Adam Zivo: Ukraine is standing tall after 1000 days of war

Article content

A thousand days have passed since Russia’s tanks crossed Ukraine’s borders, manned by soldiers who naively believed they would be welcomed as liberators. Many people expected Kiev to collapse within a few days and the rest of the country just a few weeks later, but their predictions did not come true. Despite their exhaustion and sadness, at great cost, Ukrainians persevered and continued to resist Moscow’s imperial aggression.

Article content

To the east and south, piles of rubble lie scattered where cities and towns once stood. The countryside near the front line, which was previously full of sunflowers and watermelons, is now planted with mines. The forests are also full of ammunition: War has made the land sick and crippled.

The conditions in the trenches are as follows: usually like hell and many soldiers feeling exhausted. From region to region to be abandoned In some areas fighting is still ongoing: everything must be done to stop the slow, seemingly inexorable maw of the Russian war machine. The cruelty of the occupation – mass graves, arbitrary executions And cultural subjugation – requires resistance.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers died. Hundreds of thousands of people were injured. There is a lawn in the center of Kiev covered with blue and yellow flagsEach one represents a lost soldier. They are packed tightly together, a whirlwind of colour: the scale is staggering. Among the flags are still portraits of the beloved dead. Each face here once contained a private universe full of ambition and memories, and now they fade silently in the sun.

Article content

Article content

What did their sacrifices buy? Precious freedom.

Beyond the front lines, civilian life continues as it should. The cafes and bars that had been open since the first summer of the war had diminished but were alive; It ensured economic continuity despite repeated blackouts and missile attacks. Families wander through parks, passing couples having small encounters. power outages, still devastating for many it has become familiar and surmountable. In every city, the roar of portable generatorsand the smell of gasoline is well known. Air sirens have long been almost completely ignored.

In the port city of Odessa, ballistic missiles occasionally tear apart ships in the harbor or apartment buildings filled with innocent civilians, but the streets are still bustling with activity. Sunbathers in summer flock to the beaches and swim in the Black Sea to the sound of occasional explosions. On weekends, some young men who are not yet of military age dance under blankets of neon and fog, before a military curfew plunges the city into silence.

Even in Kharkiv, a city regularly destroyed by glider bombs, I can find an artist and book readings. They keep their nation’s culture alive in underground shelters.

Article content

There is a certain madness to wartime life: when the future is so uncertain and the possibility of oblivion always on the edge, the present becomes especially vivid. Many Ukrainians say it is impractical to live in despair: tears cannot undo the war, and crying is a concession to the occupier. To recover some sense of normalcy, however artificial, is an act of resistance. It is this stubborn dignity that keeps Ukrainians alive, year after year, as the war drags on and casualties mount.

But everyone is tired. Dear friends, they have aged significantly in the past year. Gray hair miraculously multiplied and wrinkles suddenly deepened. His eyes are filled with thinly disguised concern. The war tightens around them like a vice.

This stress is especially acute in men who bear the brunt of war. Most of those who have not yet been drafted afraid of fightingand avoid going out in public places so they don’t get caught sent to the front by a recruiter. Their reluctance is understandable because they are not the cinematic superheroes that some outsiders with little knowledge of war want them to be. They are just people stuck between duty and survival; neither more nor less.

Article content

Their reluctance is often compounded by the belief that the West has betrayed them. For almost three years, Ukrainians have begged for aid in exchange for minimal weapons, often with delays and heavy restrictions. They watched as the world slowly forgot about them: the regular killing of Ukrainian children no longer deserves much news. As Russia climbs and Imports soldiers from North Koreathe Allies shake.

It is harder to be strong when one is standing alone.

It is not yet clear how this war will end, just like Ukraine’s stance on this issue. recently Gallup poll It suggests that half of Ukrainians support a quick peace deal, but more detailed dataCollected earlier this year on behalf of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he tells a more complex story: Yes, Ukrainians want a negotiated solution, but only if it doesn’t leave their country vulnerable to disintegration.

Only a fifth support freezing current front lines or abandoning NATO membership (Russia’s two key demands), while roughly half support a Russian withdrawal to occupied territory in 2022 (something Moscow is unlikely to agree to). An overwhelming majority (91 percent) believe that Russia only wants a temporary peace to buy time for a future attack.

If the West had been determined and provided more aid early in the war, perhaps everything could have ended quickly, but this did not happen. Now Kiev’s allies must provide the support needed to negotiate favorable terms. Otherwise, the days of war will continue, and even if the Ukrainians once again exceed the world’s expectations, the cost will be immeasurable.

National Post

Article content