women’s holiday in eastern Europe and beyond. It’s a celebration for all women and girls. It’s a day of flowers, candy, greeting cards with poems, among other things.
It is also one of the first spring holidays and, given good weather, can begin the season of cooking out. That was exactly the plan of myself, my partner, and our closest friends. We gathered at the backyard of our friend’s home and began grilling out and having fun. His mom, and probably many other locals, was working in the garden. The sunny weather was darn near close to swimsuit dress code (I changed to bra and shorts after this photo).
We heard a couple rounds of artillery, closer than I am used to, due to the location of our friend’s home. One of the explosions was loud enough to cause some ringing in the ears. Soon enough, around 4pm, we began seeing a tall column of smoke. Then it spread to multiple columns of smoke. Even later on, it wasn’t clear if the fire was caused by shelling or a drone strike. The shelling/drone strike and the resulting fire were within our district, less than a mile away and seemed to be spreading steadily along the line at the horizon, not yet towards us.
I assumed that the firefighters wouldn’t approach right away because the Russians are known for striking the same area twice, to injure the first responders. But it was explained to me that the area was mostly fields of reeds that easily catch fire and do not respond well to fire extinguishing efforts. We attempted to continue celebrating, keeping an eye on the line of fire and it’s distance from us.
The path home in the dark along the burning fields (now within half a mile and close enough to smell the smoke and feel the heat) looked like inferno.
The sky was covered in smoke, lit up by the fire, and full of fleeing and confused birds. While unclear if there were any houses on fire at that time, most animals may not have had enough time to flee from inflammable grass.
Leaving the area of private homes and getting closer to high-rise buildings, the sky was lit up with fire visible even behind 9-story buildings.
People stood outside watching the fire, worried about where it might spread, discussing the wind and proximity of private houses and businesses. They called to check on the same family and friends they spoke to just hours earlier, when they were congratulating them with this wonderful holiday. Talking about the Los Angeles fires from not too long ago and how easily even a non-targeted strike can possibly destroy miles of land. The fires raged through the night. Happy Women’s day to us from the goddamn Russians.
