From: Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 880)
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
Psalm 130:5-6
While there are occasional talks about negotiations, many Ukrainians can’t help but worry about the possible outcome of such negotiations. We know our enemy well enough not to trust them. However, many Western people do not understand our concern. They are used to looking at Russians through their own cultural lenses, and that’s where the problem arises.
I read a post by a Ukrainian analyst who explains these differences well. He says that Russians have a fundamental lack of understanding of human responsibility. In the Russian mindset, there is no man – there is the government and the population. Because of this, Russians are fundamentally unable to understand that each of them bears a share of collective responsibility for the war. If they don’t take the responsibility, they can feel no remorse. If there is no remorse, they will repeat their aggression again and again, normalizing this behavior in the eyes of their allies (China, Iran, North Korea).
That’s why this is the war of values and worldviews. Russia’s old imperial thinking must be changed. Their identity needs to be transformed. Right now, national governments of different nations that are part of Russia (and unfortunately suppressed by Russia) demonstrate sparks of understanding of their responsibility and need to act. This gives us hope that Russia can change, but this deep transformation is impossible without God.
At the same time, there’s no room for its transformation now, which is why Russia needs to lose this war. This is the only way to a bright future for both countries. So Ukrainians are fighting a battle that’s not just about them. It is the battle for freedom that will determine the values of the world for the next several decades.
Voice of Ukraine 