28 March 2024, Thursday, 13:54
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About Fighting Bad Habits

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About Fighting Bad Habits
IRYNA KHALIP
PHOTO: NASHA NIVA

Glory to the heroes - it sounds not only in Ukrainian.

The habit is stronger than the war. During the Second World War, the people who lived under constant bombardments used to run to an air-raid shelter at the first sound of the alarm and stay there until they heard the all-clear signal. And then, after a month or two, they would get used to it: to the sound of the siren, to the explosions, even to the deaths. And they stayed at home.

Sirens were blaring, explosions were thundering, buildings were flaring up like candles, and people were staying at home - knitting, reading, sipping boiling water and not even flinching. The habit etched into the skin, it calmed the brain, relaxed the muscles: if you are hit directly, there is no escape, so why keep running back and forth if you can stay in your own chair, reading your favourite book? Now the same thing is happening in Ukraine. The war has been going on for two months, and Ukrainians have started to get used to it. Learning to live with it, negotiate with it, and even enjoy it in spite of the nightmare. Coffee shops and confectioneries are reopening in Kyiv, and the theatres will open again soon. The seventh symphony of our century has not yet been written, truth be told. But they will. The muses and cannons always sing in unison.

It is even easier to get used to war when you are far away from it. For the first week of the war, I, and all my acquaintances - in Belarus, in Russia, in France, in Israel - did not sleep at all. Every few minutes we were on the phone, opening Ukrainian news websites: what is going on there? In a couple of weeks everyone was already sleeping at night. In the morning, however, not fully awake, we would stare at our phones and flip through the night news feed: yep, everything is clear, they bombed here, attacked there, retreated over there. And now, when the war has been going on for two months, we are used to it. Yes, of course, we still grab the phone with the news, but after washing up and pouring a first cup of coffee. So, Mariupol has been finally destroyed, but Irpen has been liberated. The humanitarian corridor is working, Kim is recording a video, negotiations in Istanbul, not to forget to stop for flowers before the friend's birthday tonight, and now to order the delivery for tomorrow, because the washing powder is over. Tania, hello, will I see you at Katsia's in the evening?...

It's the same way we're used to terror inside the country. How many, another dozen political prisoners there today? Plus the same number of arrested railway workers. And there's half a hundred more trauma surgeons arrested. And bankers, as usual. Tania, you're late, we're starting to celebrate!

Well, celebrating is important, birthdays of relatives and friends shouldn't be missed, washing powder should be bought on time, and can't put off your work until tomorrow, unless you want to get fired. Yet at the most inopportune moment, when the life almost looks like the old pre-war and even pre-August life, it suddenly strikes: on April 6, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk will be tried again for disobedience to the prison administration. She won't come out of the punishment cell because she refuses to sew uniforms for the enforcers. She is desperately fighting for her dignity. She is in captivity, her husband is in exile, her children are waiting for their mother and father. And on April 6, they will add to the mother's prison sentence. How can one get used to it?

And then - it strikes again: Pavel Seviarynets, Yauhen Afnahel, Pavel Yukhnevich, Dzmitry Kazlou, Andrei Voynich, Maksim Viniarski will be transferred from the colonies to the prison. A trial awaits them, too. Can you imagine, they are all in different colonies, but all of them will be tried. Iryna Schastnaya is one of them, the administration of the women's colony has no claims against her, but since she once got mixed up with the enemies of the people, she'll get it for good measure. It seems impossible to get used to such things. Yet such news becomes as common as the bombardment of Mariupol for many people.

And it is necessary to fight with this bad habit. The habit is a salvation for those who are at war, under shelling, in prison. It creates the illusion of orderly life and drives fear inside, under the skin. But when we - those who are at least relatively safe - become accustomed to other people's suffering, it becomes a very bad habit that allows the soul to get covered with moss and the mind - with fat. And the best method of combating it is action. Write letters to political prisoners, call Ukrainian friends, become a volunteer, take part in collecting humanitarian aid for Ukraine, help buy a children's bicycle for a political prisoner's wife, who is barely surviving with her children on a small salary. Everyone can find a hundred options, though. The main thing is not to get used to the idea that concentrated grief, suffering and death are normal and will always be there. It will not, unless we ourselves agree to it.

So let us help Ukrainians in every way we can, yet never for a moment forget our own. Glory to the heroes - it sounds not only in Ukrainian.

Iryna Khalip, specially for Charter97.org

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