A year of courage, caring, pain, hope, endurance and above all a year of unity (1)

From dancers in Kyiv I came to hear how they tried to work together to keep the spirit high up. Next to the dance training, they also got some military training. As soldiers, they had to defend their city already three times, having exchanged their point shoes in riffles defending their city.

A year ago, on this day, at about seven in the morning, president Zelensky addressed the people of Ukraine with a short statement. It lasted only 67 seconds. It contained the two most important things, then and now.

That Russia started a full-scale war against us. And that we are strong. We are ready for anything. We will defeat everyone. Because we are Ukraine!

said the president now one year later. Who would have thought that actor who played a president had to become a real war president, holding everyone in line with the Ukrainian thought.

America for several weeks had warned of something we could not believe would happen. There was “war language”, but everyone knew that war would not at all bring solutions, except many deaths.

February 24, 2022 began. The longest day of our lives. The hardest day of our modern history. We woke up early and haven’t fallen asleep since.

said the president.

Some people were afraid, some were shocked, some did not know what to say, but everyone felt what to do. There were traffic jams on the roads, but many people were going to get weapons. Queues were forming. Some people stood at the borders, but many went to military registration and enlistment offices, and territorial defense units.

From regions where there had been many pro-Russian people, their idea swiftly shifted as the movements of the Russians went deeper into the country, making unnecessary civilian victims. All those beautiful Russian holiday resorts in the south of Ukraine were ruined by those who suddenly had become monsters.

As the president said in his speech the population did not raise the white flag. Many more, who previously would not have anything against Russians, who are really their brothers, now began to defend the blue and yellow, and started to detest those who invaded their country. They were not afraid, and even when Russia did everything to undermine the spirit of the Ukrainians, they did not break down and did not surrender.

The symbol of this was the border guards of Zmiinyi Island and the route they told the Russian warship.

affirms the president, who continued:

Our faith has grown stronger. Our morale has been reinforced. We endured the first day of a full-scale war. We didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, but we realised for sure: every tomorrow is worth fighting for!

And we fought. And we fiercely fought for every day. And we endured the second day. And then – the third. Three days that we were predicted to last. They threatened that in 72 hours we would not exist. But we survived the fourth day. And then the fifth. And today we have been standing for exactly one year. And we still know: every tomorrow is worth fighting for!

Even though there may have been so many deaths on both sides, the Ukrainians, who are in the minority, have no intention of giving up. We can only hope the West shall have the courage to help them for as long as it needs. Because it does not look like this war is going to end soon.

All those united in Nato must work together and provide the necessary resources for Ukraine to adequately defend itself. It is also very important for the European Union that Ukraine does not lose this war. Even if Putin claims it is the West that has gone on the attack, we should rather be aware that Putin has declared war on the West and will do everything possible to realise his predetermined Greater Russia.

If he succeeds in conquering Ukraine, this will not stop him from moving further southwards on his conquest tour. That is why it comes down to building defences in the surrounding countries now.

At the moment for many it is just a matter of “to survive”. so many youngsters who had beautiful plans for the future saw them ‘explode’. The dancers told me that in one year they have become ten years older. Many of them are not afraid any more to die. They have come to see that they live now and they have to take everything from life, at the time they can take it. Not thinking of tomorrow, but considering living today.

Of the many Ukrainians I teach over here in Belgium, the majority want to return as soon as possible. One girl has plans to stay here, even when the war would come already to an end soon, because she would love to study further in Belgium, to go afterwards back to her family in Ukraine.

Of those in Holland, they have their cats and their kid being safe over here, and that is what matters. Somehow they might consider it here their new “home”. But for the majority their “home” is over there in the north, in eastern Europe, by the Dnieper River and Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

I personally, I had hoped there would take place a coup against the Russian leader. But he is so smart to make sure those who do not agree with his plans shall disappear forever. The bodies that are returning to Russia are those from faraway places, where people their voice does not count.

I would have loved for the Russians would be coming across more difficulties, facing their dead, and creating a lot of questions, about why this liberation of Ukraine brings so many dead people to them. Though from Ukrainians here who have family in Russia, I hear those living in Russia all the time hear about the West attacking Russia. They do not want to believe their family who fled to the enemy (the West) and who would be brainwashed by the Nato allies.

It is so strange that many living in Russia still did not come to see how they live in a country where there is no freedom of speech any more and where there is an old tyrant, an old dictator governing the country, having a firm grip on the Kremlin.

I look forward to the day that also in Russia this war shall become unpopular and voices from the crowd shall raise.

The Ukrainian leader expressed his gratefulness to all those who make the Ukrainian resistance possible. He said:

These are all our defenders. The Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ground Forces, our infantry and tank-men. Air and Naval Forces. Artillery, air defense, paratroopers, intelligence, border guards. The Special Operations Forces, the Security Service, the National Guard, the police, the territorial defense units – all our security and defense forces. Thanks to you, Ukraine stands. And we endured the furious month and the furious beginning of the war.

And then came spring. New attacks, new wounds, new pain. Everyone saw the true nature of our enemy. The shelling of the maternity hospital, the drama theater in Mariupol, Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Svobody Square in Kharkiv, the train station in Kramatorsk. We saw Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka. The whole world clearly realized what the Russian world really means. What Russia is capable of.

At the same time, the world saw what Ukraine is capable of. These are the new heroes. Defenders of Kyiv, defenders of Azovstal. New feats performed by entire cities. Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Mariupol, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Hostomel, Volnovakha, Bucha, Irpin, Okhtyrka. Hero Cities. The capitals of invincibility. New symbols. And with that, new assessments and forecasts for Ukraine.

The whole world could see the horrors and war crimes committed by the Russian army and the Wagner Group. Putin did everything possible to discourage the Ukrainian people. For this, he did not shy away from ordering bombing raids very early in the morning on civilian targets, schools and hospitals.
Again and again, the population had to suffer the indignities at the hands of the Russians again and again, and had to watch family members and friends being robbed of their lives.
Yet they persevered and did not lose the courage to persevere. Some refused to leave their living quarters even though not much remained of them.

The president has reason to be proud of his people.

The first month of the war. And the first turning point in the war. The first changes in the world’s perception of Ukraine. It did not fall in three days. It stopped the second army of the world.

We took new hits every day, learned about new tragedies every day, but we endured thanks to those who gave it all they got every day. For the sake of others.

These are our medics who rescue wounded soldiers on the frontline, perform surgeries under fire, deliver babies in bomb shelters, and stay on duty for days and weeks. Like our rescuers and firefighters who pull people out of the rubble and fire 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And our railroad workers who have been evacuating hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians since the beginning of the war without sleep or rest.

And then there were the first offensives, the first achievements, the first liberated territories. The first and not the last Chornobaivka. Expulsion of the occupiers from the Kyiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions. Our Stuhna. Vilkha. Our Neptune and the sinking Moskva cruiser. The first Ramstein. And the second ever Lend-Lease.

Ukraine has surprised the world. Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine has united the world. There are thousands of words to prove it, but a few will suffice. HIMARS, Patriot, Abrams, IRIS-T, Challenger, NASAMS, Leopard.

Zelenky is thankful to all who he may consider

“partners, allies and friends who have stood side by side with us throughout the year.

I am glad that the international anti-Putin coalition has grown so much that it requires a separate address.”

I also thank our foreign policy army. Divisions of our diplomats, ambassadors, representatives in international organizations and institutions. All those who are fighting the occupiers with fire and sword of international law, achieving new sanctions and recognition of the terrorist state as a terrorist state.

The war changed the fate of many families. It rewrote the history of our families. It changed our customs and traditions. Grandfathers used to tell their grandchildren how they beat the Nazis. Now grandchildren tell their grandfathers how they beat the Rashists. Mothers and grandmothers used to knit scarves, now they weave camouflage nets. Children used to ask Santa for smartphones and gadgets, but now they give pocket money and raise money for our soldiers.

In fact, every Ukrainian has lost someone in the past year. A father, a son, a brother, a mother, a daughter, a sister. A loved one. A close friend, colleague, neighbour, acquaintance.

Preceding