Rostyslav Avertchuk
Lviv (Ukraine), 20 Feb. Looking back on a life-changing first year of Russian invasion, Ukrainians mourn the loss of life and destruction of their country, but believe they can defeat the occupiers.
According to the latest survey by the Institute of Sociology in Kiev, 85% of Ukrainians refuse to make territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for peace and only 8% say the opposite. More than 95% believe Ukraine will win, according to a December poll by the Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Sociology.
On the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Tetiana Pylypets, 47, director of the Ivanychuk Roman Youth Library in Lviv (west), began weaving a net of military camouflage in the building’s spacious lobby, downtown.
“I felt the need to order my thoughts and do something. I started with what I knew how to do and what I knew could be useful,” he told EFE.
Dozens, then hundreds of people joined her after seeing her cross the main entrance of the building and wanting to help her. This marked the start of one of the largest volunteer centers that has since become home to many people who fled the Russian bombs.
Tetiana calls them her family and introduces the youngest, Myroslava, six years old from Odessa, as her second in the task. There is work for everyone in the library, which combines literary pursuits with the manufacture and maintenance of equipment and aids for soldiers.
It’s one of many “fortresses” for the country to be “unbreakable”, and it makes Tetiana think Ukraine will win.
The “heart” of the library is in the room where the volunteers continue to weave camouflage nets which allow the Ukrainian positions at the front to be concealed.
One of them is Daria, a 25-year-old student from Kharkiv. After their home in the Saltivka neighborhood was hit by a Russian shell, her family quickly jumped on an evacuation train into the unknown.
Daria was impressed by the welcome Ukrainian IDPs received in Lviv. “The city has become a huge humanitarian aid center where everyone treats us with love.”
He thinks of returning home, some 30 kilometers from the Russian border, only when the invader has been defeated and the bombardment of the city has ended. “It scares me so much to live so close to Russia,” he says.
Daria’s confidence in the Ukrainian army was and remains very high. “We are working to get the win quickly.”
Artem, a 28-year-old painter who left Druzhkivka in Donetsk (east) with his mother, Oksana, believes that the expected Ukrainian counter-offensive will retake part of the territory occupied by the Russians, even if it is difficult to predict a specific outcome.
In any case, it is likely that Russia will continue to bomb the invaded country. “Perhaps more than just removing what they will try to destroy as much as they can.”
He says Ukrainians are grateful that “the world is with them”. “Experts say more needs to be done, but I understand there are many hurdles and you can’t reveal everything to the public either.”
Tetiana shares Artem’s pain over what is happening in the east of the country, which he has often visited.
“Bakhmut was a very beautiful city and Mariupol was a modern and very lively place.” He thinks it will take a long time for these places to recover from the devastation.
If the mobilization at the moment in the country is successful, its troops will soon be able to reach the pre-war borders, believes this volunteer. He hopes that Ukraine will join NATO and hopefully also the European Union.
Tetiana also wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to live long enough to see his empire crumble.
“This is the worst punishment for a bully. It would be unfair and too easy for him to die. Before every meal in prison, he should be shown proof of the damage he has caused so that he can choke on it. all this pain.” ECE
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(Picture / Video)