To-Do List After the Victory of Ukraine

Personal Reflection, April 2022

A writer’s diary on how the contemplation about the post-war future becomes a source of moral lessons of the war in Ukraine (written in April 2022 and still pertinent in 2023).

Bubbles. I loved them. Not champagne bubbles, of course, but these individual ones everybody is living in. I was living in. It was so comfortable. I would bring this bubble everywhere with me. At the beginning of September 2021, I got accepted into my university’s dormitory, so I moved out of my parents’ apartment and took the bubble with me. After some time of living away, my bubble adapted to the new surroundings and had undergone a few changes, but was still pretty comfortable. I would wake up every morning, make my bed, brush my teeth and complete all the usual morning rituals. Then, I would go down to the café on the first floor, drink a cup of fragrant cappuccino, chat a little with my friends, and start studying. Sounds student-idyllic enough? Indeed, it was that way. The longer I was enjoying such a nice and normal student life, the more used to it I got. This everyday life was considered to be the default function key in existence. Today, looking back, I think I took my bubble for granted. I took peaceful life for granted. In fact, many people do.

On 24 February 2022, russia (here and further down in the text I only use lowercase letters for such words as“russia”, “putin” because capital letters in the Ukrainian language demonstrate respect to the named entity. I have no respect for the mentioned above and would like to reflect this tendency consistently in every language I use.) officially began a “special military operation” in Ukraine. In reality, it was a war that meant that Ukrainian lives will be turned inside out: people will flee their homes to find shelter or new homes somewhere in western regions of Ukraine or abroad, many Ukrainian soldiers will sacrifice themselves to save the country, civilians will be killed, raped and tortured, children will become orphans, families will be broken apart by russian propaganda… My bubble, no, the bubble of every Ukrainian popped in an instant as if it was made out of soap. No more normal student life, nor usual everyday amenities. As war changes everyone and everything, there are many lessons to be learned for Ukrainians as well as for the whole world from this tragedy of human suffering.

It seems that throughout its long history, Ukraine has been fighting for its freedom and independence. This was the case in 1709 when the Ukrainian Cossack state led by Hetman Ivan Mazepa challenged the russian Empire of Peter I. In 1917–1921, Ukrainians created their national state in the wake of World War I but it was crushed by bolshevist russia. In the 1920s, Ukrainian peasants were fighting the soviet system in many desperate rebellions until stalin staged the genocidal famine of the Ukrainian people in 1932–1933. This was also the case in 1945–1951, when Ukrainians waged a guerilla war against soviet authorities and communist ideology in western parts of Ukraine.

In 2014, after russia annexed Crimea and occupied Donbas to punish Ukraine for its attempt at gaining freedom and joining the European Union, the new war for Ukraine’s independence began. Nevertheless, even then some Ukrainians still looked up to russia in the hope of peaceful existence, they believed in its narrative of the “brotherhood” and were susceptible to the so-called “russian world.” This all changed on February 24, 2022. From that day on, the ideology of the “russian world” went completely bankrupt, Ukraine came out of russia's shadow, and Ukrainians became united as never before. Everyone now longs and works for victory. In over a month Ukrainians have never been more determined to stand for their dignity and liberty. Almost 90% of them believe in Ukraine’s victory in the war against russia. “The victory of Ukraine’’ is not just wishful thinking. Our country has already stopped russia’s attempt at “blitzkrieg”. No less important, Ukraine has already morally won this battle.

The miracle of solidarity happening all around the world today only proves this moral victory. The solidarity with suffering Ukranians and against russia’s assault on humanity is demonstrated and practiced nearly every day in many countries. More than just a close geographical neighbor, Poland has hospitably welcomed around 2.7 million Ukrainian refugees within its borders. On April 6th, in Berlin, Germany, about 5,000 people laid down on the ground in front of the Bundestag in memory of those killed by the russians, recreating images of Bucha, the suburban Kyiv region, where russian soldiers committed a horrible massacre of civilians. A performance against the genocide in Bucha also took place on April 9, in Krakow, Poland, where hundreds of people at the Market Square tied back their painted in red color hands showing how many victims, much pain, and fear russia is bringing. The people of Vilnius, Lithuania, also organized a rally to oppose the use of russian gas, oil, and coal. Many universities around the world responded to the situation by opening their doors to Ukrainian-displaced scholars and students. Many international volunteers are coming to Ukraine to provide humanitarian, medical, military, or other kinds of help. More than 20,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries have reportedly responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to help defend the country. The European Commission made a historic decision as well. For the first time, it activated the Temporary Protection Directive which granted Ukrainian refugees permission for temporary residence in the European Union for at least one year. Ukrainians can receive swift access in the EU countries to employment, social insurance, accommodation, education opportunities, etc. Thus, if people are able to distinguish good from evil, truth from lies, and common sense from madness, and demonstrate this understanding through so many noble actions, moral victory in the war has been achieved.

The moral victory is also revealed in Ukrainians’ not giving up dreaming about a peaceful future. People in Ukraine still possess high morale. Everyone works hard and persistently to approach victory and return to a peaceful life. The dream of a peaceful future serves as a source of energy, inspiration, and hope to overcome current difficulties and endure tragic circumstances. It is inspiring how volunteers share their dreams and visions of the future.

I also have my “To-do list” after Ukraine’s victory and the advent of peace, which helps to focus on positive aspects in the midst of tragic news overflow coming from my country. Here are a few points from this list.

Travel around Ukraine.

In the beginning, putin’s plan was to take over the capital Kyiv in 48 hours and establish his puppet government to rule. putin failed. Ukrainian journalist Petro Shuklinov beautifully described how all the cities and villages resisted putin’s offense and defended each other. Mykolaiv stood up for Odesa and did not let the russian army in. Then, Mykolaiv with the help of Odesa will liberate Kherson. Just as Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel, and the amazing Chernihiv first stood up for Kyiv. Then, the capital joined the resistance and liberated these cities. Like Sumy and Okhtyrka stood up for Kyiv and Poltava at the cost of hundreds of lives. Then Poltava and other cities went on the counterattack and liberated Sumy and Okhtyrka. How Kharkiv defended Dnipro city and Donbas. And now Kharkiv itself is protected by thousands of soldiers from all over Ukraine. Each of our cities, each village, and every settlement where the russian forces were stopped for at least an hour is a hero. They gave a chance to other cities to gather strength and fight back. If such heroism might be called a duty, then the first task on my “to-do list”, the smallest duty I can perform is to visit those cities and villages all around Ukraine which paid the highest price for the forthcoming Ukrainian victory. To pay respect to those cities and villages whose heroic resistance stopped russia’s invasion is a debt of gratitude.

Teach Ukrainian.

The war demonstrated that communicating in Ukrainian is a security asset. It is a question not only of collective but also of personal safety. putin’s government declared that each russian-speaking person is part of its ideological “russian world” and, therefore, is a target for his or her incorporation into it. So, russia will even use coercion and violence to guarantee “its people’s defense”. No wonder such an impressive number of citizens in Ukraine, including those who spoke russian in everyday life before the invasion, believe that Ukrainian must be the only official language practically spoken by everyone on a daily basis. They realized that communication in Ukrainian is the leverage of their personal security as well as the security of the state. Being trained in linguistics, I would like to help people in Ukraine to master the language and discover the depth, richness, and uniqueness of Ukrainian-speaking culture.

Learn more English and teach it.

People live in a culture. Culture is everywhere and all-encompassing. It flows through political and economic, professional and confessional, social and personal life. Ukraine has been long exposed and forced into the russian imperialist ideology which acted, in the first place, through the proliferation of its culture. It is naive to believe that the works of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy are spared from the influence of ideology genius. russian culture is not innocent with respect to russia’s war in Ukraine. It is misleading to separate aesthetics from ethics. No surprise that many intellectuals in Ukraine call for silencing russian culture for at least one decade. No exhibitions. No works by russian composers performed by orchestras. No studying courses on russian literature. This silence must be a way of atonement in the recognition of russia’s responsibility for the appalling war. It must be accompanied by the serious international study of its imperialism and colonialism, which caused today’s tragedy of the Ukrainian people. Only an honest understanding of how the genocide of, in russia’s own words, the “fraternal” nation grew out of the aggressor’s culture could open for Ukrainians a new way of revisiting the cultural heritage of the russian people, which was and still is often used in the West as a smokescreen for covering and hiding the authoritarian tendencies of the russian nation. Its culture was also presented to many Ukrainians as a substitute for global culture creating an impression of being self-sufficient. This myth has to be destroyed and Ukrainians have to be liberated from this fixation on the narrow world of russian-language culture.

The most healthy way for Ukrainians to distance themselves from russian culture is to engage with other ones. Today, the English language is a key to the appreciation of the world’s best cultural treasures. If all Ukrainians were fluent in English, there would have been less temptation to live in russian culture. I would like to help fellow Ukrainians to get more fluent in the English language to the extent of freely following the English-speaking media, watching original movies, reading and understanding literature without any difficulty, and traveling around the world with ease. This will be the point of no return to the “russian world” as the English language opens new grounds for the cultural enrichment of a person and his holistic development.

Make dignity the language of everyday life.

It may sound cliché at first, however, it is indeed one of the most crucial matters not only for the Ukrainian people but for the rest of the world as well.

How much information does a person consume consciously and not superficially? Does it affect the reader directly or can it be forgotten in just a few minutes? Perhaps, it is too difficult to comprehend the news about other people being tortured or killed while enjoying a cup of coffee and sitting on a comfortable couch. To practice dignity everyday, ignorance must be overthrown and the realization must take place. Being consciously aware of the news from other countries about their troubles, sufferings, and wars and trying to seek the truth would be one of many steps to moral awakening. As the violation of human dignity is, unfortunately, happening not only in Ukraine and seeing how the world responds to it, I would like to be more attentive and educated about the current situation in order to do justice to the dignity of those who are most vulnerable.

One of the greatest experiences in today’s war is observing how much Ukrainians care about the value of human life. This can be seen from the help provided to people in need and from the desire to free war prisoners. It is expressed in gratitude of Ukrainian refugees to the countries they were welcomed by — not only with words but by action — when they join ecological initiatives such as cleaning forests and parks. The understanding of how invaluable human existence truly is comes to the fore not in avoiding the topic of death by all means but in honoring those who have passed away. Especially impressive is how people in the streets of Ukrainian villages and cities kneel in honor of fallen soldiers and pay respect to them. Such practice reveals the incredible feeling that everybody matters. This tradition, this guideline has to be preserved in a peaceful daily life. It should be manifested in the relationship between the doctor and the patient, the employer and the employee, the official and the citizen, the teacher and the student.

Dignity and values matter in human life. If a person, society, or humanity stops paying attention to fundamental values, entropy begins to spoil human affairs. Alas, entropy is not only the thermodynamics law. We, people, surrender to entropy when we begin to take good things and achievements for granted. War is not inevitable, but the tragedy of war becomes possible when we stop striving for the good, the noble, and the highest. We must not relax and indulge in self-complacency. We should remind ourselves of the fundamental questions of life and draw inspiration from those pages of human history where people have shown the highest degree of their humanity and affirmed dignity even under adverse, life-threatening circumstances. The Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak during his first lecture after the beginning of the war reminded,

The norm in history is war, the exception is peace. This does not mean that we should not seek peace. This means that we need to understand how fragile this peace is and how much we need to protect it.

Perhaps, many people today will gather the courage to take a look out of their comfortable and secure bubbles at the sheer world. I hope that for them the readiness to affirm and defend human dignity will be one of the most important lessons of the war in Ukraine.