At dawn, on Oct. 22, Russian ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones once again rained down on Ukraine. My city, Kyiv, awoke to smoke, fires, destruction, casualties. No power, no heat, no water, in a city of three million.
As horrific as it sounds, conditions like those described above have become commonplace. And yet, if you found yourself in Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv or any other Ukrainian city that had just suffered another air raid, you might not realize the nation has been at war for almost four years.
You would see ordinary residents — fathers, mothers, children of all ages — going about their daily lives: shopping, studying, working, jogging, chatting, walking their dogs. No visible tension, no grim faces. In cities far from the front, you might meet more mothers with strollers than soldiers in camouflage.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.