Visitors on Sunday toured a sample of Russian vehicles destroyed during the war, created by the National Museum of Military History in Kyiv. Credit … Emile Ducke for The New York Times
Kyiv, Ukraine – During the early months of the war, Yulia Fedotovskyh found a coping mechanism to help her sleep at night: she moved Telegram every evening and looked at photos of dead Russian soldiers burned and exploited.
At first, she said, looking at the pictures helped her feel more secure. But now that the conflict is dragging on, she said she felt exhausted by the war. He tries to avoid the news and no longer gets the gratification of the photographs.
“I moved Telegram every night before going to bed, otherwise it was hard for me to fall asleep,” said Ms. Fedotovskyh, 32, director of public relations for an information technology company. These days, he added, “I realize and have accepted that I can die at any time and therefore only live my life.”
Nearly five months after a bloody war in which Russia is constantly gaining territory, many Ukrainians remain angry and defiant.
The fall of Lysychansk over the weekend, which delivered Russia to the hotly contested eastern Luhansk province, was only the latest in a series of heavy blows, including some of the worst attacks on civilian targets since Russia invaded. in late February. There was a missile attack on a shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk that left at least 20 dead. A strike in a holiday town near Odessa that killed at least 21 people. A strike in a residential building in the capital that broke the fragile security plate of that city.
The departure of Russian troops from the capital in late March gave the Ukrainians a strong sense of pride for their country and army, and the hope that victory could be quick. However, with the war showing few signs of attenuation, people are more angry at the losses and express frustration because the Ukrainian government is downplaying the challenges they face in trying to raise morale.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has captivated the world with his determination and iconic green T-shirt, continues to address Ukrainians in nightly speeches full of determination and challenge.
“Something needs to be done about information policy in the population,” wrote on Facebook Sergii Neretin, journalist and former deputy head of the State Film Agency of Ukraine.
He noted that Ukrainian officials had justified the withdrawal of their forces from the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk saying it would help defend Lysychansk, their last major stronghold in the Luhansk region. Then Lysychansk fell.
“Almost every day they give us weapons, more and more powerful, and the footage shows how they destroy the enemy with cold,” he wrote. “How should we perceive information about our achievements, power, and weapons supply in the future?” he asked. “Read between the lines or take them at your word?”
The war has also provoked a major humanitarian crisis, which has sent millions to flee their homes and severely affected the livelihoods of Ukrainians.
Only 5 percent of Ukrainians say they live comfortably with their current income, according to a poll released this week by the National Democratic Institute.
However, a large majority of Ukrainians retain a strong faith in the armed forces as well as in Mr. Zelensky, according to the survey.
Svitlana Kolodiy, 34, a crowdfunding expert, said she had been raising money to support Ukrainian soldiers and was resigned to the fact that the war would last beyond the autumn.
And few Ukrainians are interested in committing to Russia. The NDI survey found that Ukrainians “are demonstrably uninterested in the land trade for peace.” Eighty-nine percent of respondents said the only acceptable scenario was the recovery of all Russian-occupied territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
“There is no commitment to Russia,” said Mariana Horchenko, a 37-year-old dental worker from Kyiv. “Not after all the people who have been murdered.”
– Valerie Hopkins and Maria Varenikova