In the middle of a 35-hour curfew.
The night again passed restlessly, the city was under fire from the invaders. On the other hand, some good news was received during the day: for example, about the successes of our Armed Forces in certain areas, about the fair decision of the Hague court, about the decision of Western countries to provide additional military assistance. On the other hand, my heart aches for Mariupol, Izium, Kherson and other settlements where real atrocities take place, which can only be learned from the words of eyewitnesses, because not all of this is shown on the news.
My freshly taped windows. Gives me a bit of comfort.
Besides the brutal physical war, informational war is raging. Cyber attacks, deep fakes, hacking or TV channels and data leakages, textings in messengers with lots of unverified information, which causes both unjustified panic and unjustified euphoria. Sometimes it's hard to maintain stable mental condition under such circumstances. So, I just let myself be angry and cry whenever I want.
Our 'candlelight' dinner - soup with fresh bread and Ukrainian salo.
At first, I was horrified by how sincerely and strongly I hated the enemy for everything that they're dong with my country, with my people, with my home. I thought that by showing this aggression in response, I was sinking to the level of the occupiers. But then I realized that I have the right to hate and express anger. And if I'm told the opposite, being called for “prudence” and “humanity,” I am just being gaslighted and manipulated. This way, the focus shifts from the victim to the aggressor. It's covering up the cannibalism of russian soldiers and directing all the spotlights on the consistent anger of Ukrainians, exposing it as something bad and irrational. Sounds very abusive once you think of it. Meanwhile, anger is an ideal source of resource in a crisis situation, which is always available. Don't let yourself be fooled - you have nothing to feel guilty about.