What Drives Ukrainians to Stay as Positive as Never despite War
"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast."
This phrase, said by the Red Queen to Alice in Lewis Carroll's novel "Through the Looking-Glass," reads as written for Ukraine. You can hardly find a better reflection of the weird reality Ukrainians find themselves in.
My country has been fighting against full-scale Russian aggression for six months. Militarу is giving their lives on the frontline; millions of civilians live under shelling, volunteering and donating to the army. Public authorities manage to keep the state fully functional despite the aggression, occupation of territories, and daily air raids all over the country.
Ukraine does its best, but all the efforts did not let us go anywhere.
The frontline did not change much compared to the one three months ago. Even those snap changes we see on the map favor the aggressor. The economy is not doing that great, too. The state budget is in deep deficit, and rocket strikes all over the country prevent many businesses from re-opening. We did not get a reliable anti-rocket defense to avoid strikes in a deep rear. It seems that it is hardly possible to install that kind of protection soon.
We are running as fast as we can – and even keeping the pace is dubious, given thousands of lives on the battlefield and in the rear.
Maybe even worse is that there's light at the end of the war tunnel. There's no timeframe for the war with Russia, which turns out to be a long run. How much time will it last and how many lives will it take before we get a major change – not to say before we win the war?
No one has an answer.
No even certainty that war won't escalate further. The Kremlin is openly threatening the new assault on Kyiv. There is a high possibility for a massive strike on Ukraine's Independence day in late August.
Last but not least, we do really worry about nuclear safety.
Russians control Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, using nuclear facilities as a shelter for military vehicles and arms. Ukraine claims they are shelling some facilities vitally needed for nuclear safety. International warnings did not make them cease military activities at the nuclear site.
Would you say that Ukrainians have all the reasons for despair? Yes, in ordinary logic.
Lewis Carroll's Alice decided to stop once she discovered that she must run twice as fast as she could to get anywhere.
But at war and in Ukraine, it works differently. We're keen to "continue running" even if there is no visible prospect.
Despite all the grieving after inhuman atrocities, with all the threats and uncertainty we face – Ukrainians are extremely optimistic. 73% of Ukrainians believe that things are going in the right direction despite no major victory on the frontline, says a recent survey by the Rating group.
It looks even more unusual, knowing that Ukrainians are rather pessimists. We used to prepare for the worse, and it has a historical ground. With centuries of Russian and then Soviet occupation, with long-lasting oppression of the nation and its identity, we used to look into the future with a degree of suspicion. Those who are pessimistic about the future always prevail, with rare and short-term exceptions.
The war became a magic wand that turned the world upside down and made us optimists.
Since the start of the Russian invasion, our belief in the future of Ukraine has been historically high - 70-80% have positive expectations.
We believe Ukraine will win the war – nationally, with no "if." According to another survey, 98% of Ukrainians say so.
We're learning to value wins and gains, even those tactical and symbolic.
In August, two days in Ukraine turned into a spontaneous celebration (no exaggeration): people were calling and texting to greet each other. The first one was on August 9, when the Ukrainian military hit the military base in Crimea for the first time. The second was on August 16, when a second military facility in Crimea was targeted. Ukrainians are keen to return the Putin-occupied peninsula even if we're not ready yet to do that militarily.
We're proud of what we do on the battlefield. And we have what to be proud of: in a recent statement, Pentagon said that "on a scale of zero to ten, the effectiveness of Ukraine's armed forces would be a twelve."
And last but not least, Ukrainians do genuinely believe that we're fighting not only for our future but for all of Europe, as Putin would hardly stop on Ukraine. The ruined world order will hit everyone if he wins. That's why it's rather a fight for our future in Europe, in the EU and NATO, which again set new records in public support.
Winning the war with Russia, returning Crimea, joining the EU with all the reform we'll have to implement – these goals are impossible to achieve if you use ordinary, pre-war logic.
Skeptics would say that Kyiv has to do its best just to keep where we are.
But now we are ready to run twice as fast as that.
We're able to surprise the skeptics. Of course, with the support of the West, of Europe to where we belong. Because we also believe: that historically, you need our success in this battle, not less than we do.
By Sergiy Sydorenko,