Voice of Ukraine

From Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (482nd day): I always loved to read. I often have at least two books going – I am reading one and listening to another one when I am doing house chores, processing photos or walking to the office. But when the war started for many months, probably till fall of 2022 I really struggled. I couldn’t focus my mind on reading or listening to a book. I kept drifting in my thoughts and itching to read news rather than books. It was hard to dive into the world of the books when so much was happening in my own world. It was a also a struggle to find a book that would fit. Light reading was annoying and seemed too empty. When I tried to read something heavy I was asking myself why I should add heaviness of books on top of heaviness of our life.

When in the fall, ruzzians started targeting our infrastructure with massive missile strikes, and we ended up with long hours of blackouts for many months, reading became our favorite evening activity. The Internet was down, and electricity was down, but with flashlights, we could read books. I got back into reading big time and then couldn’t get enough of it! I still can’t. I am buying books at a much faster rate than I am reading them!

I did find what interests me right now in books. I read the newest books about the current war, the books that describe people’s experience much like our own – how big war broke into our lives, how it affected and keeps affecting us. Being able to relate to those experiences in a very personal way makes reading both heartbreaking and therapeutical. I am also fascinated with the books that describe the centuries-long history of our fight against ruzzia, and their attempts to destroy us.

Right now I am reading a book that opens my eyes to the life of Crimean Tatars who have their own very painful history of deportations and persecutions by ruzzians. I realize that my mind is full of propaganda ideas about Tatars that were planted into our minds during Soviet times. It’s mind-blowing how that propaganda was just the very opposite of the truth!

I do wish I had more time for reading! I am amazed how many books have been written during this past year of war! The events we are living through are giving a lot of materials for future books for years to come.