Letter from Kyiv: Exhausted but unbroken after four years of full-scale war

I am in Kyiv, and the mood here is hard to comprehend unless one experiences this first hand, but let me try to share some thoughts. Everyone is exhausted. We are coming up on four years of all-out war, and here in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv there have been months and months of constant missile and drone attacks, and sleeping is a challenge during such nightmarish experiences.

I have lived through many of these attacks so I know the fear and stress that they bring. Even on the nights when there are no attacks you still keep thinking you hear the air raid sirens going off. Everyone is on edge, and it has caused so much trauma, and it is far from over.

There is a race on. The evil Russians are trying to break the Ukrainian spirit and the Ukrainians are trying break the Russian economy. Sadly, there are no real winers in this race, and the damage that has been done (and the pain that is still to come) has messed things up for generations.

This is the coldest winter in Europe for years and here in Kyiv it is about -10°C today and so many parts of the city are without heating, or electricity, or water. Children and the elderly are suffering. And what if the Russians successfully strike the infrastructure here a few more times? Could the electricity system, for example, totally switch off so that there is a nationwide blackout that lasts for weeks or months? That would be catastrophic, but it is a possibility, and people here are worried about this doomsday scenario.

The world has largely moved on from Ukraine, sadly. It has been all about the Donald Trump freak show this past year. That is my view on things. Ukraine will not give up though, even with that lunatic Trump who keeps pushing for this. Here in Ukraine they know that occupation equals death, so giving up will never happen.

In the past year, since Trump took the reins again in America, the Ukrainians have had almost no help from across the ocean. And Europe can’t seem to gets its act together with idiots like French President Emmanuel Macron who every few months says that we need to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I also here this from people I sometimes chat to back in South Africa or in the UK. They simply don’t get it. You cannot talk to Putin. He is evil and he is insane. He wants to be the new Tsar and will send his entire nation to their deaths before he stops. Putin will not stop, unless he is stopped. And make no mistake, the majority of Russians support this madman. They will do anything the Tsar wants them to do.

I read in the news this past week that there is a picture of Putin hanging on the wall now in the White House. Wow! Just imagine if Winston Churchill had put up a picture of Adolf Hitler in 10 Downing Street. This is all just insane. Trump continues to pressure Ukraine while constantly appeasing Russia. It just makes no sense, and it is very cruel.

All of this creates more trauma here in Kyiv, and throughout Ukraine. People think of PTSD and trauma as something associated with bombs going off, and loud noises. Yes, perhaps. But when Trump opens his mouth it causes trauma. And it is like this every week.

Then there is a the stress and worry about the economy, which is struggling. And the feeling that the war will never end. No one here believes it will end any time soon. Only when Putin dies one day. People here have been robbed of years of their life. The full-scale Russian invasion is coming up on four years of this nightmare, and Russians continue to travel the world, and participate in the Olympics, and carry on as if all is okay. But it is not okay. And it is going to bite us all in the ass. The global complacency is going to haunt us all. That is what I believe, sadly.

The drone warfare that is taking place is another big problem for the world. A Pandora’s box has been opened. Ukraine leads the world now in military innovation, and drones are the new fighting frontier. But this is not limited to Ukraine and bad actors will be exploiting these new innovations pretty soon. I am sure of it. Asymmetric warfare is a new problem for every country, and we are entering into very dangerous times.

I think the single biggest problem for the world is that nuclear weapons are now going to increase in number. Dictators, like in North Korea, for example, can see this clearly – if you have nukes then you can do whatever you want. Putin has set the pace, and Trump has played right into his hands. In fact, Trump seems to admire Putin, so things are looking very exciting for dictators.

Here in Kyiv there is a belief that a bigger war is coming to Europe, and when it does the Ukrainians will be a few steps ahead. The rest of the world is unprepared for such a scenario. Of course, I hope this prediction is wrong. War is not a good thing, but it seems inevitable. This is what history has shown us.

Here in Kyiv I am spending time at “home” at our apartment, and working with the team here on Kyiv of Mine. We are trying to capture this mood on film, as we work to create another chapter in this documentary series. We need to record what people here are going through.

It is a story that I believe will be applicable to people far beyond Ukraine, unfortunately. In Poland we made many friends over the past few years, and they are more anxious than ever. Russia could easily send drones and missiles to Warsaw. And what will Trump do? Nothing – that is what everyone here will tell you. Trump himself often suggests that Nato is redundant.

If you ask ChatGPT who are the enemies of Russia… yup, it is all of us. They hate the West, and if you think you can talk to these people then you not with the programme.

I never thought about war when I was growing up. And until it started here almost four years ago I never would have believed it. I still don’t. When there are big, devastating strikes on Kyiv it still sometimes does make the headlines.

What you don’t see on these news reports is the damage that Russia is causing here. Alcoholism is on the rise, divorce rates are sky high, and drug abuse, domestic violence and online gambling are a big problem. And then there are the amputees. There are an estimated 60,000 soldiers who are missing limbs. And that number is climbing. The strength that Ukraine will still need to find to get through this is just hard to fathom.

We are entering an era of “great power politics”. And in this era America, China and Russia will carve up the world. China is eying Asia, America is active in Latin America, and Russia will try to take more territory in Eastern Europe and more. In short, the old world order is coming to an end, and in this new era, the strong bullies will take what they want in their backyards. Europe is under threat – that is very clear here in Ukraine.

“The strong do what they will and the weak endure what they must.” – Thucydides DM