U.S. President Joe Biden shared a photo of the U.S. Congress during the State of the Union address Tuesday and said, “The United States of America stands with the Ukrainian people.” He called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during his address “unprovoked and premeditated.”

I met Yaroslav on a road checkpoint somewhere in the Zhytomyr Region. It was after midnight, and we were waiting for a police convoy to escort us safely to the city during curfew hours. As Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, a small group of farmers from a nearby village armed themselves with their hunting guns, getting ready to defend their small piece of land. They guard every night, coming to a tiny trailer to warm themselves, and then resuming their post again.

Yaroslav got married just weeks before the invasion and started to build his own house for his new family.

“There is no other choice”, he says, “I can’t let the enemy pass through my village.”

Russian tanks are advancing towards Kyiv and the city is preparing for the fight. Barricades have been constructed on almost every corner. Gleb, a 22-year-old student from Kyiv University, fills bags with sand, together with other people of all ages and occupations. Their mood is full of optimism – they are confident in the power of resistance.

Petro proudly shows me the barricades. This 55-year-old engineer is supervising their construction. He never held a gun before in his life.

“We, Ukrainians, are born as free people. That’s what I hope – that my children can live in a free world, in a democratic world, that they will breathe the air of freedom. That’s why I am here”.

Dmitriy guards the bridge at the exit from Irpin. It is the only exit point from the city, with around 60,000 inhabitants. The Irpin bridge was blown up by the Ukrainian army during the first days of the war, to obstruct Russian tanks from gaining access to Kyiv. Now, the Russian army is at the border of the town. The situation becomes tense with thousands fleeing, but Dmitriy stays calm, as he helps people to climb the bridge.

Sasha Morkuschin is the mayor of Irpin. Normally, he wears a suit and sits in his office, resolving the daily needs of the town. But the war has turned him into the head of territorial defense in the city, and so he is now “Commander Sasha”.

“At first we were all scared. But now we have organized ourselves and decided to be here. So it is like it is.”