THIS IS WAR

by Justina Dobush

Translated from the Ukrainian by Kate Tsurkan

On February 24th, my brother woke me at 6:00 a.m. and said, “The invasion has begun. Russian troops are advancing.”

It took us a couple of hours to prepare everything we needed in case we had to go to a bomb shelter. We stocked up on food and medicine and took cash from the ATM. It felt like we were functioning on autopilot, following a plan of action we’d been preparing for the past eight years. And it hurts a lot because it's 2022, and yet have to know what to put in a go bag, where to go, how to behave, where to take shelter, what to say to loved ones and ordinary people in general so as not to disorient them or cause panic, or just to calm them down. We knew immediately that we could only trust information from verified sources and needed to withdraw cash and buy products while leaving enough left for others. The year is 2022, and our bodies have been taken prisoner by an agenda dictated by war.

I can’t even cry because every fiber of my being is prepared for the worst 24/7. I decided to forget that everyday life is carrying on elsewhere. I don’t allow myself to think that maybe soon it will all end, and I certainly don’t believe that someday my life can continue the same as before. I have only one goal: to make it through each day. If we hold out, then we win. Only a couple of days have passed since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine by the world’s standards. But by my standards, an eternity has passed since then, plus one light year.

Occasionally, I force myself to fall asleep for a few hours, but it's hard to call it that. Because the war continues in my dreams. After sleep, even if it lasted half an hour, there is a minute or two of weakness, self-pity, and a desire for this war to give me peace finally. But I quickly drive away such thoughts because I can not afford to relax. I can not allow emotions to make my sober thinking out of order.

That’s how I live now.

Half a day after the Russian offensive began in Ukraine, while flipping through a news feed on Instagram, checking if all my friends and acquaintances were still safe, I began to come across memes from the American public about the situation in my country. Some are starting to talk about World War III, others are comparing Putin to Hitler again, and the rest are joking. I'm glad you're talking about us, and I'm glad you understand that something terrible has begun. But I want to sober you up now. Because this is World War Three.

I live in Lviv, which is separated from the border with Poland by about 100 km. You can get to Budapest in a day and to Vienna in a day and a half. I live so close to the world that you would be more worried about if the same thing were happening there, but I'm the one who hears the air alarm sirens every day, with the understanding that my city can be attacked next. I understand with every passing day that the war is not confined to the East.

I forgot what it’s like not to worry if my relatives, friends, and acquaintances are alive and well. My city, Lviv, has always been a European city. Lviv once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire: it is not some terrible distant city of the Third World that some politicians frighten you into manipulating. The war in my city, my country, is a war of the civilized world. If you think that because of your indifference or attempts to make joke you will be redeemed simply by the feeling of shame that you allowed Russia to become the Third Reich, then you are wrong. You will pay for it by tearing your hair out. You will pay for it by sending even more of your soldiers to another landing in Normandy. This is not the Middle East: this is not about a war for oil or the redistribution of spheres of influence. This is a brutal war simply to capture and destroy the entire civilized world.

So, Americans, I know that the last few years have been difficult for you, and you have not yet fully recovered from Trump's rule. But I urge you to try to regain the feeling you once had, namely the feeling that you are the strongest nation in the world capable of defending every democracy being stripped of its freedom and sovereignty. If you do not understand the political circumstances of Ukraine, the Maidan Revolution which began in 2013, the annexation of Crimea, and the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, now you only need to understand one thing — this war is happening because of Putin's desire to imprison us, to establish a dictatorship and build totalitarianism just where the Western world begins.

If you lack arguments, remember that freedom has always been your core value, and let the desire for freedom be your main argument and motivation to start working harder, more confidently, without fear of money and any possible future diplomatic relations. If you do not act decisively today, there will be no future in principle. If you think you can buy off Russia, then you are wrong. Some Ukrainian politicians and presidents have tried to redeem themselves in the eyes of Russia: they’ve tried to please Putin and the war he started, which is a clear example of what can be redeemed only by dying or giving up one’s land, property, life, relatives, their laws, sovereignty, power, weapons and even their minds.

It will not be possible to redeem yourselves, turn your heads away, close your eyes and ears — it will not work to silence the news about missiles over Ukraine while you watch Euphoria or look at memes on Instagram. It will not work. This is not about helping Ukraine to make peace in Ukraine. It is about helping Ukraine because otherwise, the war will come to you next. There is no other alternative. Putin took Crimea from us, then Donbas, and he always comes up short. If Putin takes away all our territories, he will still have too little and keep going. If you show weakness — he will try to take something from you. Don't forget that Alaska was given to you by Russia, and as we can see, Putin lives in a reality where he is convinced that you can act as if the Soviet Union and its predecessor, the Russian Empire, still exist, so all the territories that once belonged to them still do to this day. You are wrong if you think you are thousands of miles from Russia. Some of you are only a mere 55 miles from Russia. 55 miles. Do you think you are safe? Sober up, wake up, act!

Today, it is not a question of saving a distant country just for peace and democracy in the 21st century. The point is to save ourselves from the fact that the next Donbas can be Alaska. Shocked? Wash your face, raise up, and start acting! Immediately!

You can support Ukraine from afar: the National Bank of Ukraine has set up a multiple currency account that anyone can donate to.

The NGO Come Back Alive also acceptation donations from abroad.