When any of us travel to a new place and go exploring we are very fortunate and privileged. I have a feeling that if you are reading this text then you are one of those lucky folk who have seen different parts of the world. The thing about visiting a city for the first time is the people – they make the difference. New York city is a good example. I know many folk who go to this exciting place and love it, and then I have met people that wonder around there and hate it. If you meet or know one good person and have someone look after you that always makes a big difference.

The people I am friendly with in Kyiv, my close circle, are mostly middle class people that are either entrepreneurs or professional folk or artists. They are not better than anyone else, but that is the group of friends we have, and enjoy, in that magical secret of a city. And I would argue that it is still pretty much a secret to most. As my friend Dave in California, who has been to visit us a couple of times in Kyiv, was saying to me this week on the phone, “Most Americans see Ukraine as something out of a Borat movie.”

The world constantly is seeing footage from this nightmare war in Ukraine but the one thing we don’t see to see on the news are my circle of friends from Kyiv, and like-minded folk from other big cites in Ukraine like Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, etc. Yes, Ukraine is not filled with affluent people and for most life is very hard. More than half the country was surviving on less than $500 a month, and that was before this evil war started. Now things are way harder. But still, Ukraine has a growing middle class, and it has talented film makers, tech unicorns, celebrated musicians, cool restaurateurs, funky retailers, and a whole lot more. We just don’t often see these kinds of people on the TV war coverage. So it makes sense that the world knows little of Ukraine other than what they see on the news from the front lines of the Russian invasion, which doesn’t looks good.

As I have written many times, I laugh a lot in Kyiv. People are very very funny. And they are seriously creative and soulful. This year we believe we will be able to return to our home in Kyiv, to The Nest, and we are excited to see all our friends and family again. Yes, it is always about the people, and Ukraine has wonderful people in abundance. When you do meet hard-working people that struggle to get by they are always so humble and so kind. So much soul. And the more privileged people, they are often a bit less humble, unfortunately, but generally very kind and warm too. To know Ukrainians is to embrace the magic in the world.

Happy new year !!!

Just over a month ago the Daily Maverick published a story I wrote about Kyiv. That text came straight from the heart. I received a lot of feedback from the article and it was quite touching. That text was also read by Operator Starsky in Ukraine and he shared the link with his YouTube community. Even more people read it after that and I now have a new online connection. Starsky is a hero and a very cool dude.

There were so many heart-warming comments posted on Starsky’s YouTube channel – I have cut and paste a handful of them here below:

Ukraine is going to be the place to be. You’ll see. Next year, full of tourists.

Kyiv will be even better once the war is over and the damage is rebuilt. I feel privileged to have visited it last year and I’ll visit it again in the future.

Beautiful article. It takes a long time to shake away the shackles of corruption but they are doing it right.

I lived in Kiev for 2 years, 2016-17, and loved it. For 6 months in that time, I was fortunate enough to live on Kreschatyk, my balcony being a spot to watch the busy street life of this beautiful city. My building was next to Maidan. Other side is the Kyiv Passage where they did Karaoke on Kreschatyk. Lived in some other apartments near Bessarabska Rynok on Darvina. Had my office on Bratska in Podil area. Would go out of my way walking there so I could enjoy my favorite street, Andrew’s Descent, a beautiful steep, winding collection of wonderful. The people were very friendly to me. English was commonplace. Food is amazing.

Kyiv was a city state when Moscow was a village.

Debora Patta from CBS interviewed Starksy at the start of the war. This is a must see.

I loved this. I watched it twice, and I will watch it again soon. It is not easy to cover all the facets of this war in 45 minutes so I thought what was shared in this special program was just excellent, and soulful. Humanity, society, humour, unity, love, the city of Kyiv, culture, language … it was highly insightful. I know we will be back soon in magical Kyiv. By the spring.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/5711

Imagine you are told there is a man in your road going around from house to house with a gun. You have even met some of the victims and you have heard horrible stories of this beast. But no one stops this evil. And every other week a siren goes off warning the people in the neighbourhood that this bad man is on the prowl again that day. You hide, hoping that this evil doesn’t find you.

When missiles and bombs first fell on Ukraine at the start of this nightmare war you could say that a lot of people did not believe it was happening. I was one of them. I will never forget that early winter morning, being woken up with a shaking building and the sounds of bomb blasts and air raid sirens. And 9 months on, missiles are still being fired into Ukraine and now there are apps and social media saying things like “The missiles are expected to hit Kyiv in 30 minutes.” Just think about how insane this is. Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows it is happening. Everyone is seeing this evil unfold, and yet, it just doesn’t stop. Week after week. What kind of a world are we living in.

As my friend Craig said the other day, “They just give you enough weapons to stop the guy from doing too much damage but not stopping the guy.” America and the UK gave Ukraine assurances a long time ago (yesterday it marked 28 years). Give Ukraine the weapons they need to win this war soon. If Ukraine was kitted out to the max they would finish this war and would be doing the world a big service.