Ukraine War - Blog Posts

19 innocent people 9 of whom were children (on the playground)—that is how ruzzians call a so-called meeting place of (military) commanders and instructors that was bombed succesfully.

that is how ruzzian peace looks like. occupation, murders, gaslighting, and bloodlust.

The family of the 14-year-old girl who died in a russian airstrike in Kharkiv had just begun to recover from another loss — the girl's father had previously gone missing in the Donetsk area, her relative Olga told Ukrainian media 'Suspilne.'

In the picture is a photo of the deceased girl with her head torn apart by the explosion of a russian bomb. On the right are mocking comments from cheering russians.

At the time of the attack, the schoolgirl was sitting on a bench near a children playground.

original post

this one creep just tells shit and nothing more, but how many people were r@ped and killed by ruzzians during the war...? sick nation ought to be wasted.

an "ordinary russian" man : "I want to catch a 16-year-old khokhlushka (slur for a ukrainian woman) whose father died near Bakhmut, take off her underwear and tights, leave her only with a t-shirt with the inscription “Everything will be Ukraine”and roar to deflower her, kissing her tears and looking at her into the eyes where the pupils dilate to the size of Mother Russia."

these are the people you like to infantilise and justify so much btw

attention!

I am not telling all the USA and Canada are like that.

I am only asking you to touch the grass if you keep thinking we are stealing yer money and do nothing after the migration.

peace!

That is what ruzzians did with my house recently.

8th of July, 2024. ruzzian terrorists bombed many buildings of Kyiv, including Okhmatdyt hospital. however, let me show you what they did to my house that very day (the hospital is kinda close to us). I survived the first wave of rockets on my floor, I also monitored the next one, but sadly did not have time to get to a safe place in the elevator. in front of my eyes, under extremely powerful explosions, the neighbour's door flew off its hinges, the ceiling crumbled (did not fall), and the entire floor was covered in a fog of dust. speaking nervously, most likely delusional, I went down (it was also dangerous to do, NEVER DO THAT, PLEASE). I picked up a neighbor’s girl (a teenager) on the floors below, whom I thought I left in the house where the door was broken (I was afraid, I аm sorry, I was afraid to come closer, I was only thinking about myself); well...everything went well: the girl managed to go down the stairs before the rocket detonated. the neighbors were scared, a few of them were crying, we had an injured child (of preschool age, her temple was covered in blood), I filmed a little of what was on the street. my hands were shaking, I could not call anyone, I just mumbled something. my relatives came as fast as they could (I live with one of them), they even dared to go up to the apartment, clean it up a bit, and then we left the house and now live in another one.

it is temporary, of course. yesterday, I went to clean the house (as you can see in the video), it is almost clean of glass and pieces of walls. we are going to fix the windows ourselves, because it will be 100 years before the state does them. however, this bittersweet memory of how I almost died at home (it was a cruise rocket...the ballistics would have buried us all alive) would never allow my already shaky mental state to recover.

I have been trying to shout at people for a long time about two things: ruzzia must be destroyed; Ukraine must receive comprehensive assistance. I don't care how many kidneys I will later sell to the USA, Britain or Germany to thank for the fact that my country will live in peace, I am ready for anything, as long as children stop dying in front of my eyes. I heard the moaning of people under the rubble, I regretted that I was living instead of the dead. we are not a third world country. we deserve to exist, and fucking ruzzians are not allowed to decide our fate.

that is how I (haha, let us say NORMALLY, though the war must not be a part of daily routine), again, NORMALLY live, and honestly, it is nothing comparing to the eastern part of Ukraine.

I just want you to know ruzzians try to kill us while yer tolerating em all year by year.

цю частину тексту я пишу лише для українців: тримайтеся, тримайтеся далі, тримайтеся, як на початку, щоб побачити кінець геноциду української держави.

RESOURCES TO LEARN MORE ABOUT UKRAINE IN ENGLISH:

1. News and articles

Hromadske

Kyiv Independent

Ukraïner

2. Twitter

Writings from the war

United24

Ukraine Explainers

Ukrainian Art History

Ukrainian LGBTQ+ Military

ukrartarchive

Alice Zhuravel

Тетяна Denford

Oriannalyla

ліна

Mariya Dekhtyaruk

3. Instagram

Libkos (war photography)

rafaelyaghobzadeh (war photography)

mariankushnir (war photography)

marikinoo (illustrator)

olga.shtonda (illustrator)

polusunya (illustrator)

4. Videos (subtitles)

One day of evacuation with combat medics

Testimonies of tortures and sexual assault done by russians

How village in Kherson region lived under occupation

"Winter on Fire" documentary

Mariupol before and after

Tragedy of Nova Kakhovka dam

City of Izium after deoccupation

Entire village that was held in a basement for a month by russians

Vovchansk after heavy russian shelling

"20 Days in Mariupol" documentary

5. TikTok

qirimlia

yewleea

thatolgagirl

showmedasha

ukraineisus

new4andy (all of the above accounts are educational, this one funny)

6. Other

National Museum of Holodomor Genocide (Holodomor and Digital History sections on a website have a lot of sources to learn about Holodomor)

Izolyatsia Must Speak (information about torture chamber in the russian-occupied Donetsk)

War Stories from Ukraine

Virtual museum of destruction in Kyiv region

Chytomo (about books and publishing)

Free translated books

Old khata project (photography project about rural architecture)

1,000 days of the full-scale war - 1,000 candles to remember and honor the heroes of Ukraine.

Still think it's "Putin's war"? Let's see what the russian soldiers who "don't really want it" discuss with their women who "are victims too"

Intercepted conversations of russians:

1. A russian soldier tells his mother how a ukrainian woman and her two children were killed in front of him. He relished the story. And she said that those innocent civilians were "enemies, fascists, they deserved it".

2. The second one talks about the order to kill civilians. He had seen the forest with corpses and now he could hear the flesh thrown on the roadsides. He said he would follow the order, that he would kill. Every civilian he saw.

3. A child from a russian school was collecting a parcel for her brother (?) to go to war. In the letter, she wrote to him: "Kill all Ukrainians as soon as possible and come back."

He and his mother are laughing.

4. "Mum, I killed civilians. I would throw them into a trench and shoot them in the head. They begged and pleaded, but I shot them in the head." He laughs when he tells this story.

5. "Do you know what 21 rosettes from a human body are? I helped, I did it. I got such a thrill. To cut them. Torture them". Mother says that if she were in his place, she would also be satisfied.

Another said that killing children is not murder. "Because killing Ukrainian children is right!"

Not gonna lie, my morale is at the lowest point it's been since the beginning of the invasion. Russians are successfully occupying more and more territories and shell frontline regions every day. People are dying, our culture and herritage is destroyed. International aid dwindled significantly because of american bullshit. Mobilization law has been signed and there is a chance that my family members get conscripted soon. Don't even get me started on internal political problems. A bunch of articles in foreign media talking about our defeat and "peace talks" (what a joke).

It feels like there were no at least moderately good news in a while. On top of that, the feeling that we are screaming into the void is stronger than ever. I'm happy when I see a foreigner online supporting us and spreading the word, because it gets rarer. Ukrainians feel like none of what's happening gets outside our info bubble. Most likely no one but Ukrainians will see this post either. Honestly don't know what to make of all of this.

24.02.2022.

The day that changed my life forever.

24th of February 2022 should have been my usual day. No, not usual. A wonderful day. I should have been checked with a doctor, gave notice to teachers in high school of my absence, and then fly away on vacation, my parents wanted it so much.

On 23rd of February 2022 I felt happy. I had a secure, happy life, preparing to finals, hanging out with my friends, already having an offer from university.

Until 5AM 24.02.2022.

I had not a single class in my school since then.

I haven’t seen my friend group in 2 years.

I didn’t have my finals.

We did not have that vacation.

“Daughter, wake up. This old psychotic man attacked us. We are leaving.”

That was my first photo of the day, trying sarcastically keep myself normal. I remember that actual emptiness, reading my classmates texts about how their windows were shaking because of explosions, the sky was orange. They sent that video.

He called it “a special military operation”.

I collected random clothes, some hobby stuff just to keep my sanity, grabbed my pet, emptied my safety locker. I was scared that russians would intrude into our home and steal all my savings, so I throw away key to that lock. This key became my symbol of war, I have never found it even after return.

When I with my parents and pet got out of flat to car we heard for the very first time air raid siren. We would hear so many more of them, we would learn to differentiate them, but then we were confused.

It was my second photo. People were going away. Foot, cars, bicycles. I remember such a surreal picture. Some moms were carrying their toddlers, one woman was carrying a bucket of water with turtles, other people were carrying cages with parrots, with dogs, with cats, with exotic pets despite air raid siren, temperature, rain. Everyone was so confused and scared.

Few days later the road we were riding was occupied. Bridges destroyed. Factories burnt. Supermarkets demolished. Houses in ruins. Road in holes. On the side of the road burnt cars with “DO NOT TOUCH, POSSIBLY EXPLOSIVE”. That gut wrenching feeling seeing photos of dead bodies and recognising the place.

But back then it was still lively, not a road of death. I remember reading news then. First victims, first shelling. Invasion from East. Invasion from Kharkiv region. Invasion from Crimea. Invasion from Chernihiv. Invasion from Zhytomyr. And we were in Zhytomyr region at that moment. Explosions in Kyiv. The border was destroyed.

I felt nothing. Just emptiness.

This precious girl was keeping my head cool all the road. She was also scared and irritated, but she was so strong, such an amazing girl. I am so proud of her.

We were heading to my grandparents who lived closer to West Ukraine, so we would be safer. The road that takes usually just 4 hours but that time it took 13 hours. 13 hours of driving exhausted and nerved. We saw soldiers, trucks, jets, how barricades were built, signs were removed.

But we made it. We were lucky. Lucky to be alive, to have family alive and mostly close to West, further from russia. Even though, part of my extended family still was under occupation in Chernihiv region, suffering from such close border with belarus.

When we arrived, we were just silent. Then collected mattresses for shelter, asked grandpa to grab some patrol (we knew that they would definitely destroy reservoirs and literally next day the started doing that), and just fell asleep in something that we arrived in, being so scared.

That day I also cut ties with russian friend who I am shamed to admit having. He was proving me that this is just a military operation, no one would be harmed.

Then, arrived spring that I will never forget but at the same time never remember. I remember 10 people in one floor house. I remember the whistle of rocket that woke us up. I remember sirens. I remember news. I remember losing hope. I remember first photos after deoccupation of Kyiv region. I remember how forgotten friend of my dad suddenly called him saying that his city is fully destroyed, his neighbour right on his eyes was exploded attempting to get into the car and evacuate.

I remember my first mental breakdown. How I was crying in the darkness, but quietly so no one would notice.

We were able to return home three months later. But we are just lucky. Someone would never return. Someone is not even alive to see their home again. Someone’s home is forever destroyed.

I was lucky that I have secured my place at foreign university before war, but my whole family is still in Ukraine.

War is not over at all. 20% of Ukraine is occupied. So many displaced civilians, so many deaths. No one could even count, we do not have any access to bodies. Only way to identify is to deoccupy and find mass graves. No other means. Children are suffering from PTSD even in such a young age. Almost in every city, big or small, you would find graveyards covered in Ukrainian flag, grave of the soldier.

Maybe media does not talk that much of us, but it doesn’t mean that everything is alright. Avdiivka is destroyed, right now operation searching for people under debris of the civilian house after attack is undergoing.

And this is happening all the time.

Who was punished for Olenivka? Who was punished for destruction of Kakhovka Dam? Who was punished for all fully destroyed cities? Who was responsible for all that absolutely atrocious videos torturing Ukrainian soldiers?

Please, remember, Ukraine is still on fire. People are still dying. Soldiers cannot even counterattack because they do not have enough ammo, just for protection. Information war is also waging, sharing all that misinformation, Nazi narratives, russian propaganda.

Remember.

Help.

Share.

russia is a terrorist state.

Glory to Ukraine.

Glory to the Heroes.

I will also join my fellow Ukrainians in sharing how 24th of February 2022 went for us.

I didn't go to sleep that night. The day before I had a check-in call regarding my uni project. All of my group mates did. I don't remember what I was doing so late at night but the fact is - I didn't sleep. My partner was already in bed but still scrolling her phone. Suddenly she sits up and says that russians on social media are saying that "we all will be fucked", and that Ukrainians are commenting on hearing loud bangs in their cities. We sit in silence shocked for a couple of minutes. Then we hear it as well. A loud bang. The kind that shakes the ground. We hear car sirens. A moment passes before we hear another one. I started packing my backpack with my documents and money. My dad says it won't be necessary, that they are just attacking the strategic military buildings. I don't remember how the rest of the night/early morning went. I don't remember if I've slept. In the morning the president had announced that the war has started.

Two weeks later I would leave for Belgium with my partner to not sit on my family's shoulders, to not be a burden. Everything is going relatively well for me: I found a job, I have a place to live, I am not struggling with food. Of course I had to sacrifice my degree for the lack of language and my hobbies for the lack of free time. That is why I don't draw much anymore. I just hope that in the future I will be able to do it again.

Two years passed and I feel like people abroad got used to the war. I am not fully aware of the whole situation but from my side it feels like people are forgetting about us. Like we are receiving less support. Like we are starting to loose. I just hope that it's not true and that it just feels that way.

Though Internet has been really hostile to Ukrainian voices lately. And there is so much misinformation. My partner met a woman near the station who pretended to be Ukrainian to beg for money. She didn't speak any Ukrainian or, for that matter, russian, just English. She didn't expect someone to talk back to her in Ukrainian.

I just hope that we will win the war and it will happen soon. My whole being hurts when I read the news about russian war crimes and the tragedies that just keep happening to my people.

If you have anything to spare, consider donating to the Ukrainian army. Reach out to your government, show up to protests. I'm tired of seeing only Ukrainians doing it. We can't do this alone, we will need everything that we can get.

https://u24.gov.ua/

Слава Україні! Героям слава!

І мирного неба!

I often think about Hlodan family. Please take a moment to learn about them.

On April 23, 2022, on Easter Eve, russian missile hit the Tiras residential complex in Odesa, Ukraine. Eight people were killed, including Yurii's family - his wife Valeriia, three-month-old daughter Kira and mother-in-law Liudmyla. Yurii survived, because at the moment he went to the shop.

Look at baby Kira's tiny pink hat. Cute little onesie. That baby was so wanted and loved. Mother's post on Facebook form February says "These were the best 40 weeks ever. Our girl is 1 month old now. Daddy got her her first flowers. It's a whole new level of happiness".

Yurii donated diapers, one of the few things he could find in destroyed apartment, to the charity. He also took photo albums, his wife's collection of sugar packets, handwritten notes.

Yurii spoke about his wife very lovingly and tenderly: "Her ability to communicate with different people, to understand people, the way she knew how to talk, how beautifully she wrote... You can’t even imagine how she wrote! And what kind of mother she was... You can’t even imagine! This is a mother, this is a friend, this is a daughter - with the best qualities... I simply cannot find another person like her. Person like this can only be given by God once".

After losing his family, Yurii decided to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On 5 November, 2023, his colleague Oleksandr Yakovenko reported that Yurii was killed at the front. The whole family is gone.

Our everyday struggle and fight for life aren't glamour decorations that can easily be erased. Don't silence our voices when Russia is staying unpunished for its crimes throughout the whole of Russian history. Support us, donate to our army and medics (safelifein.ua, prytulafoundation, ptahy. Before it's not too late. We running out of time and weapons. Please don't look away!

Art by Nikita Titov (Нікіта Тітов).

"Mstyslav Chernov didn’t mention Gaza during his speech" people, are you insane? The man and his team survived a siege of a city, documented russian war crimes, miraculously managed to escape and you give him all the bullshit instead of other Oscar winners? You are all mentally ill.

Odesa. 2 march 2024

russia killed 7 adults and 5 children (the smallest is a four-month-old baby)

Four months ago this incredible family was blessed with a beautiful boy Timofey

Today he and his mother Anna were found under the rubble after russian drone attack on Odesa:

This is 3 years old Mark with his mother Anastasia. Tomorrow he could celebrate his birthday:

…but he won’t. His body was found under the rubble this morning. Along with his dad’s. His mother is in critical condition in a hospital.

This is their house in Odesa. One of the hundreds of thousands Ukrainian houses ruined by russia. 8 people killed. Zero military sense, pure terrorism. That’s just what russia does. Every day. For more than 2 years.

This is Tara. She’s a rescue dog. Today, Tara, along with two other service dogs and rescuers, found the body of a murdered child in the ruins. Tara lay down and cried:

I’d very much want to lay down and cry too. But I can’t. I can’t feel anything anymore. I’m just very very cold.

(c) artist Olexiy Kustovskiy

I’m so fucking tired.

We shouldn’t be “racist” to Russian. We shouldn’t be “xenophobic” to them. We shouldn’t be russophobic. We should have helped them. We should be more accepting. We must be forgiving. We cannot have a trauma response. We cannot avoid Russian.

We cannot do that and that. Also that.

We must do that and that. Also, that.

We cannot complain. We cannot show our suffering. We are at fault. We must negotiate. We must be silent. We have all deserved. We should have been destroyed. We need to understand. We need to be grateful.

Today I had to publicly defend a Ukrainian 14-year old child simply because he feels uncomfortable to engage with Russian art accounts. Child whose country for most of his life is at war with Russia. Child who spent night sheltering from rockets.

But he doesn’t have a right to be uncomfortable with oppressors.

He is xenophobic.

He is racist.

But Russians that arrived at his posts and started mocking him, are not.

“They are victims of bullying, so it is justified response”

Everyone can have a justified response. Everyone, except us. Because we must be a perfect victim. Or not victim at all? Maybe we are the one that attacked? Maybe we are nazis? There would be always 1001 arguments we do not deserve to be called victims.

World was watching us suffering for centuries. They disarmed us, left us defenceless and then, didn’t even help us a lot until we started screaming. Sometimes I feel that even now, people are still watching at us like at some drama, putting million expectations.

I’m feeling absolutely helpless. Whatever we do, we cannot do. No matter how we react, we should have reacted differently.

We owe everyone everything and no one owes us anything. Wonderful world to live in.

I’m losing motivation. I’m losing hope. I want to scream and cry. But it is also hopeless.

Why us? Why now? Why?

I see so many reflections today from different people: someone woke up from the explosions, some from a phone call, some woke up and saw hundreds of notifications from different telegram channels. It is still so unimaginably bizarre. I have no ability to put into words the feeling of your world falling apart and we didn’t even understand half of the danger that was surrounding us. We were so damn close to disaster with half of Europe believing that nothing good will come out of it.

Ukrainians didn’t care what Europeans thought though, I personally saw news pieces about "Russia will take control of Kyiv" a lot later, somewhere in May, when Ukrainian military took control over the north of the country. And I’m so eternally grateful to every Ukrainian who made sure that all this "experts" sat in those flashy studios red from guilt. I’m grateful for my life, I’m grateful for our Ukraine. She persist. She is still the love of our lives. She’s hurt and devastated but she lives despite all the attempts to destroy her. Same as us. Somehow still here.

Yet I feel more detached from the western world than ever and I’m so fucking jealous of you all. It’s not even about the rockets or shakheds - somewhere along the lines you accept the fact that you may die in any moment - it’s about normal things like your Twitter feed that doesn’t look like a necrology, military terms that don’t make any sense to you, your city that doesn’t stop everyday to mourn the dead, you don’t feel guilty for trying to live a normal life while your classmate, who wanted to be a director, posts stories from the trenches. All of that and more. I’m not even entitled to my emotions because there always will be someone who says that my country is not suffering enough. I no longer react to comments like this as emotionally as I’ve done before but it is still so bizarre to see stuff like that from people whose countries have always been the one to inflict suffering on others.

I may sound mean or sarcastic or whatever but there is so much negativity inside of us that was put there by people like I’ve mentioned above that it is going to be released from time to time. "Your country shouldn’t exist", "Only 9 thousand killed", "You all are nazis/racist/zionists/any of the -ist terms" - yet you should always react in a constructive way because the moment you let your emotions go, you are the worst person on the planet. But who am I kidding, some people here do believe that we are. There is a thousand bad people with sketchy patches in a 40-million country and suddenly "That’s why I no longer support Ukraine". Well, honey, that means you never did. Because Syrian flags were quickly replaced with Ukrainian ones and just as quickly with Palestinian. It’s not about the "Support the oppressed", it’s "Anything to not feel guilty" because then you’ll find the reason to hate Palestinians, just as you did with us. If only you cared about the problematic shit happening in you country as much as you care about our political and social life.

But there are people who still are there for us. Countries that are still here. We may not say it as often but we are thankful. So very thankful for everything you’ve done and are doing for us. Thank you for hearing us and uplifting our voices.

Recently one of the most beautiful people here have lost her life defending me and you. She was always in my notes, always making sure that we didn’t feel uncomfortable even if she of all the people had all the right to be upfront about her thoughts and feelings. I don’t think I will ever get rid of the feeling of guilt. She was there while I wasn’t. She said to mourn her through anger. Anger towards the oppressor. Anger that should be directed into something useful: donations, sharing info, contacting your MPs and so on.

The soldier‘s death is not something out of ordinary during the war, it’s not considered a war crime but what if half of the army are civilians? Volunteers who left their homes to protect them. What if the soldier was a teacher, a poet, an actor, an IT-specialist, a scientist, what then? Isn’t it a tragedy? My country is loosing yet another generation of beautiful talented people and it makes my view of the future even darker.

But what can I say? I’m still here. My country still stands. Ukrainian air defence is doing everything possible and impossible to protect the lives of the civilians. Ukrainian military is still the only thing keeping us all alive. Heroes, titans, gods. Glory to them. Eternal glory to those who lost their lives defending Ukraine.

To Ukrainians: якось буде, прорвемся.

“If this (war crime happening in Gaza) happened in Ukraine, people would care more about it!” Well first of all, it probably happened in Ukraine and you didn’t care about it so now what?

We already see it how the nation of heroes is being demonized by propaganda as more and more people are falling for it. It hurts in a way that we, Ukrainians, can't even explain.