People gather and talk outside a terrace bar in central Kyiv
(Picture: AP)Veronika Kozehedub keeps having to pinch herself. Spring is finally springing in her hometown, Kyiv. Tulips are blooming in Maidan Square and young couples walk hand-in-hand in the beautiful Taras Shevchenko Park next to Ukraine’s most prestigious university once more. It was only a matter of weeks ago that Kozehedub thought she might never see her beloved city again.
The 25-year-old graphic designer and illustrator never wanted to leave Kyiv. When I met her in February at a trendy café called The Journalist, she had rubbished the idea that Russia would ever invade, saying it was all confected by the media. Two days later, Russian tanks crossed the border from Belarus, plunging the Ukrainian capital into a months-long nightmare which left thousands dead and saw more than half the population — around two million people — flee the city.
