As missiles strike in heart of Ukrainian nationalism, a mayor asks for help

In Ivano-Frankivsk, the mayor said he needed weapons and medical kits, and a volunteer organizer vowed to 'sing in Red Square that we are the sons of Bandera.'

When the air raid sirens stopped at 1 p.m. on Friday, workers climbed out of the basement of the Ivano-Frankivsk government building and returned to their desks.

Six hours earlier, missiles struck the west Ukraine city’s airport for the second time in two weeks, prompting the mayor to accuse Russian forces of trying to stoke fear in the heart of Ukrainian nationalism.

“Russia wants to make people panic,” Ruslan Martsinkiv said, after resuming work at his office, where a portrait of the complicated Second World War Ukraine independence hero Stepan Bandera hung from his wall.

Russia widened its assault on Ukraine on Friday morning, striking two airports in the west of the country. Three missiles hit a military airfield in Lutsk, killing two Ukrainian soldiers, the local mayor said on Facebook.

No deaths were reported in Ivano-Frankivsk but two were injured. The city’s air raid system failed to sound during the attack, Martsinkiv said, but it was triggered hours later, and residents hid in shelters.

“The city is prepared, but war is war,” the mayor said.

Ivano-Frankivsk is an industrial city of almost 300,000 just a few hours from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

The region is also the birthplace of Bandera, a divisive national icon who fought for Ukrainian independence but whose temporary alliance with Nazi Germany remains a fixation of President Vladimir Putin.