AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Trump has confirmed his two envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, are heading to Moscow and for the first time, Kyiv, in another effort to bring about peace talks. The last week in and around Ukraine's capital has been one of constant disruption and danger. The sound of air raid sirens were once a nighttime warning.
(SOUNDBITE OF AIR RAID SIREN BLARING)
CHANG: And now they're blaring several times a day, alerting residents to incoming swarms of jet-powered drones from Russia. NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports from Kyiv.
OLENA SKOLAVATKOVA: (Non-English language spoken).
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Not long after we arrive at Olena Skolavatkova's (ph) house outside Kyiv, we hear something that's rare in a country where the airspace is closed.
(SOUNDBITE OF JET ENGINE)
KAKISSIS: It's the sound of a jet. Before this week, Skolavatkova assumed it came from a Ukrainian military aircraft protecting the skies. Now she says it could very easily be a Russian jet-powered attack drone.
SKOLAVATKOVA: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: "I'm keeping track," she says, "and I'm trying to explain to the kids what's going on, not only so they won't be afraid of every sound, but also so they understand." Skolavatkova is an author. Her books include stories about children coping with war. More than a week of constant air raid sirens and jet-powered drone attacks have tested her daughters, ages 14, 11, and 9. The 14-year-old, Victoria (ph), spent her first day in school in a shelter. A Russian drone crashed into a nearby university building.
VICTORIA: We heard the windows break, the light fell there. Like, I got really scared. And it was, like, so, so loud. We all understood what was happening.
KAKISSIS: When the teachers gave the students the all clear, she walked outside and saw the damage.
VICTORIA: The cars that were near the building, they were all covered in this black powder, and I could also smell some really disgusting smell of something burning.
KAKISSIS: She's now attending online classes at home along with her two younger sisters. But the constant air raid sirens mean they have to run into their home's basement shelter several times a day. I ask 11-year-old Valeria (ph) how she feels.
VALERIA: I'm very stressed, scared and nervous.
KAKISSIS: The new sound, she says, make her heart race. A few days ago, she and Victoria were playing in the backyard at night when they heard that jet sound. The dark sky turned orange. Victoria says a jet drone had crashed nearby. Her sister panicked.
VICTORIA: She got really scared that time. She cried.
KAKISSIS: Valeria forces a smile.
VALERIA: Yes. It was very scary. I just heard that noise. And then my mom said that we should go to the shelter.
KAKISSIS: This family, like most Ukrainians, know that their country does not have enough air defense supplies to intercept Russian missiles, which have also been striking the capital. Russia's new jet-powered drones travel as fast as some missiles. In another Kyiv suburb, Russian drones a production site for Coca-Cola. 42-year-old Oksana Semenoch (ph) heard the explosion - the loudest she ever remembers. She says she feels far more vulnerable with jet drones attacking Ukraine.
OKSANA SEMENOCH: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: "They fly low, and there are a lot of them," she says, "and we don't know where they will fall." In Russia, Ukrainian drones have been hitting energy and logistic targets all year in an attempt to weaken the Kremlin's ability to wage war. Olena Skolavatkova, the writer and mother of three, says she supports this campaign, even if it brings more retaliation from Russia.
SKOLAVATKOVA: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: "Russians will at least feel the pain of war," she says, "rather than continuing to live their lives while Ukrainians are killed." Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kyiv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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