On 24 February 2022, Russian tanks entered Ukraine from Belarus. Their goal was to seize Kyiv. Armoured columns moved openly, trundling through a landscape of forest and swamp. The Kremlin assumed a quick victory. The plan came dramatically unstuck in Bucha, a pleasant commuter town 15 miles from the Ukrainian capital.
A group of volunteers took to the barricades. They included a musician from an academic orchestra, a family therapist who taught Argentine tango, a recreational hunter and a gas station attendant. Over four weeks these civilians held off the mighty Russian army. They used bulldozers to build defences and warmed themselves around a fire in a bombed-out building.
