From: Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 673):
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26
Today, while browsing the news, I came across an opinion piece (thankfully, written in English) by Olesya Khromeychuk, a historian and writer, the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand Ukrainians better, especially if some of our reactions seem rude or irrational. You can find it at the link (https://theukrainians.org/this-is-not-a-crime-novel/). I will share just a few excerpts here:
“To truly understand Ukraine, we need to listen to Ukrainians talk about themselves in their own words and on their own terms.[…] After all, it is the habit of listening to a ‘great power’ that has led us to focus on the perpetrator when we should be focusing on the nations it is attacking. It has led us to confuse Russia with the country we wish it were rather than the one it really is and pushed us to focus our energies on ensuring Russia’s survival rather than preparing for its demise.”
“[There seems to be] a constant need to justify why Ukrainians feel uncomfortable sharing platforms with Russians. To explain that we do not want a dialog with them because we want our voice to be heard independently of the perpetrator’s. […] We don’t want to focus on Russian victimhood because we prefer to draw attention to the existential war being waged against our country. We will not talk about reconciliation before there is justice.”
“It is the Ukrainians who find their loved ones in mass graves and rapidly growing military cemeteries. It is the Ukrainians who will have to raise a generation of war children and deal with the aftermath of nationwide PTSD. It is the Ukrainians who are now in their tenth year of resisting Russia’s denial of their existence.”
“Ukraine is more than a war zone. It has become a war zone precisely because it has been invisible to the rest of the world for so long, pushed to the edge of our imagination. How can we re-imagine the country now that it has become visible?”
I want to thank you for being willing to not only see Ukraine but raise awareness and keep focus on it throughout these months. Thank you for being willing to listen to me, a simple Ukrainian, sharing my heart with you. It means more than the words may convey.
Voice of Ukraine 