Voice of Ukraine

From Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (622nd day): Briana and I were coming home from a morning walk and were in the elevator with a neighbor. She smiled at Bria as everyone does and commented how fast our baby is growing. Before the invasion, people rarely spoke to each other in the elevator, just exchanged brief greetings and rode silently. Now, people always engage, it seems, with the purpose of encouraging each other.

The neighbor asked if Briana was born in Ukraine. Many babies her age were born abroad. We didn’t see this neighbor during the first few months of the invasion – she must have left Kyiv. Out of 40 apartments in our building entrance, about 30 were vacant as people fled Kyiv for fear of ruzzian occupation.

I told the neighbor that Briana was born after the first two weeks of the war, and she responded, “It’s good that she was born then. Right now, seeing babies is the only thing that gives joy and hope!”

Playgrounds are actually full of babies and kids these days. Everyone is hungrily catching the last sunny, relatively warm days. Our neighbor is right, of course – seeing so many babies is a reminder of how determined Ukrainians are not to let invaders ruin our lives and our future. These young families are here, after 622 of ruzzian invasion, amid air raids, on the eve of another scary winter. This is our land, our home; our future is here!

And Briana is, of course, “our sunshine, our pretty sunshine; she makes us happy when skies are grey!”