A woman and child peer out of the window of a bus as they leave Sievierodonetsk, the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine. Photo / AP
A woman and child peer out of the window of a bus as they leave Sievierodonetsk, the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine. Photo / AP
The missile fragment pierced the ceiling of Mikhail Shcherbakov's apartment in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. A Russian attack, after weeks of rhetoric and warning signs, had hit home.
"I heard noise and woke up. I realized it sounded like artillery," Shcherbakov said. He jumped from the couch and ran towake his mother, and something exploded behind him.
The missile left a nearby computer and teacup shrouded with dust, instant artifacts of Europe's latest crisis.
"Today I had the worst sunrise in my life," said another Kharkiv resident, who gave her name only as Sasha. She rushed to her balcony and realized the sounds that had woken her weren't fireworks.
Farther from the border, a morning commute transformed into chaos, with lines of cars waiting at fuel stations or fleeing from the gray and drizzly capital, Kyiv. People carrying luggage took shelter in the subway, unsure of where to go.
A woman carries a child while walking on a platform to board a Kiev bound train in Kostiantynivka, the Donetsk region. Photo / AP
Some panicked. Others clung to routine, with irritation.
"I'm not afraid. I'm going to work. The only unusual thing is that you can't find a taxi in Kyiv," one resident complained, as air raid sirens wailed.
Many seemed unsure how to react. Kyiv's main street, Khreshchatyk, rippled with anxiety as people checked their phones. Some walked their dogs or waved at friends.
A woman holds her baby as she gets on a bus leaving Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Photo / AP
"I'm not scared at the moment. Maybe I'll be scared later," resident Maxim Prudskoi said.
But elsewhere in the capital, Anna Dovnya watched soldiers and police remove shrapnel from an exploded shell and was terrified. "We have lost all faith," she said. "Until the very last moment, I didn't believe it would happen. I just pushed away these thoughts."
A woman reacts as she waits for a train trying to leave Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
In Mariupol, the Azov Sea port city that many feared would be the first major target because of its strategic importance, AP journalists saw similar scenes of mixed routine and fear.
A couple kiss goodbye before the woman boards a bus out of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
Some residents waited at bus stops, seemingly on their way to work, while others rushed to leave the city that is only about 15 kilometers (less than 10 miles) from the front line with the Donetsk People's Republic, one of two separatist-held areas recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin as independent this week in a prelude to the attack.
A Ukrainian policeman walks on a platform backdropped by people waiting for a Kiev bound train in Kostiantynivka, the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. Photo / Supplied
"I can't do anything. I'm just stuck standing here," said one Mariupol resident who gave only his first name, Maxim, after running around the city since sunrise in search of cash or a full tank of gas, in vain.
Others clung to routine, with irritation. "I'm not afraid. I'm going to work. The only unusual thing is that you can't find a taxi," one Kyiv resident complained, even as air raid sirens wailed.
People walk in a subway to get a train as they leave the city of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
Traffic jams are seen as people leave the city of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
