Tomorrow evening Craig and I are going to the train station in Kyiv and we are heading to Wroclaw. I am leaving my home, again. I have now done this a few times and each time it hurts like hell. God knows if I will be able to ever return. I believe I will, and I want to. I believe all of us will return next year. But again, only God knows. I don’t want to leave tomorrow but I need to get back to Marta and Bunster. It is a sad feeling to leave Kyiv, and I also feel guilty.

The first time we left was the day after the war started. Something none of us will ever forget. At that stage we were terrified and in shock. I am not in shock anymore but the sadness is still there. But I am also inspired and high on life. It is a roller coaster of emotions and it is very hard to describe this feeling. One needs to understand Kyiv and one needs to be here to experience the magic and miracle that is Ukraine. The world predicted that Kyiv would fall in 3 days, and it never happened. Then the Russians were going to freeze everyone to death during the winter, and that never happened. Ukraine is strong and brave. This is the story of David and Goliath. But this story is far from over. Yes, there is a lot of stress about the future. Russia has endless money and way too many zombies that they keep sending to the meat grinder. Looking only at the numbers, things do not look good for Ukraine. But, Ukraine knows why they are fighting. They have the support from much of the normal world, and they have truth on their side. Please God the truth wins out – it generally does. One think I keep wondering: what do Russian soldiers think when they kill Ukrainians. And it is not just Ukrainian soldiers they kill, but also, so many civilians.

I hope I will be able to come back again soon. Maybe Marta will return home with me on the next train ride I take from Wroclaw to Kyiv. I know she desperately wants to return home. Wroclaw has been good to us and we can’t complain. Bunster is in a good kindergarten, the city is kind and pretty, and the fridge is full of food. So many people are fighting, and dying, so that we can one day return to Kyiv. When you are in Kyiv everyone speaks about the soldiers. The soldiers are the reason I can sit in my home in Kyiv and write this. God protect them all.

We have had a busy time here in Kyiv over the past 6 weeks filming interviews and capturing moods and texture. Our film project is in the last stretch and soon we will see the full film come together. It is going to be a powerful and important piece of work and we hope it will showcase the magic that we all experience here in Kyiv. In our group of people that are featured in the film, there are now 6 new Ukrainians. People from our film are getting married in the war, and some are having babies. Life goes on, bomb shelters, air raid sirens, and all.

There is a lot of hardship still to come and the trauma is going to last for generations. And still, with all of this pain, people want to be here and they want to make Ukraine grow and prosper. Corruption is the other war, the internal battle. It is on everyone’s lips. Corruption is everywhere in the world, and here it is one of the painful legacies from the old Soviet system. I believe Mr. Zelensky is doing all he can to fight corruption and that things are slowly getting better.

I love this city. It is my home. The two film editors, Janine and Jol, who just left Kyiv, have fallen in love with this place. It is far from perfect, but it just all works. The soul, the creativity, the laughter, the eccentricity, the beauty … I knew they would not want to leave. And there is a war going on. They experienced missiles being shot down, air raid sirens and all the stresses that have now become the new normal. And with all of that, they would stay on if they could.

We are confident that the film will present all that they have experienced. Ukraine deserves a better conversation in the world. This has been the motivation for the film, going back many many years. There are so many stupid stereotypes when it comes to Ukraine, and a different story needs to be told. That is why we are working like crazy to get this done. We want to share a different take on Ukraine. We believe that a story about modern Ukrainians will capture people’s imaginations in a big way.

Kyiv is a gift for the world. This city is a well kept secret and if the world allows Ukraine to fall then the world loses something so special and very important. Ukraine is a brains trust, a creative hub, a massive food producer, a beautiful land, and so much more. I discovered late in life, during the war actually, that my father’s parents were from Lemberg (Lviv) and that we have Ukrainian roots. This is my home and I can’t wait to return. I am sad and sorry that I have to leave tomorrow, again.

This war is pure evil. Russia keeps on terrorizing Ukraine, day after day. This is terrorism, and the world does not do enough to stop this evil. If Ukraine falls (which I don’t believe will happen) then this evil will not stop and then God help everyone. Ukraine is fighting for the world here. Ukraine is fighting for freedom. Freedom does not come for free. The Western world seems to have forgotten that. Ukraine is paying the ultimate price for freedom. The world could and should help Ukraine more.