Two years of war in Ukraine: Look – even if it hurts

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Two years ago today, Vladimir Putin began his campaign of destruction against Ukraine: two years of fear, destruction and death. The first rocket that hit a residential building in Kyiv shocked us all. War in Europe – the whole continent was pulled out of lethargy.

February 24, 2022 created a huge movement. Cities raised Ukrainian flags, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets, Western landmarks shone in blue and yellow: the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen, the Brandenburg Gate, the Eiffel Tower.

And now? Apparently the great repression is spreading. Daily news from the front is no longer interesting. In any case, there are no serious changes there anymore. The fighting is dragging on. Solidarity is giving way to a sense of powerlessness – Russia’s murderous regime, its war machine and its ruthless ruler Putin, who transports thousands of recruits to the front every day, appear stronger in the long term. It’s exhausting. Brutal crimes in Ukraine threaten to become invisible in the fog of a daily war of attrition.

This grayness is all too human.

Valentina counts the days

A week after the war began, 35-year-old Valentina from Kyiv told me: “Since the invasion, the days of the week have merged. We don’t talk about Monday or Tuesday anymore. Today is simply the fifth day – the fifth day after the attack.” Valentina still lives in her hometown. She still runs into the basement almost every day to escape Russian bombs. Today is 731 days.

But the heroism of the Ukrainians, so contagious at the beginning, came to naught. Mobilization in the country has stalled, and the pool of volunteers has been exhausted. There is not enough ammunition, weapons – and prospects. With the election of Donald Trump as US president, the world’s most powerful ally could turn its back on Ukraine in the third year of the war.

War-weary populations today need our solidarity more than ever. Not only symbolically, not only morally. Europe must more actively supply the country with effective weapons, consistently freeze Russian funds and allocate funds for humanitarian assistance.

There’s nothing normal about this

If we want to support Ukraine, we must fight against repression. And not allow the status quo to begin to paralyze us and perhaps even give us a sense of normalcy. Even if the end of the war is not in sight, there is nothing normal about it. Putin’s killers are killing children, destroying families and making entire cities uninhabitable. His attack is aimed at all of us. The Russian autocrat is just waiting for us to turn away from him.

Let’s keep looking – even if it hurts.

Source: Blick