You can take us out of Ukraine, but you can't take Ukraine out of us.

I didn’t plan for this to be my first article on LinkedIn. In fact, I didn’t even plan for this to be an article, but what was initially conceived as a post has exceeded all reasonable post length.

I’ve shied away from posting too much on the terrors of Russia's war in #Ukraine on here.

Not because I’ve tried to be professional and considerate of the wide professional network I have on here. But because it is painful, and maybe because I felt that pain disseminated on social media breeds more pain and despair if it is not transformed into a positive action right away.

But then, none of the Ukrainians planned for the terror of the last four days, purposefully inflicted on them by Russia to coincide with the New Year’s celebrations.

So I wanted to share this, to remind others that behind every Ukrainian’s smiling face you see at work in London or New York today (or anywhere else in the world), behind each composed Teams chat there is a well of pain we learnt to hide to get on with our professional lives.

To remind you that, as the international media gets “fatigued” about the war in Ukraine or shifts the attention elsewhere, we still know about EVERY single missile attack on our country. This is because we joined all the local messenger channels that warn Ukrainians about Russian missile launches in real time, so we know when our families might be in danger.

These attacks happen a lot more often than what you see in the media.

We message our loved us every time it happens to check they are ok (usually in the wee hours of the morning, so it’s the first thing I check on my phone when I wake up). And yet we feel totally helpless.

Close to 300 (!) ballistic and hypersonic missiles and 200 (!) attacking drones were launched by Russia towards Ukrainian cities in just three days over the new year period. They say it was the largest combined missile attack on a country in the world history – all directed at civilian targets.

Most were downed by the heroic, never-sleeping Ukrainian military; but those few that weren’t killed innocent people, including children, destroyed homes, schools, maternity wards.

My family is in #Kyiv, and they wake up to air raid sirens almost every night. They often don’t sleep for several nights in a row, only to go to work in the morning.

They are just like millions of other Ukrainians who chose to stay or cannot leave: all the men of military age, for example, and their loved ones who don’t want to leave them behind, elderly people and their caretakers, doctors and teachers, rescue workers, utility services workers, business owners, and those who simply don’t feel like running away and so they find opportunities to work, socialise and take the most from life despite (and often BECAUSE OF) the war.

My mum is a teacher, and she takes her pupils to an underground bomb shelter every time there is an air raid alert - sometimes several times a day. It has become a well-rehearsed, cool-headed action. She never tells me how she really feels.

Most Ukrainians (there are still tens of millions in the country) don’t have access to shelters or simply don’t have time to get there on time in the middle of the night, so they stay in their flats or houses during the attacks. They simply use the rule of “two walls”, which for most means hiding in the bathroom, often literally in the bath. Sounds terrifying to me, but it seems they have learnt to live with it.

My good friend recently returned to her flat in Kyiv with her child, after 1.5 years living as refugees in Switzerland. Because Kyiv “is home”, she said; and even with the ongoing war, it feels like home, and she feels much calmer there than in a foreign land. Her sense of purpose is clear there.

No need to pity us, she told me yesterday when Russian missiles hit multiple residential buildings, including some in her part of town. “We bought a fire extinguisher after last night, and life goes on”, she said. (I am wise enough not to pity; I expressed to her my admiration!).

“There is SO much LIFE in Kyiv right now”, she said.

Only those who stay in places where civilians are under constant missile attacks understand what it’s like to live on the edge of life and death. Feeling tired, achy, angry, exhausted, feeling hatred towards the aggressor…but also feeling content and whole in their homes on their land. Energised to live, to win, to prosper like never before.

We will never understand.

Today is the 679th day of Russia’s genocidal war against Ukrainians.

Please remember about this every time you meet a Ukrainian at work, speak to them on Zoom or meet them socially.

Be sensitive, be compassionate, be patient with them. They may have a family member in the war zone or in occupied territories, or relatives living in cities outside the immediate war zone that are being regularly targeted by Russian drones and missiles.

Never pity because they are some of the strongest and most resilient people you’ll ever meet. You will know it by feeling the fire of a fighter burning in their souls. Our history made us that way.

(Eastern Europe historian #TimothySnyder tells that history brilliantly in his masterpiece “Bloodlands” and in his recent series of Yale University lectures on Making of Modern Ukraine available on YouTube.

Remind others of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.

Be vocal in conversations with friends and colleagues and on social media.

DONATE.

P.S. It was my conscious choice to use a photo that reflects that thirst for life that my friend told me about, from a small bakery business that opened in Kyiv after the war started. I am sure you have seen enough tragic images from the last few days already on social.

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