Three Years Later
I woke up in the center of Kharkiv on the morning of February 24th, 2022. It was still dark, 4am, and we already heard the explosions and the fighting. We made a few quick calls, and had collected a few things before my in-laws came to collect us.
We got in a car and headed out in the early dawn. People stopped us in the street and asked us if it was really happening, if the Russians were already in Kharkiv. We said we didn’t know, and drove on, past lines of people in front of ATMs and later, cars parked in lines to get gasoline. The few expats who were in town were already packing and on their way as well. Several expats were supposed to be flying in that day and they got turned away at the airport, some never returned again.
Taken Feb 24, 2022, on the highway out of Kharkiv
This picture was the only thing I took that day; my cousin-in-law was navigating the traffic at 7am to take us to his home. We’re there today.
We’ve been living in a little speck of a town between Kharkiv and Poltava. People use the term PGT to describe it, Poselok Goroskogo Tipa or “Village based on a city plan”. There’s a school, a graveyard, a Baptist church, an Orthodox church, and that’s about it. We were very fortunate that the Russian army never got this far, but we did have to spend a month sleeping in the neighbor’s basement, while we heard the fighting going on to the north and east of us.
We’ve been here for three years, and life has gone on around us. Many of my coworkers lost their homes, left their homes, some of them have returned already, and some of them may never return. We’ve waited for things to get better, but the most we can have for now is that they are stable. We’re stuck in a very macabre status quo, where Russia is still allowed to bomb innocent civilians and not feel remorse or responsibility. Outside forces are pushing for this status quo to change; some are sympathetic to Ukraine’s cause, many are not. What will be, will be. What is important is that I am around people that I trust, and whtever happens, we’ll face it together.
Slava Ukraini.
If you or someone you know is interested in donating to Ukraine’s victory, you can always go to United24, or pick out one or several Patreons that I personally support: