War Diary: They said that there will be no Ukraine in two days. Two months later, and we are here, and will continue to be.
“Be patient, be patient – patience will refine you…” These words are one of the main slogans of this war for Ukrainians today. It’s the first line from a poem by my favorite poet, Vasyl Stus, who was dragged through the camps by the Soviet authorities for his pro-Ukrainian position.
It’s getting harder every day. And life really is turning into patience. No, we do not doubt our victory. Russia signed the death penalty for itself as soon as it decided to go on a full-scale attack of Ukraine. There’s another problem – people get tired. And this is normal. We see the horrors by the Russian military on our land. And we subconsciously understand that we have not seen much yet. We understand that we are still waiting for death, more bombed houses and looted apartments. It’s scary to imagine what these creatures are doing in occupied territories.
But we stand. And that is the main thing. We stand by the power of our spirit. Thanks to the support of the whole world. We stand for the whole world. May good defeat evil not only in fairy tales. During these two months, every single Ukrainian, wherever he or she was and in whatever part of the world he or she lived, remembered their roots, identity and spirit. And that’s probably the best thing that could have happened.
Putin did what no Ukrainian politician could do – he united the nation. To understand what I am talking about, you need to come and see everything with your own eyes. Just try to imagine this. Today, everyone is ready to give the last thing they have to help their neighbor. Today, thousands of people from different parts of Ukraine went to Bucha, Borodyanka and Irpin to help rescuers clear the debris and clean up the city. Today, Ukrainians work for free in canteens and restaurants. From there, food is distributed to the needy or transported to eastern Ukraine. People bring their belongings, take home those who have been left homeless.
And how many courageous men and women are defending our state today!!! Those who worked as cooks, hairdressers, designers, drivers yesterday… These include famous actors, singers and politicians! Now they’re all defending their state with weapons in their hands. And they will defend it until the last minute of this war. Right up to the victory of the Ukrainian people over fascist Russia.
Another great plus is that today people have started to switch en masse to the Ukrainian language. When the comment is disseminated in Russia that those who speak Russian are humiliated in Ukraine, I always find it funny. Personally, I spoke Ukrainian all my life, but many of my acquaintances spoke only Russian. And no-one ever even pointed this out to them. Nobody even paid attention to this. I could dive into history and explain why.
Half of the population speaks Russian (this is due to Russia’s actions over the last 3-4 centuries, when it eradicated the Ukrainian language, culture and history), but you you can read about it yourself. The main thing is you don’t read books on the history of Russia. I’m talking about something else. Today, all my acquaintances and people in general are switching completely to Ukrainian. And it cannot but be delightful to hear. After all, our language is sincere and tumultuous!!!
Today, as never before, every Ukrainian has overestimated many things. It’s such a shame that we needed this war to set the right priorities in our lives. Until February 24, I always dreamed of buying an apartment in Kyiv as soon as possible. To make money. Finance, finance, finance. But then you wake up one morning. And you understand. That you have money. But there is no life. Your life has stopped.
Because that’s what someone, the president of Russia, wanted. And all you are left with is money, money, money. And those who stayed don’t need it either, because it does not decide anything today. Who you are, where you are and with whom are the deciding factors. And it’s cool that we are Ukrainians in Ukraine, among our own people. And this is probably the most important achievement of the war. We loved our country. But now we love the most – the way that a child loves his mother.
This country has raised us to be courageous. Our ancestors gave us strength and steadfastness. And we will not fail. So I’ll go back to the beginning, and try to explain that we are patient. We tolerate the oppression of Russia. But we have tolerated it for hundreds of years. And we know that this war will put an end to all the torture carried out against Ukrainian people forever. The edge of Russia. A matter of time. But as long as the world is with us, we are unbreakable. And as long as God is with us, we are invincible.
We did not choose which country to be born. But we decide what this country will be like. Unlike the Russians, we have such an opportunity. I am not voicing my opinion but the opinion of the whole nation. Because we all think as one organism. And this is how Stus ended his poem: “Walk your way – the one that is called yours, the one that chose you forever. The one you bequeathed yourself to from an early age, to which God himself has condemned you.”
And as the Cossacks used to exclaim: “Glory to Ukraine! Eternal glory forever!”
