Volodymyr Yermolenko, Mychailo Wynnyckyj, Valerii Pekar — March 15-19, 2022

Flash essays from the collection “Wars. Ukrainians. Humanity” tell about the insights, experiences, and beliefs of Ukrainians, which ignited their society in 2022, when the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine began.

The Cultural Hub community and curators carefully collected, translated, and illustrated these texts in order to capture the values ​​of Ukrainians — Freedoms, Bravery, Dignity, Responsibility, and Humour. 

A series of publications in partnership with Chytomo introduces this collection to the English-speaking audience. Volume 5 continues to present the series. You can get acquainted with the previous collection here.

Volodymyr Yermolenko: Land. March 15

This is our land. The land into which you grow roots — knee-deep, waist-deep, shoulder-deep. The land where you stand your ground and which you will never leave. Which rises into the sky and rains down on you in blackened raindrops. Which clings to your hands and permeates your smells.

Our dead breathe through her, their blood flows in our trees, their memories ooze from the apples that fall off the tree longing to touch her. You hear your ancestors whispering through the wind, through the silence, through the storm.

This land is moistened with our blood, our tears, rainwater, melted snow. She is our love. We’re not giving her away.

We are the trees that have taken roots in this soft black-soil infinity — roots that are intertwined, holding each other’s hands. These roots go deep into the heart of the planet; you will never chop them off, you will never break them. Because you, enemy, do not know what roots are. You, enemy, don’t know what it’s like to be on your own land.

Our people stand knee-deep, waist-deep, shoulder-deep in her. They are Scythian statues planted deep for thousands of years to come. They are her children who draw strength from her through their bare feet. She doesn’t get tired of giving birth to them. To them, she is a mother, a lover, a sister, a universe. To them, she is food and water, day and night, dream and reality. Even when she takes them away, — those who are bleeding to death, those who are starved, those who are killed in their homes by russian half-ton bombs — this blood gives her the strength to give birth to more of these giant people, these rock-solid people.

We protect our land, and it protects us. She moans with the beat of our hearts but also knows what she will give even more — more hearts, more souls, more hands, more eyes. We are born through it again. We press our ears to her warm body and hear her songs. From them, we spin our music.

Our enemy loves death. He’s in love with her cold, lifeless darkness. It turns people into the living dead. Into soulless machines. Into obedient slaves who can’t live without obeying someone’s orders. Who can only imagine being either masters or slaves. Who doesn’t know what friendship and partnership are. What equality and horizontal relations are. Our enemy was born out of necrophilia. Of a perverse love of destruction.

He hates freedom. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to be free. What it’s like to be free and to accept the freedom of others. What it’s like to be free and do something together. For him, freedom is the weapon that kills him. For us, freedom is the air we breathe. It is the blood that flows in our veins. It is the language we speak.

Our enemies do not know what native land is. They live in a territory, not on land. They do not know how to take care of what belongs to them, that’s why they are so eager to grab what belongs to someone else. Everything they touch turns into a desert. They have a hatred for everything that grows on its own. For everything that gives life.

Our enemy knows no boundaries for what belongs to him. He wants to grab everything because he loves nothing. He has lost his empire and is trying to restore it. But these are his last throes. Movements of an old, frail body that still thinks it can hunt someone down. That it can take off the ground in a high jump.

But here on our land, death is awaiting him. And it will be the death of death itself, for our enemy is the realm of destruction. He does not know that land has power. That she’s fighting too. That she hates those who don’t value her. Those who are used to being strangers everywhere.

Stay with me today, our land asks us. Be with me tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and forever. Touch me, grow with me, eat from me, drink from me. Feel my heartbeat. Feel my lungs expand and contract. I breathe and live, too. I have dreams, too. In these dreams, I see you. And the dead, and the living, and the unborn. I take your lives in. I give birth to new lives.

Stay with me tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and forever, our land asks us. Stay with me.

The Ukrainian version of the text was written for the Ukrainian weekly magazine “Krayina,” translated into English for the “Wars. Ukrainians. Humanity” program and published with the consent of the author.

Mychailo Wynnyckyj: Thoughts from Kyiv. Evening of March 15

Tonight Ukraine’s capital is tense. Whether due to actual intelligence, or because of intuition and suspicion, residents are expecting heightened artillery and rocket attacks on Kyiv during the next 36 hours.

Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko announced that the normal nightly curfew has been extended to include the daylight hours of tomorrow. Curfew will end in the morning of March 17. Throughout tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night, residents have been asked to stay in their apartments and homes unless there is a need to move to a bomb shelter.

Apparently, city and central government officials suspect that during this period, in addition to firing salvos from the sky, the russians may attempt to infiltrate reconnaissance groups into Kyiv. If such an attempt is made, the russians will be destroyed on the outskirts, but nevertheless their presence within the city limits is worrisome. It is important that civilians are not caught in any potential crossfire.

Kyiv is extremely well protected on the ground. Any advance of heavy equipment or large troop formations will most certainly be stopped by the Armed Forces and/or Territorial Defenders. But a great many buildings could be damaged or destroyed in the process.

As always, our greatest threat is from the sky: in the past, airstrikes and missiles have been fended off by Kyiv’s excellent surface-to-air defense systems, but the onslaught this time is likely to be more intense.

Other Ukrainian cities are not as well protected as the capital and we see the result: Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Mykolayiv. Civilian targets in these urban centers have been heavily targeted by russian rockets and bombs. The aftermath has been devastating.

Tonight and tomorrow we expect the russians to intensify their destruction of our cities throughout Ukraine — in all regions.

As I write these words, President Zelensky has just completed his video address to the Canadian Parliament. That was met with a very long standing ovation from MP’s of all parties. Tomorrow he addresses a joint session of the United States Congress.

I’ll quote our son Bohdan’s reaction after watching today’s live feed from Ottawa (he also watched the reaction to Zelensky’s speeches in London and in Strasbourg): “ovations are great, but what about closing our sky?”

This is russia’s last gasp. Ukraine will prevail (no doubt), but much will be destroyed and many lives will be lost in the process.

Close the sky!!!

#ThoughtsfromKyiv

Mychailo Wynnyckyj: Thoughts from Kyiv. Afternoon 16 March

Apparently, the analogy of “Ukraine — the beehive” is catching on. I’ve been asked by several western journalists to provide an explanation for how/why Ukrainians have mounted such a successful defense against the russian invader: a defense that has stopped the ground assault of what was once thought to be the most powerful army in Europe.

One explanation seems to resonate: Ukrainians are bees.

Bees won’t sting unless you threaten them. I know, I have three hives (beekeeping is a common past-time for Ukrainian men aged 50+ — cultural fact). If you approach the hives confidently, with appropriate respect, bees will even share their honey. It takes practice, but well-intentioned beekeepers can even draw honey without a mask. Even amateurs like me do it without gloves.

Bees work. They collect pollen and nectar, carrying their own weight in their “sacs” up to 3 km from flower gardens to the hive (they are most productive in a radius of 1.5 km — approx.. 1 mile). On arrival, they unload their freight to “indoor” (hive) bees who through mechanical-chemical processes dry the pollen/nectar substance converting it into honey. They seem to understand the process without having to be taught — or perhaps we have simply not yet discovered their outstanding educational system. Either way, bees know their stuff! And the effectiveness of their horizontal cooperation is unmatched.

Bees love sunflowers. Sunflowers provide huge amounts of pollen. Bees are particularly active when the skies are clear. In case you missed the allusion here, I’ll make it clearer: bees thrive when the land is covered with yellow blossoms and the sky above is blue. The two colors seem to provide a particularly motivating background for their productivity.

If you’re a bear, sticking your claws into a beehive is a bad idea. You may think that you are large and powerful, and that you are the dominant beast in your area, but don’t touch the bees! Attacking their hive is just a bad idea.

Bees that are defending their hive need no instructions — no formal leadership. They organize themselves. Each bee is prepared to die for the sake of the hive, and they seem to know exactly where to sting for maximum effect. Incidentally, a bee sting is not just painful for the victim, it is fatal for the bee. Self-sacrifice and spontaneous organization seem to be genetically programmed.

Finally, as a beekeeper (amateur, but still) I will tell you: bees mourn their dead.

Today, President Zelensky signed an Executive Order mandating a nationwide moment of silence every morning at 9am to honor the Ukrainians who have given their lives for our “hive” — for all our fallen soldiers, for our civilians, for our children.

This nation is invincible!

#ThoughtsfromKyiv

Valerii Pekar: Everything is symmetrical in the world of post-truth. March 16

Everything is symmetrical in the world of post-truth.

— You attacked us!

— No, you attacked us even before!

— You are shelling residential areas!

— No, you are shelling them, and blaming us!

— We are winning! Here is your burnt machinery!

— We are winning, and it is your burnt machinery in the picture.

— Here are the bodies of your dead soldiers!

— These are your soldiers.

— Here are your captives! They are giving testimony!

— Well, these are your actors, just playing their roles following the script.

— You are killing children!

— You are killing children, and then laying the blame on us.

Everything is symmetrical in the world of post-truth, a word against a word, it is impossible to see where the truth lies.

Luckily, in our world, besides post-truth, there is something else.

Today the truth has been established by the competent court.

And now putin can deceive only russians via the propaganda TV, but he will have to disconnect the Internet there.

It is no longer possible to deceive anyone in the world.

Mychailo Wynnyckyj: Thoughts from Kyiv. March 17

The world is infatuated with Zelensky. After his recent speeches in the Parliaments of the EU, UK and Canada, and after yesterday’s address to the US Congress, western politicians seem to be tripping over themselves to pronounce: “Give HIM the weapons he needs to defend HIS country!”

I don’t mind the bombast if it gets results. Ukraine’s valiant defenders certainly need the weapons, particularly surface-to-air missiles and drones. We are grateful to our western friends for providing us with the means to defend ourselves.

I must point out however, the idolizing rhetoric surrounding the Ukrainian President in the western media seems to point to a massive disconnect between discourse in the West and our own reality here in Ukraine.

Zelensky is popular in Ukraine. Under war conditions it is next to impossible to conduct a representative poll to gauge the extent of his popularity, but Ukrainians certainly support the actions of their President during the past 3 weeks since the start of the invasion (several telephone polls have registered this).

But approval does not mean hero-worship. Ukrainians don’t exalt their leaders.

Take the following data as illustrative: Monobank — Ukraine’s largest fully online bank, popular among youth and creative class professionals — on 28 February changed the design of its “card” in Apple/Google Pay to reflect the now infamous phrase involving the direction of travel of a certain russian warship. That was met with widespread approval by customers, despite the racy wording on the design. Yesterday, the bank announced an online survey among its clients as to the preferred central element for yet another renewed design of its “card.”

Here are the results with over 10 000 respondents voting:

• The Ghost of Kyiv — 33%
• Tractor towing russian tank — 18%
• Vitaliy Kim (Head of Mykolayiv oblast) — 17%
• President Volodymyr Zelensky — 15%
• Animal protection in wartime — 9%
• Oleksiy Arestovich (Presidential spokesman and military analyst) — 8%

These results are striking for two reasons (my thanks to Marta Wynnycka for pointing this out):

1) Ukrainians (in contrast to the current hype in the West) are not idolizing Zelensky — he came a distant 4th in the poll, even less popular than local hero and heartthrob Vitaliy Kim.

2) Ukrainians prefer de-personalized heroes. The Ghost of Kyiv (the Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot who is claimed to have shot down an unprecedented number of russian aircraft, but has never been named) and the mythical “Ukrainian farmer” who has stolen what amounts to a small army of equipment from the invading russians — cumulatively gained over 50% of the votes of Monobank customers.

My point: Ukrainians dislike personalized leadership — even if highly charismatic and effective. Hierarchy is universally viewed with suspicion. Again, this does not mean Zelensky is disliked, just that many others are also appreciated. Horizontal teams seems to be the name of the game here, rather than one-man shows.

Four centuries ago, when Ukraine’s Zaporozhzhian Cossacks chose their leader at a general meeting of the Sich (the fort that was their political center), they would conduct a ritual after his election. The “Koshovyi” or “Otaman” would have his head plastered with excrement. The symbolism was poignant: although we entrust you to lead us into battle, remember whence you came!

I have written previously of the beehive analogy to explain Ukraine’s current successes in war. But our tradition of battle and our natural organizational structures go back much further in history. The Zaporozhian Cossack tradition of the 16–18 centuries forms the foundation of Ukrainians’ identity, and it is in these deep roots that we draw our inspiration today.

Cossack symbols and myths were activated at the start of the 20th century when a modern Ukrainian state was first established (its first army was called the Sich Riflemen).

Cossack symbols and myths were adopted by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who fought for Ukraine’s independence first against the Germans in World War II and then against the soviets for a decade thereafter.

Cossack symbols and myths formed the basis for the organizational structures and discourse of the Maidan during the 2013–14 protests that came to be known as the Revolution of Dignity.

Incidentally, the Cossack period of Ukraine’s history is the only period not mentioned by putin in his endless orations on the “unity” of the russian and Ukrainian peoples. The foundational emblem of the Ukrainian nation just doesn’t fit the russian president’s delusional “historical” myth.

During this momentary pause in the fighting around Kyiv (sadly, the brutal destruction of Kharkiv and particularly Mariupol by russian rockets and artillery continues), I have started thinking about how Ukraine will rebuild after the war: how we will build a new country, with institutions that conform to the traditions and values that define our identity, that are rooted in our history, and that will result in our victory very soon.

For the past 30 years, when constructing their state institutions (and corporations) Ukrainians have tried to follow examples set by the “developed” West: strong leadership, institutional hierarchy, elite selection systems that reward personal charisma. This war has shown (yet again): that is not what we’re about. And these are not the only paths to effective results.

I am increasingly becoming convinced that the heterarchy of the Cossacks (and of the Sich Riflemen, and of the Maidan protesters, and of the Territorial Defense and Ukrainian Army, and of the countless volunteers that are contributing to Ukraine’s victory in this war) must become the basis for a new system of government in Ukraine: collegial rather than hierarchic, democratic but with maximum accountability, based on grass-roots activism rather than top-down initiative and/or regulation.

In the new Ukraine, we must stop mimicking western institutions blindly. Indeed, we have much to offer the world: not merely as the archetypical David who slayed Goliath in this war, but as an example of how to organize a country differently: with greater dignity, greater freedom, greater collective voice than has been possible in any other modern nation.

Many have said that the world will no longer be the same after 24 February 2022. It must indeed begin to become different the day after we celebrate Ukraine’s victory.

We Ukrainians throughout the world need to start thinking about how to make that happen.

#ThoughtsfromKyiv

Valerii Pekar: A monkey with a bomb. March 17

Well, you know, it is not possible to turn the country backwards, to the past and, at the same time, to avoid its degradation. 

If you keep feeding people with the “great past” that needs to be returned, instead of the picture of the future. If you install more and more archaic political, economic, cultural, religious practices. Then why wonder that people are transformed into wild men, beasts. Not capable of arranging any normal army management, since they are not smart enough for this — a modern army is a rather complex thing. But they are capable of killing women and children since even the simplest thinking will do for that.

A monkey with a bomb. Just a monkey with a bomb.

One needs three generations to make a human out of a monkey.

While, as we see, it is enough to have just one generation to make a monkey of a human.

So the right thing would be to first take the bomb away.

Complete demilitarization of the European part of the rf and complete denuclearization of the rf. Otherwise, this hell will repeat in 10 years.

Mychailo Wynnyckyj: Thoughts from Kyiv. March 18

US Secretary of State Blinken stated yesterday that the United States sees no sign that putin is ready to stop his war in Ukraine.

According to a Bloomberg headline: “putin Likely to Make Nuclear Threat If War Drags, US Says.”

Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian officials, the russian invaders have been pushed back to a distance of 70km away from the capital in the east, and the towns of Irpin and Bucha in the west (key launch sites for artillery aimed at Kyiv) are in the process of being retaken by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Territorial Defense units.

This war is dragging on.

Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Mykolayiv continue to be shelled. Kyiv and other cities where russian ground forces are too distant for artillery (including Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia), continue to be attacked with rockets. Images of humanitarian catastrophe continue to fill the world’s TV screens.

Meanwhile russia’s ground invasion remains completely stalled.

In a previous post, I explained the “phases of war” idea that my friends Valerii Pekar and developed at the start of the conflict (“How to Stop World War III“).

Here is a short synopsis:

Phase 1 — Attempted Blitzkrieg (i.e. conquest of Kyiv within 3–5 days; occupation of southern and eastern Ukraine; quick installation of puppet government). russian forces failed miserably in this phase.

Phase 2 — Attempted war of attrition (i.e. indiscriminate bombing of cities in order to create maximum destruction, refugee flow, forced surrender). russia’s attacks on civilian targets in urban centers have caused massive damage and losses but have failed to break the resolve of Ukrainians to defend their country. Meanwhile western governments and publics have consolidated their support for Ukraine: increased military, financial, diplomatic assistance, provided platforms for President Zelensky to speak (very eloquently!) not just to their elites, but directly to their publics.

It is now clear russia is failing in Phase 2, and so will soon move to Phase 3: blackmail of the West with weapons of mass destruction.

Although I continue to believe putin’s weapon of choice will be nuclear, the possibility of use of biological or chemical weapons as an instrument of terrorism cannot be ruled out.

The use of such a weapon will represent russia’s “escalation moment” — straight from putin’s standard playbook. When he begins to lose on one (limited) level, he raises the stakes to the next.

putin cannot lose in Ukraine (see my previous descriptions of the “pozor” phenomenon), nor can he be seen to lose face by ending the war without russia’s complete victory — not just over Ukraine, but over the “collective West” (euphemism for the US/NATO/EU commonly used by russian media).

Although I am skeptical of surveys in russia, recent opinion polls in st.petersburg and moscow seem to show majority support (for the moment) for an attack by russia of other countries in the West beyond Ukraine. If he is to capitalize on this support, putin must act soon. If he doesn’t, sanctions will begin to bite and the chances of a “palace coup” could grow.

russian escalation could take the form of a tactical nuclear strike on a Ukrainian city (I see this as the most likely scenario), or any other demonstratively awful but limited use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Immediately after such a demonstration (escalation), putin will publicly signal his readiness to engage in peace talks with the US/NATO. And it is here that we enter Phase 3: nuclear blackmail.

In this scenario russia’s message to the West will be simple: either you (specifically, US/NATO leaders) agree to cease provision of military support for Ukraine, and relax sanctions, or the next bomb will fall on a NATO capital.

If the West agrees to such blackmail, Ukraine will be sacrificed for the sake of “world peace.”

If putin’s bluff is called, he will be forced to show his cards. This is truly an awful position for any political leader to be in, but it may be inevitable very soon.

At that point, this war will cease to be about/in/over Ukraine.

I am convinced russia’s chain of command is rotten, and most of its nuclear arsenal is inoperable. However, a missile or two could potentially be fired if the order were given (likely from aircraft rather than ICBMs).

Can anything be done to stop the shift from Phase 2 to Phase 3?

Theoretically — yes, but this would require assisting Ukraine not just in its defense, but also in ridding its territory of russian forces. In other words, to avoid nuclear blackmail, one or several NATO countries must be willing to commit forces to the war now. This is unlikely to happen.

What can be done? Western publics (and particularly the Ukrainian Diaspora) must continue to make plain to their governments that Ukraine should not be sacrificed even if the unthinkable happens.

A bully can only be neutralized with force. His bluff must be called, or he will terrorize others and more. Western leaders must understand that their publics support a strong stand against the russian terrorist.

Yesterday, in an interview on CTV (link on my FB page), I stated for the first time publicly that I believed World War III has already started. The purpose of this post was to explain how and why the direct theater of conflict is likely to expand beyond Ukraine very soon.

God help us!

#ThoughtsfromKyiv

Mychailo Wynnyckyj: Thoughts from Kyiv. Morning of March 19 

Yesterday I wrote an apocalyptic text about the “escalation moment” that I believe western leaders will soon be confronted with. A few more thoughts on this here.

I’m told that once they have reached the pinnacle of their careers, the priorities of elected leaders change: Prime Ministers and Presidents become less concerned with their popularity (electability) and think more of their historical legacy. It is at that point that a leader’s “moral compass” and/or “character” prove decisive.

In June 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a choice. After the evacuation of the British and allied forces from Dunkirk, he could have responded positively to the multiple private messages sent to him by adolf hitler and could have agreed to a new division of Europe. hitler had by that time taken Belgium, the Netherlands and half of France, and had divided Poland with stalin. That could have been the end of it. The Battle of Britain could have been avoided. The London bombings could never have happened. Continental Europe would have been sacrificed, but Britain would have had peace.

If Churchill had been guided by a different moral compass, World War II could have been forestalled — likely to be fought later, but that is another story.

Churchill chose war. His legacy is that of a righteous leader with an iron character. I suspect today, 80 years later, the French, the Dutch, the Belgians, the Poles, and indeed the Germans (not to mention the Jews of Europe) are grateful for his choice. That war, despite the millions who died, left a legacy of peace, prosperity, and unprecedented human development.

In October 1962, US President John Kennedy had a choice. After making it publicly clear to the soviet government and to the world that the United States would not accept the stationing of nuclear missiles in Cuba, he used back channels to make a deal: the US withdrew its missiles from Turkey in exchange for the ussr withdrawing theirs from Cuba. Peace was “purchased,” for the price of Cuba remaining communist but disarmed.

Kennedy was shot in Dallas a year later and will always be remembered by Americans as a heroic leader. But what about Cuba? That country has been an economic, political, and social basket-case for the past 60 years. And not just because of Castro. The country was abandoned. Its people deemed expendable.

I am not suggesting that Kennedy’s choice during the Cuban Missile Crisis was wrong. Indeed, the standoff against khrushchev led to the demise of the latter. Mind you, khrushchev was replaced by brezhnev, and that certainly was not a better result for soviet citizens: dissidents jailed, economy stagnated, freedom stifled…

Had Kennedy stood firm against the soviet threat without a backchannel deal, I might not be writing these words at all because global thermonuclear war would have prevented my existence. On the other hand, the ussr may not have survived a truly strong American President and would have collapsed decades earlier than it did. These are all “what ifs” and probably not helpful.

The choice to be made by leaders in crucial moments always boils down to the following:

Do we all sacrifice in the short term for the sake of what is right for all in the long term? (as Churchill did)

Or do we make a deal now, delaying the eventual inevitable sacrifice, for the sake of the living? (the Kennedy option)

I don’t have a singular answer. I guess that’s why I am not a world leader.

But I certainly don’t envy Misters Biden, Johnson and Macron. Only these three men have the ability to counter putin’s nuclear blackmail.

When russia’s “escalation moment” comes their characters and moral compasses will be tested like never before.

God help us!

NB: Any comments to this post suggesting “this would not be happening if … had been elected” will immediately be deleted. putin is to blame for this situation, not the leader (actual or potential) of any other country. If you wish to have a local political discussion, please have it elsewhere — not on my FB page.

Thank you Dmytro Hys for inspiring this text.

#ThoughtsfromKyiv

The editorial “rule of small letters” or the “rule of disrespect for criminals” applies to all the words related to evil, like names and surnames of terrorists, war criminals, rapists, murderers, and torturers. They do not deserve being capitalized but shall be written in italics to stay in the focus of the readers’ attention. 

The program “Wars. Ukrainians. Humanity” has been created by joint effort and with the financial support of the institution’s members of the Cultural Business Education Hub, the European Cultural Foundation, and BBK — the Regensburg Art and Culture Support Group from the Professional Association of Artists of Lower Bavaria/Upper Palatinate.

Authors: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Valerii Pekar, Mychailo Wynnyckyj

Translators (from Ukrainian): Halyna Bezukh (Volodymyr Yermolenko’s essay), Halyna Pekhnyk (Valerii Pekar’s essays) 

Illustrators: Nastya Gaydaenko (Volodymyr Yermolenko’s essay), Max Palenko (Valerii Pekar’s essays), Victoria Boyko (Mychailo Wynnyckyj’s essays), plasticine panel by Olha Protasova

Copyeditors: Yuliia Moroz, Terra Friedman King

Proofreaders: Iryna Andrieieva, Tetiana Vorobtsova, Terra Friedman King

Content Editors: Maryna Korchaka, Natalia Babalyk

Program Directors: Julia Ovcharenko and Demyan Om Dyakiv-Slavitski