OUR YEAR IN HELL

Capital expects fresh attacks as Putin marks start of his invasion

- CHRIS HUGHES & ROWAN GRIFFITHS

WAR IN UKRAINE: BRAVE KYIV PREPARES FOR ANNIVERSARY

AFTER a year of unspeakable suffering, the people of Ukraine expect Vladimir Putin to mark the first anniversary of his invasion with a new onslaught.

But returning to the capital Kyiv, we found the people Putin aims to conquer are standing firm, still refusing to be cowed.

A construction worker, helping rebuild a hotel destroyed by Russian bombs, tells us: "They can knock us down, but we keep getting back up again.

"It must be frightening for the Russians to see that we can not only stand up to them, but now we will show them how we will win this conflict. Yes it can be frightening, but we are Ukrainians and we are together."

The Irish Mirror arrived back in Kyiv just as Putin was delivering a speech threatening the West for supporting Ukraine.

It was countered by a speech from US President Joe Biden. Speaking in Poland, he vowed to continue helping Ukraine.

OCCUPIED

In Putin's two-hour rant, he claimed Russia was a victim, rather than an aggressor whose troops have committed murder, rape and torture. He said: "We aren't fighting the Ukrainian people. The Ukrainian people have become hostages of the Kyiv regime and its western masters."

That's not what the people in Kyiv tell us. In the Pecherskyi district, the four-star Alfavito hotel is being rebuilt weeks after it was hit in a New Year onslaught.