Honest confessions from the war zone: Ukrainians talked about how they are living the worst days of their lives – Topky.sk

Ukrainians have been living with the idea of ​​a possible war since 2014, when the separatists seized areas in the east of the country and Russia annexed Crimea. Recently, the threat has been exacerbated by the massive accumulation of Russian troops on the eastern border, which has resulted in today’s large-scale offensive. Three Ukrainian citizens are for BBC expressed how it is possible to live in such a difficult situation at all.

He ventilates the stress by dancing

Valentyna Kovacova (36) is a professional dancer who owns the ValenDance studio in Kiev. Under normal circumstances, the end of winter and the arrival of spring is her busiest working hours, as many clients attend her courses as she begins to warm up. However, this year is different; the threat of a Russian invasion has made people stop thinking about such things. Others even stopped paying for courses to save some money. Valentyna counted on the offensive of Russia, but apparently not in the full extent of Ukraine. This is also how her parents, who live far to the west of the country, are at risk.

Flying with drones

Ruslan Beliaiev (45) operates Dronarium, a company that provides commercial drone flying. It organizes air shows and places advertisements or banners in hard-to-reach places. One of their most famous projects was the hoisting of an LGBT flag with rainbow stripes over the Ukrainian capital during the Kyiv Pride celebrations in June 2020. The flag flew over various Kiev monuments, including the Statue of the Fatherland.

Cooperation with commercial clients brought good returns, but the business began to decline. First there was a pandemic and then increased tensions around Ukraine, which now erupted until the war. While Ruslan has not bothered to buy basic items yet, he decided to look for other directions in his business. Two of his workers, who had fought in the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the past, got the idea. “Our drones could be recalibrated. Some have special cameras, others thermal cameras. We can all use them for intelligence,” he says. Beliaiev’s company is in the process of preparing a joint project with the Ukrainian Territorial Defense. This cooperation would be able to keep him back on his feet.

He is working on Ukraine’s defense strategy

Natalia Sadová (35) studied international relations. She works as a spokesperson for the state-owned weapons company Ukroboronprom. As tensions rose recently, she began to consider how she could focus even more on the defense sphere. “I can’t take a machine gun. I don’t think I’ll be very helpful. “ he says. However, she believes that her education and experience will help her in the field of defense strategy, and therefore she enrolled in a two-year postgraduate study at the University of National Defense.

How has the current crisis affected her daily life? “I’m not limiting myself, I’m trying to live as before, or as the situation allows,” said Natalia. “My friends have been wondering if it’s worth withdrawing cash from banks. I don’t think so. I’m sticking to my savings plan.” Like many other Ukrainians, Sadova emphasizes the need to avoid panic at all costs. However, after today’s invasion of Russian troops, the situation has changed rapidly.