Ukraine War: No Hiding For Ukrainians From The Brutal War

On February 27, when Olga Koshel, mother of five-year-old Alexandra, whom she and her Goa-based husband, Engelbert, lovingly call ‘Shasha’ went out to buy bread in the city of Brovary, three days after Russia declared its full-scale war on Ukraine, she was not sure if she would ever see her daughter again. The sounds of shells accompanied by looming uncertainties made it impossible for anyone to expect any consistency or surety. Any moment could be the end. Koshel did see her daughter again. But in Ukraine, uncertainty has become the new normal. 

Within days of the invasion, the resource-starved cities of Ukraine started witnessing kilometres-long queues outside grocery shops and gas stations. Kindergartens and schools became bunkers. Art galleries, theatres, and parks became rubble. 

Writing for Outlook in the early days of war, Maxim Maksimenko, father of three, formerly the owner of the coffee-shop chain Vasha Kava, had shared his anxiety and longing for a mundane life which now looked increasingly impossible. He and his family had spent those early days in makeshift bunkers with limited food and the constant sound of shelling. 

Ukrainians did not take the assault lying down. Far from it. The bombs and the tanks invading the city streets and trampling innocent lives have been met with audacious defiance. Maxim had narrated how every bush in Ukraine had shot at the invaders. In his words, “A Molotov cocktail flies from every window, old women and children block the streets, preventing enemy equipment from entering the cities.”  

The story of the old woman from Kherson, which faced one of the worst Russian assaults in those early days, handing out sunflower seeds to Russian soldiers, gave heart to millions across the shell-shocked nation and inspired both young and old to stand up to the military dominance of Russia, not just with guns but with soul.

The war also made the unlikely comedian-turned-President Volodymyr Zelensky part of an elite cadre of ‘wartime presidents’ who have seen their country through expansion attempts (their own or those of others) for better or the worse. At the start of the war, when the United States had offered him an ‘exit strategy’ if the war escalated, the plucky President had famously proclaimed “I need ammo, not a ride”. 

Today, Zelensky doesn’t just need ammo but 50 million lightbulbs and 800 million euros in urgent energy sector aid. With a power crisis looming large, Ukrainian resistance is set to be tested by a harsh, dark winter. Speaking at a conference titled ‘In solidarity with the Ukrainian People’ recently, Zelensky gave a solemn message: “Right now, about 12 million people in almost all regions and the capital are disconnected from power supply. Unfortunately, this is a typical situation for us. And we expect new Russian strikes every day, which can dramatically increase the number of shutdowns”. 

What does solidarity mean in the days of war? Poland gives a lesson. Marek Kubicki, a Polish national who has been engaged in providing medical aid free of charge to Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, wrote in Outlook, “In Poland, we feel we are part of the war.” This empathy is what led them to shelter millions of Ukrainian refugees who had to escape the war-torn landscape.  

However, empathy is now waning under the weight and ennui of this relentless war. Kubicki now says that though the Polish people are still helping Ukrainians, the possibility of a chronic war will be a problem for both nations, with even more Ukrainians pouring into Poland.

The desire to take refuge, however, also comes with the indomitable urge to sacrifice one’s life for the country. Take the case of Adrii, a 31-year-old Ukrainian welder whom Marek met in the early days of the war. Adrii crossed the fence to join war in Ukraine and fight the Russians in an attempt to save the land that he called ‘home’.