On the anniversary of Russia's unwarranted and illegal invasion of Ukraine I want to share some photos I took while I was there during better times in 2017 and 2018 and some thoughts. I posted many of these last year but I thought to post them again as a reminder of sort of “This is what it was like” because I know that it’s not like this now …..
If you would like to see this as a full photo gallery without my commentary click here — It’s on Google Photos!
In 2017 I was invited to Kyiv by a fellow computer programmer who is Ukrainian. I’m a digital nomad and he thought I would really enjoy it there and he was spot on correct! My first AirBNB in the trendy neighborhood of Podil was gorgeous inside and out. Not all of Kyiv looks like this but there are several similar beautiful neighborhoods.
A block away from my AirBNB was Kontraktova Square. Trendy restaurants and bars, a ferris wheel, museums. You can see St. Andrews Golden dome on the hilltop behind.
In the first few weeks of the war I found pictures of part of this neighborhood on fire from a missile strike. A shopping mall less than 2 miles away was completely blown up as well.
Hearing these news stories I was overcome with a surreal feeling that is hard to describe. It was hard for me to get my head around the idea that air raid sirens, missiles and air defense systems were now a part of life in this place I had lived for a bit. All of these elements which are now a part of daily life weren’t part of my conceptual framework but more importantly, neither had they ever been for Ukrainians. Even though yes, there was the proxy war going on in Donbas, the rest of Ukraine just felt like a normal, safe country.
You may as well imagine Soho, San Fran or London being under attack — and in my mind that is still something from the movies — but it became real for them.
Back to 2017 — I moved to a second AirBnB after a month of staying because I was hooked on the vibe of the city … and I had met someone special. Here are a couple of pics from that neighborhood near the University.
Fast Forward: October 10, 2022 — Russia targeted Schevchenko Park (pictured above) with Missile strikes. When I looked on Twitter I saw a picture that seemed eerily close in angle to a picture I had taken while walking in the park which I frequently did. I pulled up my Google photos. Here is what I found.
I’m not really sure how to describe the feeling of seeing a photo of a missile strike in a war that landed in a place where I stood when life was completely normal, but, my friends from Ukraine who are still there told me that a way they talk about it is “Imagine 9/11 but every day for months”……..
And also they tell the message — “Even if people say that life is getting ‘back to normal’ in Ukraine, it absolutely isn’t. “ .
There is more of a pure Photo diary at the end if you want to skip but I want to give a bit of context and thought —
Skipping out of Kyiv center with it’s European feel I want to tell you about people I love from the growing middle class in Ukraine.
The picture on the right is from the townhome of the Sister of the woman I met in Kyiv. Olga was moving to Spain in 2018 so I hung in Kyiv for a few more months then moved with her. Her sister, brother in-law and their 5 year old daughter were happy Ukrainians — no plan to ever do anything but live life there. He had a great IT job. She was a stay at home mom. They saved and bought a condo in a suburb 20 minutes from Kyiv.
Life was like the “American Dream” but in Brovary, Ukraine.
It’s fortunate that they believed the advance warnings in January. They fled before Veronichka (the 5 yo) ever heard an air raid siren, God forbid lived through a missile strike.
But she almost did.
Had they stayed, Russian tanks came within a couple of miles of the townhome in the first month of the war. Brovary was the city where one Russian advance was pushed back. Brovary also was the city where a helicopter crashed into a kindergarten a few months ago.
Becoming refugees was the best choice but it shouldn’t have ever been a choice to be made. And they are displaced. They don’t speak the language in Spain. Life isn’t what it was supposed to be.
Of course war is horrible anywhere but why these memories shock me the most is that my window into Ukraine was a place that was just like regular life. It was unique and different but it was just so — well — it just wasn’t a place to I can get my head around being a war zone.
I will close with some pics to make you maybe think that when this war ends, maybe Kyiv and Ukraine would be a good place to spend tourist dollars. It’s really an amazing place to see. If you want to see all of the photos and in larger sizes here is the link to the Google photos Album
I hope on this horribly sad and tragic anniversary I threw in some food for thought. Just a few slices of life in a place that was wildly interrupted and should have never been interrupted. I told Olga on day one of the war that Putin couldn’t “win” in Ukraine. I projected that it would be his Vietnam or another Afghanistan. I had met enough Ukrainians to simply know that they weren’t going to simply acquiesce. It’s been such a shocking and horrible waste. I guess all that I can say on this day is I hope it ends by Russia being pushed back. Thanks to everyone here for being so supportive and thanks to the Dkos staff for some of the best reporting out there.
And thanks for reading.