A la Tiananmen, Ukrainians block Russian tanks

Kyiv, March 2: Unarmed but proud Ukrainians poured out of their homes and blocked a convoy of Russian tanks and military vehicles seeking to enter the city of Starobilsk. The Russian military machine came to a halt on the city’s outskirts as a large group of civilians massed in front of them, shouting slogans against Russia and hailing Ukraine, a video clip of the scene showed.

Starobilsk is a city of 13.32 sq km with a population of over 16,000 people, about 730 km from Kyiv, in the eastern frontier of Ukraine. In another city, Energodar, which has a population of less than 53,000 on the banks of Dnieper river, hundreds took to the streets blocking the main streets in a desperate attempt to halt the Russian military advance. “People blocked the access to the city,” another video showed, with the caption: “We are proud of the courage of the Ukrainian people!” Enerhodar is home to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest power plant in Europe. Its Mayor said a large number of Russian military equipment was outside of the city.