Scarred by the accumulation of tragedies, the morale of Ukrainians has been sorely tested in recent days. The country had not yet had time to recover from the strike that claimed the lives of 45 civilians in Dnipro last Saturday when the helicopter carrying the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior crashed near a school on Wednesday kindergarten in Brovary, not far from kyiv, killing 14 people. Despite these dramas and the persistent information that Moscow plans to attack kyiv again to enslave all of Ukraine, the Ukrainians say they are still and always looking straight ahead, towards their victory.
“In recent days, after Dnipro, my mental health has collapsed, breathes Anastasiia Verba, 29, who lives in Lviv, in western Ukraine. But generally I feel strong and I know I can go on. »
For her as for others, reality sometimes strikes without warning. “Sometimes I start crying without knowing why. I try to control myself, but I can’t. After eleven months of war, “I have to learn to live with this brokenness [brokenness] in me “.
Last Saturday, the lives of 45 civilians, including 6 children, were cut short when a missile – possibly Russian – ripped open a residential building in Dnipro, in the center-east of the country, destroying more than 200 apartments. According to the latest report from the Ukrainian authorities, 79 people were injured in the attack and around 20 others are still missing.
Sometimes I start crying without knowing why. I try to control myself, but I can’t.
“I know exactly which residential building was hit,” says Vadym Blonsky, 22, who lived in Dnipro last year with emotion. I was so sad and overwhelmed [dans les derniers jours] I couldn’t eat or sleep anymore. »
The young man – who devotes most of his time “to working for victory” by working in particular as a volunteer in kyiv for the Come Back Alive foundation, which supports the Ukrainian army – assures that the Ukrainians nevertheless maintain the course. “We are going through very difficult times at the moment, but we remain united,” he said. We will support our army until we win. We have no other option. »
Serial disasters
To add to the misfortune, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky died on Wednesday when the helicopter he was traveling to the front line crashed on the outskirts of kyiv. In all, 14 people, including a child, died in what appears to be an accident. The tragedy also injured 25 people, including 11 children.
These serial disasters come on top of a harsh winter in Ukraine, where power and heating cuts have become the norm. “But we manage to laugh about it,” says Anastasiia Verba, mentioning that many memes ridiculing the actions of Russians are circulating on social networks. There is one who says: when you can no longer dry your hair at home, you can always go to the supermarket to do it! »
Biting humor to remind us that it is better to live without power than under the Russian yoke, she says. “What we tell them is: ‘Let’s see! Do you really think you’re going to break us because you cut off the electricity and the heating? »
New attack?
While analysts predicted a rather calm winter on the front line, fierce fighting is still raging in southern and eastern Ukraine. And the echoes that the Russians are preparing to launch a new assault on kyiv to bring down the whole of Ukraine are becoming more and more persistent.
In mid-December, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valeri Zaluzhny, declared that he expected this new attack on the capital to take place in the first weeks of the new year. Then, last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Valery Gerasimov, the Russian army chief of staff, as commander of the offensive in Ukraine, raising fears for the worst.
“I don’t see how the appointment of Gerasimov should represent a tectonic change [pour la guerre en Ukraine] », drops to the To have to Olexandr Solonko, 31, who joined the Ukrainian army on the second day of the war. “We are already in a new phase of the conflict. We are in a war of attrition [visant l’épuisement des Ukrainiens]where cannon fodder is used [russe] and attempts to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure”, denounces the man who recently left the hotly disputed region of Bakhmout to be reassigned to the center of the country.
But that doesn’t mean “underestimating the bloodlust of the Russians,” says the fighter. “I have no doubt that Putin will mobilize as many people as possible in the army, he is indignant. He’s not going to stop until we stop him ourselves. »
Stronger
For his part, Vadym Blonsky recalls that rumors of a new attack on the capital have been circulating since the liberation of the suburbs of kyiv from Russian troops last spring. “We are not afraid. We understand the danger that Russia represents, but it does not change anything [la nomination de Guerassimov], he said. We will fight for Kyiv or any other city. »
For Anastasiia Verba, there is no doubt that Ukraine is stronger today than in the early days of the war. Stronger militarily, of course, because of the equipment sent by the West. But stronger also at the level of civilians, who have all rallied around a common cause.
“We analyzed the productivity at my work [qui n’est pas lié à l’effort de guerre, NDLR], she reports. And it has improved over the past year in all the teams. We all work harder because there’s a reason now why we do. »