A friend of mine in Kyiv shared with me a sobering perspective recently. He said that everyone is waiting for Russia to strike another country in Europe. Not that anyone wants more people to suffer, but, if this did happen then perhaps Europe will take things more seriously.

People talk about the bombings in Kyiv, and the rest of Ukraine, like it is a normal thing. When London got bombed in WW II it was called the Blitz. In Kyiv nothing is normal and this is not some “conflict” as some refer to it. This is daily terrorism – all out war. Russia is evil and there is no doubting this.

Ukrainians are tired of fighting this evil alone. They are holding the line for all of Europe and paying the ultimate price. Anyone who can’t see this is either very naïve or full of shit, or both.

Most people I know in Ukraine believe that this war will go on for many more years. What kind of future does this nation then have? There is a lot of discussion in the media about more people that will try to leave the capital this winter. It is all very sad and worrying, but I believe Ukraine will get through it, albeit with a lot more pain.

The politics of Europe is another worry. If France and Germany go to the right and someone like Le Pen becomes a leader in Europe, then things are heading for a bigger war for sure.

If NATO falls apart then Russia and its evil allies will become more bold and aggressive.

Russian President Putin famously said “Russia’s borders do not end anywhere”.

We have been warned.

Photo from the Kyiv Independent today – “smoke rises over the city following a Russian air attack on Kyiv”.

Andriivskyi Descent in the Podil neighborhood – one of my favourite places in Kyiv.

The Bunster is almost 6 years old (his birthday is on the 29th) and he is very curious. This high energy little man is a sponge, and he is learning non-stop. Of course he keeps asking what his dad is doing all the time when I say “I need to do some work Bun, please stop making so much noise.” “What is this work … ?” he sometimes asks. It looks like all I do is stare a laptop screen all day. That in itself is concerning, but it is what is on that screen that is not so good for the Bun to see.

If I was in the fashion industry then perhaps he would look at me glaring at images of people in trendy clothes. And if I was a travel agent then perhaps he would look at me checking out pictures of hotels, and travel itineraries. And if I was in the automobile sector then perhaps he would look at photos of cool cars on my laptop screen. But I am working on a film project that is about Ukraine and there are visuals on my laptop of explosions, devastation and pain.

The Bunster knows about the war but we try our best not to talk about it in front of him. He is very sensitive and his one granny is in Kyiv and he sometimes asks us “Are rockets going to hurt Baba?” It is hard to believe that war is a part of lives and I fear that war is not going away. My biggest fear is that the Bunster is going to grow up in a world where war is a fixture, and that is incredibly sad.

We believe in the work we are doing. We are trying to make a difference. We are trying to share a story about Ukraine and what people in Kyiv have experienced there from 2018 up until today. This work is from the heart and it is full of purpose. One day, when the Bunster is a bit older he will watch the chapters of Kyiv of Mine and learn something about where he comes from and how the world there has changed since 2018 (before the full scale invasion) up until today, in this fifth year of this brutal war, which has no end in sight.

Make sure to watch “The light that remains” – this is the 4th chapter in the Kyiv of Mine series. We believe this will speak to your heart.

It was a brutal winter, and another cold season is already on the horizon. More than four years into the full-scale invasion, the war has left its mark. In this fourth chapter of KYIV OF MINE, we return to the people living through it and to the traumatic ways life, hope and resilience have changed.

Today is Ukraine’s 35th Independence Day. It may seem like not much, but it’s 35 more years of freedom than Russia would like Ukraine to have.

https://www.youtube.com/@KyivOfMine

This is a summary of some points from what I was reading online last week.

Anne Applebaum and Alexander Stubb are spot on : Putin dreams of restoring the Russian Empire.

The Russian population, brainwashed by years of propaganda, dreams of the same thing.

Russia has everything: vast territory and resources. The search for new ones is not the reason for the invasion of Ukraine.

Mentally, Russia is an empire living in the past. That is why Russia does not feel whole without Ukraine, which it perceives as an inseparable part of itself.

Ukraine’s victory will mean the death of this empire. Russia’s defeat will come when it rethinks its imperial identity. Only political and cultural reform will turn Russia into a civilized neighbor.

As long as Russia exists as an empire, it will think in terms of “buffer zones” and borders reaching all the way to Lisbon, and it will remain a real threat to Europe.

And then there is Trump, who doesn’t help Ukraine and continues to appease Putin.

It’s clear to everyone by now that Trump is on Putin’s side. Either Putin has something devastating on him, or he thinks he can make more money by betraying Ukraine, contrary to all American foreign policy since 1948.

Recently the US Senate passed a sanctions bill on Russia, but this is just a symbolic act. Speaker Johnson is going to ignore it in the House until October and if any changes are made it will delay the bill even longer.

Trump does not need a bill. If Trump wanted to sanction Russia he has that power right now. Trump continues to not sanction Russia every day. Trump just wants good PR by allowing this bill to pass before the November election.

The conclusion from this discussion is that there are much darker times ahead and I fear more than ever that a bigger war is coming to Europe. Of course, I hope I am wrong.

Ukraine will survive, and Ukraine will one day heal and grow. But until then there is a lot more pain still to come.

Dave and Dave