The Letter to Friends

I`m writing this text to the sounds of the roar of shells outside. This sound is a signal that the lights could disappear soon. But I’m comforting myself: I have a laptop, and I can finish my letter. The cold wall in the corridor, the old carpet with a blanket on it - this is the workplace of millions of Ukrainians. During the alarm, we seek shelter in the apartments, parking lots, subways, and basements. But this thunder, when the sky is clear, this smoke that is sweeping the entire country, this infestation reminds us that nothing will end even after the air raid is over.

Now we have to live. Lead the usual way of existence. Yesterday, an ordinary apartment building became a grave for dozens of citizens. Every post on social networks promises revenge, but you cannot even imagine what revenge can be. We, as burned to-the-end candles, smolder only with revenge. The fire was from the first days of the war, but now we cannot hate more. Our burned, blackened souls smolder with rage. Rage is a feeling, a symbol, a word that cannot be translated, only felt. Rage is hate, but it’s another, subconscious, seeking revenge, screaming and crying with anger. It will help to defeat those who want to destroy us to put an end to the existence of Ukraine and its children.

But rage itself is not enough. We need to back it up with weapons.

For the last three hundred years, we have suffered the ambitions of the neighbor. He wants to steal our history and our fate and kill those who remember—those who remember the truth and can tell it.

I believe that the citizens of the United States and Europe have been deceived by the culture of Russia «for export». This is no wonder: Russia can disguise itself. They always wanted to be seen as odd and rude but charismatic. They always dreamed of becoming Europe, so they exported only ballet, culture, and supposedly long history.

But they didn’t think we could see through them. We know their language. 300 years ago, Russia handcuffed a free country to itself. For 300 years, we walked together and studied the offender thoroughly. Russia wanted us to forget our language and culture, give them a name, and become lost for centuries. But luckily, for 300 years, this did not happen. That is why in 2014, the war began.

Yes, it was in 2014 when the invaders insidiously stuck a knife in the body of Ukraine. They stole Crimea and made their captives millions of people in the Donbas. My Donbas. I was born in this region 30 years ago when Ukraine was already free from the shackles of the USSR. We were happy in Ukraine. But the Russians brought tears, pain, and torture to my land. In Donetsk, near the Donbas Arena, where millions of fans celebrated Euro 2012, they made a concentration camp, «Isolation.» Now my compatriots in Donbas are poisoned by Russian propaganda, but then in 2014, no one wanted a Russian Donbass. This region now suffers from the rockets and bullets of the invaders, and cities are being destroyed with brutality. Mariupol, which was recaptured from invaders in 2014, was a flourishing city. In 2022 it became a desert. That’s how Russians see liberation.

In February 2022, there was a full-scale invasion. And I, as a person experiencing this for the second time in Kyiv, was fascinated by the level of support from our western partners if we had this support in 2014! Today you have given shelter to our women and children and provided us with money and weapons - every Ukrainian will remember this and tell the children. But if it had been eight years earlier... We no longer have the right to make that mistake - just trust the invaders. We have had enough of deception. We have had enough of myths. Enough. Russians are not Dostoevsky, ballet, figure skating, and «protection of Russian-speaking citizens.» Russians are the export of suffering, torture, and war. They saw their impunity, so they raised their weapons again.

Now the United States of America is the flagship, leader, and largest partner of Ukraine. We see how hard it is for our friends to make difficult decisions. You want to keep a balance between helping and avoiding escalation. But the escalation is at maximum. And we have no other choice but to win. We gave this Moloch the best soldiers on the front; we have no right to betray their memory. We have buried many men, women, children, and the elderly - we have no right to betray their memory.

If the Russians win, death, violence, slavery, and great sorrow will await us. Our history proves this.

Our rage will help us win. We are ready to build a country. We are strong. But we cannot do it without help. United States citizens know better than anyone the price of freedom. As Thomas Jefferson said: «The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure». Too much blood of the patriots has already been shed. It is time for the blood of the tyrants.