The life in Kyiv is difficult and challenging – an influencer writes from the other side

A few points about life in Kyiv at the moment from a visiting foreign guest: Blackouts. Again, the Russians are doing their best to destroy heating and electricity infrastructure to freeze civilians in their homes. Attacks started earlier this winter and so did the blackouts. At the moment, you get maybe 4 hours a day. That’s when you have to charge everything you have.

Many people have bought electric power stations. These can power most things for a day but not kettles, fridges or washing machines. Shops and businesses use diesel generators, which thrum away by the entrances. The city stinks of diesel. I’m writing this now, on my phone, in the dark. Today I had 4 hours of electricity, tomorrow three and a half. Since the full-scale war began, winters have been mild. If we have a cold one there will be a massive humanitarian crisis.

Attacks are going on

There are sirens every day, but attacks only a couple of times a week. Attacks usually happen at night to force women and children from their beds. Sleep deprivation is, after all, the easiest way to torture people. In 2023, an attack might have lasted an hour; now they can last all night. After the initial siren, you get SMS updates warning of danger in your area. Most people don’t take shelter. To be honest, I’ve never been to a shelter. I’m too lazy and shy. Like most people, when things get bad, I hide in the bathroom.

Civilians. Men of fighting age are either in the army, hiding or have left the country. This means the cities are disproportionately populated by women, children and the elderly. The Russians know this and bomb anyway. It’s deliberate and designed to sap morale.

Drones. In the first winter of the war, Shahed drones flew slowly, had small warheads and could be shot down or diverted by ”REB” devices. Now they are bigger, faster and harder to destroy. New ones have jet engines.
Four years ago, an attack of 30 drones made headlines. Today, attacks of 600 drones that are basically cruise missiles are routine. The really scary attacks are with cruise and ballistic missiles. These often contain hundreds of parts manufactured in Western countries. The people responsible for this are accessories to murder.

Ukrainians have forgotten, what real life is …

Fatalism. Ukrainians are often portrayed as brave but there is a difference between those who have chosen to fight and those who have nowhere to go. The truth is that millions of Ukrainians have simply forgotten what life was like before weekly bombings. This is especially true for kids. Four years is an eternity to a child.

Kyiv. In 2022, the city was covered in trenches, anti-tank obstacles and machine gun nests. These were removed when the Russians were driven away. Damage from Russian strikes is generally cleared up quickly but the scars remain. Obviously, there is no foreign investment. Shopping centres are working but mostly empty. Many shops have closed. A few people wander around with no intention of buying anything. Air travel is a distant memory.

Language. Everybody in Kyiv is bilingual. Before 2014, everybody spoke Russian but mostly wrote in Ukrainian. Now, most choose to speak Ukrainian. Some Russian singers and bands popular before the war left Russia and made vague statements about peace. The majority stayed in Russia and publicly support the war despite the fact that they all used to tour Ukraine so they know that the pretext for the war, ”the oppression of Russian speakers” is a pack of lies. Ukrainians who grew up on Russian music now find it repellent.

The Russian opposition. The so-called ”good Russians” are despised in Ukraine. While their country commits genocide, they whine about visa issues in Europe. It would be nice if the world’s media gave Ukrainian war widows a fraction of the attention as they lavish on Mrs Navalnaya. Ukrainian heroes died protecting their homes and families. Navalny chose to leave his family to die in some kind of weird, futile, Dostoyevskian gesture.

The corruption scandal

The corruption scandal. Ukrainians will just do what they always do in elections: vote for someone new. Zelensky was always more popular abroad than at home. Westerners think he’s brave. Ukrainians know that those doing the fighting are the real heroes. Ukrainian leaders are disposable, Russian ones are eternal. Their deaths trigger crises. We wait.

Peace talks. Nobody believes in Russian ceasefires or Western ”security assurances”. Ukrainians know that Russia will just lie and that many gullible Westerners will choose to believe these lies rather than face the uncomfortable reality that the safe, stable world order that they grew up in, no longer exists. Nobody understands Russia like the Ukrainians do, but Westerners don’t listen. Russia understands only violence. They see compromise as weakness. The cheapest and best way to end the conflict is to arm Ukraine to the teeth. The West’s reluctance to do this will inevitably lead to a new worldwide nuclear arms race. Ukraine gave up 1,700 nuclear warheads in return for ”security assurances”. No country will ever be that stupid again.

Putin. Ukrainians almost never talk about him. He’s just a symptom of a disease that infects the vast majority of Russians, even their pathetic, impotent opposition. The Western delusion that it’s ”Putin’s war” and that when he dies, Russia will somehow magically transform into a modern, liberal, democratic society is as stupid as it is widespread. Ukrainians live in the real world. Not having to constantly explain this is the absolute best thing about living here. 

Written by an unknown influencer from ”the other side”