Atlas' Domain

For example, life somewhere in the USA, Spain, France, Finland, Germany. Of course, normal life has its problems too! But at least they don't have the backdrop of war. For me, living in peace—is just movies, books, photos of others on my phone. You know, when you live in this almost your entire life, you don't even notice how this "background" affects you. And then, at some point, you turn around and realize what you've lost. And it wasn't your fault, someone just thought they had the right to steal it!

In 2014, as a child, I drew pictures about peace, hoping that it would come very soon, the children around me too, and the adults too. I wished for my birthdays, like many children then and now, for the war to end. I guess when I was little, if I saw how Russia decided to destroy and seize not only my home but also the homes of others, and also saw the indifference of many people, I would have burst into tears. As a child, like anyone else, I hoped that a couple of years would pass and it would all end. But this did not happen.

You know, I can't make friends online with anyone from a more normal world. For them, war is a fairy tale, but for me, peaceful life is a fairy tale.

So...people only hear 1% of my life, like the mere fact that I live here, and they immediately get tense. They don't want to take on such a burden, like sometimes some information about my life during the war. And of course, after that, they quickly cut off communication. As if I'm somehow contagious, even though I'm actually a very good person, calm, cheerful.

The overwhelming majority of them never seem to listen to Ukrainian voices. Or, if they do, it's always: "We understand you're at war and going through a lot, but that's not what this is about".

I've noticed that these trends always become especially active whenever Ukraine is not only defending itself but also fighting back. Russia suddenly needs to restore cultural empathy towards "uwu poor ordinary Russians" — who, in most cases, were perfectly fine with what their fellow citizens were doing or simply didn't care. Now they're crying over the packages they lost from Wildberries while we've been burying our people for years.

But every single time I still can't get used to this level of indifference and hypocrisy. These same people would defend their favorite artist even if they walked out wearing an "I love Russia" t-shirt, insisting that it somehow wasn't support for Russia and that Ukrainians were just overreacting. Or they'll passionately defend a fictional Russian character while bullying real Ukrainians.

Since 2022, I've only become more disappointed in much of the Western left. We simply don't fit into their understanding of war, genocide, discrimination, or the victims of centuries of imperialism and colonialism. So, to them, we're just annoying people from an uninteresting country.

Their feminists don't care about Ukrainian women.

Their LGBT activists don't care about Ukrainian LGBT people.

And I don't even want to start talking about the Crimean Tatars. They're an Indigenous Muslim people who were forcibly deported from their homeland by the Soviet Union and have now, once again, almost completely lost their home in Crimea, where Russians are being settled instead. Many of those who remain are abducted or sentenced to impossibly long prison terms under horrific conditions. You would think this is exactly the kind of story this political camp always claims to stand for — but you almost never hear them mention the Crimean Tatars at all.

I used to believe that Ukraine's history and struggle naturally aligned with the values many on the Western left claim to defend. But with every passing year, I believe that less and less. At this point, I'm starting to doubt that even with enough time, our story will ever become something they genuinely care about.

I'm trying to see the good in people. I really am.

But I don't know.

many of us, Ukrainians, have already spoken on that matter, but I want to add my two cents, because I can't stand the hypocrisy we've been facing all these years.

that said, you won't achieve a moral high ground after saying something like "hating ALL russians is bad! people are not their government! (then who else but people?); you're a racist! (which, in fact, is what some people say, and this is hilarious, because since when have russians been a race?)". another thing that just tears me apart inside is when some people are so arrogantly convinced they know better THAN US, UKRAINIANS, whether it's war or genocide in Ukraine. you live thousands of kilometers away from us and don't see everything russians are doing to our people. what do YOU know?

you want to seem saint and morally superior? you think we hate all of them just for fun? open your eyes, russians won't praise you for defending them on the internet. they don't even care about what their shitty country is doing to us. not to mention that some of them are childishly surprised when yet another huge warehouse blows up (I wonder why lmao), which proves that they don't even understand cause-and-effect relationships and have no idea what's going on in THEIR OWN FUCKING COUNTRY. they only care about themselves: one half of them wants the war to end only because it affects THEM, and the other half wants us all dead simply because we're Ukrainians. and some proclaimed themselves as "apolitical" so they just stuck their heads is their asses and stay silent no matter what happens. what a convenient political "stance", isn't it? your "ordinary" russians are actively participating in the manufacturing of all kinds of weapons, which are being used to kill us. you think missiles, bombs, and drones are magically produced on their own? you think thousands of putins are on the front line right now? those are the fathers, sons, and friends of your "ordinary" russians. so are you still really convinced that your average favourite russian artist isn't involved in the war? but oh. there's one more thing—they've ALL been directly involved in it from day one because their taxes feed the war machine. "but you can't hate them for that because they have to live somehow, buy food, clothes etc!!" yk what? I don't care. WE don't care. we don't care if they're "against their government", because it really means NOTHING. even at first glance, the so-called russian liberals are actually imperial pigs in nature.

now, some of you accuse ukrainians for being "rude" and "aggressive" on the internet, but you don't actually see the root of our frustration, because no matter how many times we speak about the russians' true nature, people don't hear us. sometimes deliberately, and that is what infuriates me. we're tired. all these years we have been frustrated with the indifference of the world. now I want you to put yourselves in our shoes for a moment: as a victim of a genocide, would you be happy to see that other people treat your oppressors with kindness after everything they've done to your people and your country? would you be happy if people called you slurs simply because you asked them to boycott everything russia-related? no? that's exactly what I'm talking about. you're ready to tear anyone apart for having ties to israel, but for some reason I don't see that same attitude toward russia (I'm not a zionist, if anything). it reeks of hypocrisy, doesn't it? what is this selective activism?

educate yourself on all the wars russians have started and what they have done to indigenous peoples of russia. if, even after that, you still think russians are saints and that not all of them are bad, I don't know what to tell you. and I don't even want to hear that "USA are just as bad as russia!", not everything is about USA; we're speaking about RUSSIA right now. if you're even comparing the genocides of different peoples and treating them as if they were a competition, I won't ever see you as a decent person who truly cares about the innocent, and what I'll actually see is just that you only care about your own ego and sense of moral superiority.

are we in the wrong if we feel an unfathomable rage after seeing how your "ordinary" russians are seeking for a flat in Mariupol to buy? in Mariupol, the city that russian scumbags have destroyed and in which they have killed thousands of civilians? do you think we should just sit back and accept that so few people care about that russians are conducting a fucking HUMAN SAFARI in Kherson region? that Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, and other towns and cities are being hit by aerial bombs and drones every day? you think we, the victims of russians, should still divide them into "good" and "bad", because things aren't always black and white?

they're ALL guilty for allowing tyrants to rise to power by their own inaction. after all of this, do you still think that it's completely appropriate to tell the victims how they should feel about their oppressors, to know what's "right" and what's "wrong"? and I'm not writing all of this to guilt-trip anyone or something. it's all just a realistic experience, a product of anger and disappointment with the world based on the way we've been treated all these years. I, in fact, am extremely anxious writing this, because I know there's always a possibility of someone telling me to shut up and die. and yk what? one day I actually might not make it through another day, because I'll either be blown to pieces by a drone or a missile hitting directly into my house, or I'll be crushed by a slab of concrete; and the russians will remain unpunished, warmly welcomed all over the world, dancing on our bones in the towns and cities they've occupied. people will continue to be fascinated by their "mysterious" so-called culture, ignoring the fact that it was all stolen, while they were erasing the cultures of other people. why do you think Ukrainian writers aren't as popular around the world? because russians killed them and suppressed Ukrainian language for centuries. it has been banned more than 130 times. 130. there are so many cultures in the world, so many fascinating things, and so many people who want to be heard, so, in all sincerity, try explore these instead of an imperialist "culture" born of violence and bloodshed.

Standing in his laboratory, Harvard professor Sean Eddy gazes at a row of vacant work stations. More than a year ago, this lab was filled with over a dozen researchers. On a given day they might be working independently on analyzing genomic sequencing or gathered around the group table, drinking coffee and helping each other troubleshoot questions about genomic data from different species.

Now, after his funding was terminated under the Trump administration, the computer screens are gone and the room is silent. He's one of the last people left.

I woke up with glass shards all around me and a door from another room that collided with mine, almost barricading me inside my bedroom. Every window and door in the apartment was blown out by the explosion. My family's car burned to the crisp. The entrance door of the flat was stuck and people have spent 40 minutes trying to break it open with hammers and axes.

Despite great material damage, miraculously, me and my family wasn't injured. Even my laptop and drawing tablet have somehow survived, despite being left right by the window. And, thankfully, I have another place to go to, where I'll be living full-time from now on.

The only thing I want to tell you guys, remember that Russia is a terrorist state. That night dozens of people have died and even more got injured or lost their every possession. I was lucky to only suffer material losses. Attacks like this one have been happening since 2014 on the east side of Ukraine and for four years now all over the country and will continue. Our UNESCO protected landmarks are being destroyed and whole cities are being wiped out by missiles and drones.

Please, be mindful and avoid supporting russian organisations, and don't spread misinformation about the war. This is very important, because info war is just as much of a real part of the war as physical destruction is. If you have the means to, donate to Ukrainian volunteers. Support those who are dear to you.

Ordinary people are working at factories and making bombs. Ordinary people are going to the occupied cities to settle there. Ordinary people taking the abducted children for "re-education". Ordinary people doing all the soft power work and whitewash state's crimes. Ordinary people launching missiles. Ordinary people go to newly occupied territories for vacations. Ordinary people do nothing and say nothing about state's crimes even when they have a chance. Ordinary people teach their kids to be the same.

And ordinary people loudly play victims while sending you death threats and calling you slurs. Ordinary people are telling the people their government bombing that they deserve to be bombed. Even if they were claiming they hate their government just a moment ago.

Army consists of ordinary people who decided to go to kill people in another country for some cash.

It's the fourth year of the full-scale invasion and the twelfth year of Russia's war against Ukraine as a whole. Thousands of statements saying – "We are deeply concerned". Thousands more saying – "We must stand united".

And yet, when it comes to allowing Russian soldiers into Europe, the deciding factor is the money they bring as tourists. Some countries are literally worried about losing tourism revenue, regardless of where that money comes from.

People were outraged when the Olympic Committee argued that sport should be a "second chance" for people, regardless of what they had done during the war.

But Europe is effectively doing the same thing through tourism.

So in Europe, it's entirely possible for a Ukrainian refugee — a mother with her child, for example — to run into the very person who killed her relatives, committed sexual violence against civilians, took part in torture, or committed other war crimes, simply because he came there for a vacation.