(NewsNation) — Inna Sovun, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament, was only away from Kyiv for a couple of days, as she was visiting Western Ukraine.
But in the couple of days she was away, Sovun said, she could see a difference.
“It is much more lively compared to what it has been a week ago even,” she noted. “And of course, that is because the Russian troops are not near the city anymore.”
Even with Russian troops not near that area, air raid alerts still ring out at night and in the morning.
Air raid strikes are still a real possibility, Sovun acknowledged.
But the fact several countries have announced the reopening of their embassies in Ukraine is an important step forward, she said.
“Hopefully, that makes Kyiv a safer area,” she said. “But of course, that also means that that is because the fight is moving to the east. And that is where the major threats are right now.”
Right now, Sovun’s greatest hope is that Russian troops have run out of ammunition. Russian forces, per multiple reports, are not doing as well as they initially thought they would in their invasion of Ukraine.
“The fact that they were so badly coordinated was one of the factors behind Ukrainians being able to push them further from Kyiv and other regions,” Sovun said.
To bolster Ukrainian special forces further, Sovun has been collecting donations to get them drones.
“The drones are important, because they help us gain at least some port part of control over the air,” Sovun said. “Because the Russians have a much bigger fleet and all. But drones have actually been extremely useful. And that is something that the Russian army doesn’t have.”
Many people have been heeding the call to defend Ukraine. While a lot of the attention has been on the men fighting, there are many women in combat zones as well, Sovun said.
“I’m extremely proud to know some of those real fighters, snipers, drone operators,” Sovun said. “I’ve been to Western Ukraine for a couple of days. What I’ve seen there are huge humanitarian operations in every single city, in very small towns and very small villages. Women are gathering together to make food, and then they’re sending that to the army.”
Women have also been operating buses that travel every day from western Ukraine to eastern portions of the country, she said.