Ukraine's victory is inevitable Living through tragedy

A full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on for more than 17 months. And there is practically no doubt that the Kremlin does not plan to stop it at all, to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of a neighbouring state. The Russian side is now trying to keep the captured lands, although, at the beginning of the war, it apparently had other tasks. Moscow was confident in its ability to change power in Ukraine and instead of the legitimately elected president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make his protege the head of the country.

The names of those who were considered candidates for the Ukrainian presidency are now completely unimportant. What is important is that the very idea of changing the government in Ukraine and taking control of a huge country was absurd. Moscow's strategic miscalculation was obvious from the outset, but today, after almost a year and a half since the war began, it looks, to put it mildly, amateurish.

Noteworthy in this connection is the information that the influential British publication The Times has reported with reference to one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces colonels. It appears that this winter Kyiv was "on the verge of evacuation" because of the intensity of Russian strikes on the region's energy infrastructure. The situation was changed by what happened in early winter. "On December 16, there was an air battle that determined the fate of the capital. At that time, 49 cruise missiles were fired. If this strike had been made, Kyiv would have had to be evacuated," the source said.

Later, according to a Ukrainian serviceman, deliveries of Western air defence systems stabilized the situation. Nevertheless, the supply of missiles to them is now running out. If the series of strikes on Ukraine's energy system is repeated, the coming winter will be much more difficult.

I would like to point out at once that articles referring to an unnamed source, even if they are published in reputable world media, raise doubts about their reliability. But some essential points are important here.

Today, life in the capital of Ukraine continues in an almost pre-war rhythm. And this is already a victory. There are no interruptions in the supply of electricity, water, gas. The speed and quality of the Internet is quite high. Banks work well, "New Post" and "Ukrposhta" also work well. Cafes, restaurants and shopping malls are functioning. Moreover, traffic jams have returned to Kyiv. So, Russia's plans to demoralize the population, primarily the capital's population, have failed.

Moreover, Kyiv is now quite seriously protected from missile strikes and drone attacks. Practically everything that flies at the capital is shot down. Yes, the debris of missiles or drones sometimes falls on a building, but the consequences of this are quickly eliminated. All the relevant services have learned to work under wartime conditions. In addition, both now and earlier, there has been no "evacuation of Kyiv", which meant that life in the capital of Ukraine would become impossible for its residents. And this is exactly what Moscow was counting on, believing that the exodus of residents from Kyiv would inevitably lead to the defeat of the entire country in the war.

Ukraine is too big for this to happen. There is always room for everyone here, even in the case of a mass exodus of Kyiv residents to other parts of the country. I was personally convinced of this when I travelled from the city of Cherkasy to the village of Tatariv in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Do you know how long the trip by a comfortable bus lasted? We left at 6.30 and arrived only at 23.00. Yes, there were many stops on the way, but even with them you can understand the scale of the country that Russia was going to occupy!

Uman, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Yaremche - these are the major settlements we passed through. And life is booming everywhere. Yes, the war has left its imprint, but the ability of Ukrainians to endure difficulties, even such serious ones as the war with the largest country in the world, is worthy of respect. This is something that people who dream of occupation and the complete seizure of this country have not understood and will never understand.

We came to the village of Tatariv in the Ivano-Frankivsk region for a reason. Super Camp - a children's language camp - is organised here. I would like to point out that there are a lot of different children's camps here. They are all located right at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. I myself spent my childhood in different pioneer camps. So, we could not even dream about what I have seen now. Children live in comfortable hotels with swimming pools, they are well-fed, they have a very exciting and interesting recreation programme.

And children are here from all over the country - from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Odesa and Chernihiv. All the hotels in the area are full. Cafes, restaurants, snack bars - everywhere is crowded. People come here, trying to find at least temporary peace in this difficult, tragic time. The hotel where we stayed is located high in the mountains, and the way to it passes by the estates of the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko and the former Minister of Transportation Yevgeniy Chervonenko. And I must say that there are much more expensive buildings in the vicinity.

In general, it draws attention to the fact that a lot of ordinary Ukrainians, not former officials, not corrupt, were able to build beautiful cottages here - both for themselves and for renting out rooms. I mean that Ukraine has been and remains a country of good opportunities for those who are ready to work even during the war.

I must say that in the Carpathians the war is hardly felt. Ukrainians are confident that they will win. By the way, the word "victory" in Ukrainian is "peremoga". And this, in my opinion, is a more accurate name for what the country is experiencing now. It is living through all the tragedies that Russia brought here. It has been living like this for almost a year and a half. And it will definitely win!