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(Bloomberg) — A cluster of towns built among fir and oak woodlands to the northwest of Kyiv have long attracted the capital’s middle class. Now they’ve been turned into places of utter desperation.

Russian forces encroaching on Kyiv in a bid to encircle the city of 2.9 million have flooded into the suburban towns whose names are fast becoming synonymous with suffering.

From the first day of the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin, Russian troops aimed for Hostomel, which hosts a strategic airfield used by the world’s largest airplane, the An-225 “Mriya,” or “Dream,” now destroyed. Heavy fighting soon engulfed the nearby towns of Irpin, Bucha and Vorzel. Thousands of residents are trapped in the basements of their homes and villas, fearing for their lives.

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