‘We are Ukrainians. We’re strong’: morale the key in Kyiv as winter sets in

Local residents charge their devices, use the internet and warm up inside a tent in Kyiv. Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

The residents of Kyiv taking shelter in their local “invincibility station” were well aware that their own morale has become the central battlefield of the war, and it is not territory they are prepared to concede to Vladimir Putin.

The insulated grey tent set up on a street corner in the Pecherskyi district of Kyiv, one of thousands established around the country this week, was offering electricity, warmth, tea and sandwiches after the latest Russian onslaught.