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A selection of Ukraine citizens - among them: students, computer programmers and actors - speak to reporters from The New York Times as they prepare to take up arms to fight against the Russian invasion. Video: The New York Times

People take shelter from bombings in an underground station in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty Images

In mere days Kyiv has gone from being a vibrant European capital determined not to be cowed by the Russian troops massing at Ukraine’s borders to a city living under curfew, the wail of air-raid sirens, the thud of missile strikes and warnings that the Kremlin’s invasion force is at the gates.

Apartment blocks on the outskirts of Kyiv were hit by shells and the wreckage of a stricken warplane on Friday, and thousands of the city’s 3 million residents are now spending hours underground in metro stations that offer shelter from any missile fire.

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