#Ukrainian short stories

[justacynicalromantic]

A Story About A Ukrainian Book

Once upon a time, there was a Ukrainian writer of children's stories and poems Volodymyr Vakulenko.

When Russians occupied Izyum - the town he lived in - he hid his manuscripts under a cherry tree in his garden.

One day, Russians came in, took him, and killed him.

Once upon a time, there was a Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina. She came to Izyum after Ukrainian army liberated it and found Vakulenko's manuscripts and sent them to be published.

One day, when Victoria was showing foreign journalists around in a beautiful city of Kramatorsk, Russian missile flew in the café they were dining in and killed her.

Once upon a time, there was a Ukrainian book publishing agency Vivat. It was one of the biggest in the whole country. Vivat took Volodymyr's manuscripts from Victoria, worked diligently to compile them and published them.

One day, Russian missiles flew in the building, where Vivat publishing agency was, and destroyed it completely.

The End.

[folklorespring]

Thought daughters, depressed and tired, burned out artists, all of you need to read "Intermezzo" by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky. Short story about exhausted artist that reconnects with nature. Translated from Ukrainian.

Read for free here: https://medium.com/@loopyspacey/intermezzo-by-mykhailo-kotsiubynsky-translation-from-ukrainian-eb85f2cffa69

[annawayne]

Whispers Of The Verdant Lament

Mavka AU*

*Mavkas, in Ukrainian folklore and mythology, are the souls of women who had died an unnatural, tragic death; they often appear in the form of beautiful young girls who entice and lure young men into the woods, where they "tickle" them to death. Mavkas have no reflection in the water, nor do they cast shadows; they have green hair and pale/green skin, sometimes - naked.

In the forest, you're not alone. Smerekas* with their long trunks stretch up to the sky, cutting the cloud with emerald needles and wooden veins. The soft moss covers the soil, echoing each step with rich crisp. The horizons are flooded with grass, erasing the limits, prolonging the space as if it's infinite harmony of savage, wild nature. The forest is the tribe, with its rules and rhythm.

Armin knows - every family has secrets, so does the forest, and every shade of green keeps the story of someone who made this place their tomb. And Armin also knows - the distant cries of the mountain river breathe with the last words of his Annie. 

It was an accident, the unmerciful, cruel circumstance. Her feet slipped, a second - and the river took her. A day later, they found her lifeless body, and Armin was sure -his lungs filled with water of mourning he never would be able to get rid of. 

His vision aches from the bright light as he reaches the cliff, where the tense tree line meets the sharp edge of the earth. Here it is. The place where everything ends - and as well would his life. She was the place between his ribs, and after she was gone - it couldn't be replaced; it whistled with grief and sorrow, nothing and no one could fulfil. She was everything - the feeble smile in the morning with sleepy eyes and groggy voice; the crystal laugh as they chased one after another in the slopes under the prominent spring sun, only to fall into the embrace of long grass, giggling and hugging each other; the tiny sparks in her eyes and the steady, slow breath as he plays trembita**; the delightful hum when the bilberry* she has plucked from the bush turned to be sweet and juicy; the adorable blush on her soft cheeks and the broad smile only he was able to see after they made love; the exceptional stitches on shirts she embroidered for both of them... Oh, of course, he's wearing the one right now. With his wedding outfit, she never has the chance to see. 

Armin sighs and closes his eyes. Annie made stitches not only on the fabric but also in his heart and body; he carries her unique embroidery and ornaments on the skin and soul of her life and love. It's almost unbearable to see his reflection because every part was kissed, touched, and loved by her. And now Armin stands at the same cliff and ready to take a step forward: not a tragic coincidence, like with her, but the decision. 

"Armin."

He is sure - this is the wind. Another trick of nature, his imagination, anything. 

"Armin."

No, no, no, it's all in his head. But tentative, almost slow, he turns his head, and he sees-

"Annie," her name exhaled like the air he needed all the time she was gone. Tears immediately filled his eyes, blurring his vision, but even with this, Armin captured her hair slightly green, her pale—more pale than usual—skin, green lips, and her favourite long undershirt, which she wore that fateful day. 

"Long time no see, love," A small smile paints her face, and Armin steps towards her, running in her direction. 

"Annie, Annie, Annie, An-" 

Her small hand rises up, and with a gesture, she pleads him to stop. Like a spell, his feet halt, and his chest rises with heavy breath; he is sure not from the run. 

"You can't jump from this cliff." her calm words fill the air between them. "You should live a long life, see the world, like you dreamed abou-"

"But I wanted to do all of it with you!"

"But I'm gone, Armin. I live in this forest, and you're still there, without strings to the place. You still can do it for both of us. "

The tears completely covered his eyes, and uncontrollable sobs cut all of his intention to say the word. So, she smiles again, and the gentle voice follows, "You should live, and when you would be the grumpy old man, you would come to this forest and call for me. You would stretch your hand, and I would take it, as I always did, and then, you will be young again, and we will be together one more time, and forever; we will be lost in the slopes and the rivers, in the grass and the mountains. But only then. Not early, not today. Only then,"

"Annie, I lo-"

"I know. I do, too."

"I miss-"

"Me too."

"An-"

"Only then, Armin. This is the condition. So, live. Live, and we will meet again."

His words are muffled with sobs, so the only thing he manages is to nod. 

"I... I don't know how, but I'll try. I miss you so much."

"I'm always there in your heart. I never left you, so...carry me to the world with you because this is the only way I could see it. Our hearts are connected, after all, so... Show me the world, Armin, as we dreamed about."

Armin closes his eyes, and the nails dig into his palms. It starts to hurt. "I'll try, Annie. I'll try."

The phantom touch caressed his cheek and made him open his eyes, and her face was right before his. Her dreamy, ghostly eyes are glossy and hazy with fog, but he recognizes this shade—his favourite, hers. Her lips quickly brush against his, and the hushed whisper follows: "It's nice to see this wedding outfit on you. You look so wonderful and beautiful. I really wanted to show you mine, but... I will be waiting for you, love." 

And with this, she is gone. 

Again. 

The shadow of her cold kiss still lingers on his lips as Armin falls onto his knees, and the loud song of the mountain river is muffled by his cries.

*Smerekas or Picea abies - the pine tree that is widely growing in the Ukrainian Carpathians;

**Trembita is a type of wood-made alpine horn. It is common among Ukrainian highlanders, Hutsuls, who live in western Ukraine (Carpathians). According to the ancient Hutsul tradition, a trembita should be made from a thunderbolt, i.e. a tree that has been struck by lightning. The age of the tree should be 120-150 years.

[dianastevanblog]

Wrapping Up Writing

Year-end is a good time for wrapping up writing and more. With holiday celebrations in full swing, there’s too much going on to concentrate on finishing a work-in-progress, or starting a new one. I find writing breaks useful, a time for reflection. My thoughts about story never stop, but while Christmas carols are being sung on the radio, I also reflect on the promise of peace this season…

[starlightseraph]

house md will always be remebered as the most insane thing ever broadcast because of how unabashedly feral everyone involved was.

a short collection of things that happen on the show, just off the top of my head, not even scratching the surface:

- house shoots a random dead body in the morgue and then sticks him in an mri machine, which pulls the bullet out of the dead guy’s head and destroys the machine, costing the hospital millions

- foreman gets bitten by a person with rabies

- chase kills an african dictator

- cameron steals drugs from a patient after possibly getting hiv from said patient

- house induces a migraine and then takes a drug made by his arch nemesis (who he’s been stalking for 25 years) to get the drug taken off the market. he then takes lsd (in the hospital, in the middle of a case) to cure the migraine.

- chase goes into anaphylaxis after doing body shots

- house stops an elevator so he can perform a cavity (vaginal) search on a teenage heart transplant patient who’s in cardiorespiratory arrest

- they give a neurosurgeon mushrooms to cure his food poisoning, then they stick him in an operating room. the neurosurgeon strips in front of a health board assessor.

- kutner dies for gay marriage

- house sets an autopsy room on fire while trying to juggle flaming bottles

- house gets recruited by the cia

- taub gets held at gun point after diagnosing a stripper with skin cancer

- in almost every single episode, the team breaks into multiple houses

- house fakes terminal brain cancer so he can get drugs implanted directly into the pleasure centre of his brain

- house cons us immigration to get his fake wife a green card. he also uses his fake wife’s ukrainian food truck to spy on people

- house tries to get wilson, his closet case boybestfriend, into bed every few episodes. every other sentence out of house’s mouth is about wanting to rail wilson.

- taub has a kid with his ex-wife, after they divorce, at the same time he has a kid with his 25 yo side piece. the kids’ names are sophie and sophia.

- house and wilson have a bet on who can hide a chicken in the hospital the longest without anyone finding out

- house tries to kill himself like 6 times and always fails (insulin shock, overdoses, electrocution, jumping off a building, cutting, etc)

- house fakes his death to get out of a prison sentence after violating his parole so he can live out his bi love story with his gay best friend who has 5 months to live

[jhadengaforever]

campfire stories

I was lucky enough to be asked by small fires to write a story for their campfire stories collection <3 

Available to read online in English and Ukrainian, and a limited print edition is available to buy- 

https://www.smallfires.com.au/collections/mini-stories/products/campfire-stories-very-blue?variant=42610624331966

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

快樂只是時間問題，而且是最完美的時刻。

Alegria é matéria de tempo e é por excelência o instante.

Clarice Lispector

[wszczebrzyszynie]

How did they meet? and 2. How long have these two characters known each other? for Oleh and Jalena. And 20. What is their best memory together? for Mikita and Balys. Sorry if I misspelled their names.

Its Jelena or Lena for short. it is ok. This one turned out pretty long so it is under the read more. Mostly because of my meta commentary

1 - How did they meet? and 2 - How long have these two characters known each other? They live relatively close to each other and that is really it. Everyone knows everyone kind of situation. So in the same way they know each other since they were children! Its one of those situations where modern au canon and the original story canon differ because of the time period and other fictional factors; modern au Oleh is clearly ukrainian, and Lena is polish, but in the original story both of them would probably just consider themselves "local", and would speak the same language, but for obvious reasons i want their names to stay the same as in modern au, so its a logical incosistency i gave up on fixing. One of the many reasons DNS could never be a comic or any other real thing other than mostly contextless posts on social media

In modern au they went to the same school; Oleh moved with a part of his family to Poland when they were around 11/12, and so they went to the same elementary school together. They later went to different schools (Oleh to a technical school; probably something stupid like graphic design and printing or photography and multimedia. They would be Rybas underclassman. Lena would go to highschool probably advanced geography and maths profile; same school as Przemek and Mikita. Both of these schools are on the same street so they still see each other almost daily).

20 - What is their best memory together?

Both Mika and Balys were always pretty calm and quiet for children their age; Balys was just more shy, and Mikita was raised that way. Most of their time together was spent at school (which for Mika is its own can of worms; he did not have good experiences and as he grew older started causing more trouble, but Balys remembers this time with more neutrality and apathy), but they did meet outside of it, mostly because their parents were friends and members of the same artist community. Their best memories together are probably those quiet childhood moments, way before their parents got arrested and Mikita got expelled

[beekeeperspicnic]

Visiting Fulworth

Today @jeremys-come-to-bed-eyes and I went on something that I might have been classified as a "research trip" for The Beekeepers Picnic, if it had happened a few years ago! As it is, there's no hiding that it was just a geeky fan trip.

I didn't invent the idea of Holmes retiring to keep bees in a village called Fulworth - it gets alluded to a few times in the stories, and there is one story set there, 'The Lion's Mane'.

We know Holmes' retirement home is either a 'cottage' or a 'villa', it's a few miles out of Eastbourne, and it's clearly somewhere where it's possible to walk to the sea for a swim. Sherlockian tradition is that the real-life place fitting this description is the village of East Dean.

So, that's where we went - walking from Eastbourne.

This area is famous for it's white chalk cliffs, which are eroding away very quickly. Here is a path to nowhere!

These cliffs are known as the Seven Sisters. They all have names but the only two I remember are Short Bottom and Rough Bottom.

The beach there is all pebbles - I knew that when creating my game, but I felt like a pebble beach just wouldn't look right all in pixels, so I made it sandy instead.

East Dean is absolutely gorgeous, basically everything I could have hoped for.

Here is the village green - flying a Ukrainian flag in solidarity!

And here is Mr Holmes' official cottage. As far as we could tell its now an office of the local estate rather than someone's house, so we didn't feel too weird taking lots of pictures! The Lions Mane implies his cottage is a little way out of the village, but I'll forgive them for putting it in the centre instead.

(I think that the dates are obviously the dates he lived there as recorded by his biographer - our last information on Holmes is from 1917. I think they made the right call not to try to invent a date for his death.)

A lot of the cottages in the area have this really distinctive mixture of pebbles and brick which I think must be a hallmark of the local area, but I was pleased to see a few whitewashed buildings like the ones I put in the game:

Thank you for reading, please enjoy this adorable foal.

[marykk1990]

My next post in support of Ukraine is:

Next site, I know Vyshyvanka Day was in May, but the Vyshyvanka is today's site. I really love the colorful Ukrainian embroidered shirts. I'd like to find a short sleeve vyshyvanka if possible as I can get too warm in long sleeve shirts sometimes.

And here's an article all about vyshyvankas.

#StandWithUkraine

#СлаваУкраїні 🇺🇦🌻

[olekciy]

    A short reminder that Russia is imperialist, has been imperialist for a long time, and there's no way around that fact.

Sections of the Western left have developed a narrative according to which Russia has been gradually surrounded by NATO and that supposedly "provoked" Putin. It's increasingly difficult to sustain the notion that Russia is simply "defending itself" after 24 February 2022, but the thing is - the invasion did not come out of the blue. One needs a different narrative to understand what Russia actually is: an aggressive imperialist power alongside other imperialisms.

So, a different narrative:

- 1994: Russia, with US support, acquires Ukrainian nuclear arsenal in exchange for the assurances to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity

- 1997: Russia acquires the Sevastopol naval base and almost all of the ships (82%, to be exact)... in exchange for the assurances to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity!

- 2004: Russia meddles in Ukrainian presidential elections, fighting hard to force an undemocratic fraudulent outcome, but fails

- Mid-to-late 2000s: As punishment for Ukraine electing Yushchenko, Russia uses energy blackmail, a form of economic coercion not very different from the IMF and World Bank lending and conditionality

- 2008: NATO refuses to adopt a roadmap towards Ukraine's membership and in effect postpones the decision indefinitely. Ukraine's security is in no way guaranteed, while Russia has already demonstrated the propensity to use coercion to force Ukraine to do its bidding

- 2009: Dmitry Medvedev, then president, writes to Yushchenko that "Russia does not pose and cannot pose any kind of threat to Ukraine", so seeking NATO membership is stupid. Yea, sure

- 2014: Russia, which "does not pose and cannot pose a threat to Ukraine"... annexes Crimea. Really, Dima?? I thought you were for real??

Of course, by annexing Crimea Russia not only makes all the previous statements that it "can never pose a threat to Ukraine" a ridiculous lie, but also breaks the 1994 memorandum and 1997 treaty. "We are the Kremlin. Our word is worth nothing"

- Crimea's annexation provokes armed separatism in Donbas that Russia supports and coordinates, including direct military command and control, and then completely subordinates Donbas "authorities", in effect occupying the region

- Ukraine's still not in NATO, its security is still in no way guaranteed, and the supplies of US weapons only begin in 2018. They are kept to a minimum... out of fear of provoking Russia!

- Nevertheless, on 24 February 2022 Russia launches a full-scale invasion to establish 100% control over all of Ukraine in one way or another. There is literally no military development on the ground that could have provoked the invasion. On Russia's part, it's a war of choice in exactly the same way the invasion of Iraq was a war of choice for the US in 2003.

Now, this is only the general outline. One should add Russia's drowning of Ukraine with spies and agents of influence, money to corrupt Ukrainian politicians and massive acquisition of Ukrainian assets to impose economic and political dependency.

These are well-known facts, but so many on the left refuse to see the story behind them. It's a story of decades of imperialist aggression, culminating in a war that cost 150,000 lives in 2022 alone. Any discussion of left-wing internationalism should begin with recognizing the reality of what Russia is and what it did.

[dontforgetukraine]

TIFF: And so it continues...5 to ZFF

Aaand "Russians at War" is going to be at the Zurich Flim Festival. Because of course.

The Russian Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova met a soldier on home leave in Moscow's subway, accompanying him to the front lines, where she spent over a year filming unauthorized footage in a battalion near the Ukrainian border. In her film, she gives voice to soldiers who have no understanding of the war's causes and soon find themselves mourning comrades who have become Putin's cannon fodder. This harrowing and unique war documentary captures images you would never see in the news media. 'Who are the Russian soldiers who are fighting against Ukraine? What do they think of Putin? The documentary has them speak their minds. A film that revealed more to me about this conflict than 100 newspaper articles.' – Christian Jungen Anastasia Trofimova Anastasia Trofimova was born in Moscow and is a Russian-Canadian filmmaker. She first studied communications and political science and then international relations. Trofimova is a renowned filmmaker who has made a name for herself through her work in conflict zones such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In her films, she addresses social inequality and injustice. She has been honoured with the Canada Screen Award and has participated as a jury member at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards five times. RUSSIANS AT WAR (2024) / CONGO, MY PRECIOUS (2017) / VICTIMS OF ISIS (2015) / HER WAR: WOMEN VS. ISIS (2015)

No mention of RT in the director's bio of course. Same shit, different film festival.

Also, if this propaganda film reveals more to you about the war than 100 news articles, that's not shining praise for the film, but rather an indictment of the sorry state of our collective media landscape in Ukraine and the West.

The West obviously has a problem of not reporting on Ukraine as often anymore. It's not "fashionable". A lot of the reporting I've come across is superficial and there is rarely a deep dive into the Ukrainian civilian aspect of the war. It seems there always has to be either a grotesque catastrophic event due to Russian aggression (like the Okhmatdyt children's cancer hospital), or an interesting enough topic in order for something to be considered (like the Mykola Hryshko national botanical garden being in danger of losing its tropical plants due to the war causing electricity cuts.) There is a dearth of human interest stories, which is the core of understanding this war and the effects it has on Ukrainians.

When there is such a story, it falls into the situation of the "box-ticking approach", as described by Dr. Olesya Khromeychuk:

It is not enough to simply ‘do Ukraine’ by reviewing one book on the war, especially if it’s by a Western journalist rather than a Ukraine-based author. It’s not enough to host one exhibition, particularly if it is by an artist or photographer who only spent a few weeks in the country. Quickly putting together a panel on Russia’s war in response to a major development at the front and adding a sole Ukrainian voice at the last minute doesn’t cut it either. This box-ticking approach is unhelpful and insulting.

Most if not all of the quotes I pull from human-interest stories are from Ukrainian journalism. If you've been following me for the short time I've had this blog up, you'll notice I read a lot. At this point I've given up on looking up Western based English media, because the core stories that define the war are just not there. If there is an interesting article from the West, I'll usually see it pop up on my Twitter feed (like the botanical garden story) and I'll take a look then because its been recommended and has what I'm looking for.

And finally, Western media can't let go of having some Russian expert talk about Ukraine, instead of actually talking to Ukrainians.

Kate from Kharkiv: Ukrainian media, both in Ukrainian and English, must improve their regional reporting. They are increasingly resembling local Kyiv media, which limits global awareness of events across Ukraine. Consequently, international media rarely cover these regions unless we die en mass. But not too often, because if often it is not news anymore.

Like Kate from Kharkiv points out, mass-casualty events are no longer "fashionable". She further indicates the lack of essential reporting in specific regions where conditions are different from Kyiv. One such example is the Russians turning Kherson into a "human safari". Initially, only Zarina Zabrisky was reporting on how Russian drones pilots were deliberately targeting civilians, and she shouldn't have to be the only one reporting on this. While there are some Western news outlets that have reported on this situation now, it's still not enough. Zarina Zabrisky is still diligently doing the bulk of the work in reporting on this. I can only imagine what other stories in other regions are going untold because there is little to no coverage.

The other obstacle I've noticed is accessibility to news in Ukraine from a language perspective. There isn't enough English language coverage from Ukrainian media outlets. While I would love to be able to read Ukrainian confidently, I'm nowhere near there yet, and the West is collectively even further away. Google translate isn't a great substitute either for obvious reasons. The number of times I wanted to read/watch a news report, and there was no English supplement is a lot. It happens frequently with the English language Ukrainian news accounts I follow. They'll post a clip from a news report with no translated subtitles and say, "look at this!", but I can't extract the information they want to show because of this problem.

This is why I hold volunteer translators as some of the most valuable contributors in the information space, and I will always credit them.

It's a vicious cycle. If a large proportion of Ukrainian news media is inaccessible to Western media due to the language barrier, information has even less of a chance of being noticed and spreading. This is, in my opinion, the other side of the coin on issues in the information war.

[nezoriy]

Hey there. I'm Seymour (aka Stanislav in regular life), a Kyiv-based Ukrainian trans man, and I am crowdfunding for my top surgery.

Long story short:

The price is USD 1875 (75000 UAH). And frankly speaking, that's A Lot for me. So, I would really appreciate any donations, even just a dollar or two. If you can't donate but can share, it’ll be of a great help too.

GoFundMe unfortunately doesn't work in Ukraine and I haven't found any other reliable services which do (pls let me know if you know any). So unfortunately I can only provide my PayPal and bank info (pls do ignore my deadname lol):

PayPal: stanislavamur@gmail.com

BANK INFO

From abroad in USD:

IBAN

UA803220010000026208327480070

SWIFT/ BIC Code

UNJSUAUKXXX

Receiver

MURASHCHENKO STANISLAVA

EUR within Europe:

IBAN

GB46CLJU00997185886387

BIC code

CLJUGB21

Receiver

MURASHCHENKO STANISLAVA

SWIFT

IBAN

UA793220010000026207327851826

SWIFT/ BIC Code

UNJSUAUKXXX

Receiver

MURASHCHENKO STANISLAVA

Моно банка якщо раптом:

https://send.monobank.ua/jar/56y8VGhGBg

Номер банки: 5375411221737971

Long story long:

I'm an artist, a queer activist, a writer and a LARPer. I'm employed full-time plus doing some side gigs plus trying to sell my artworks, but salaries in Ukraine just aren't that great. I'm making monthly about $1200 and half of that goes for the rent. Some medical bills for my partner and my doggo already left me with about -1750 USD on my credit card. I got another credit card approved for the surgery specifically and my partner and I are planning to move out to a cheaper place in December, but I’m planning the surgery for October, so paying off the debts will be hard for a while.

I know there're a lot of causes closer to home, whenever that home is for you. If I'm honest that's why I try to ask people from outside Ukraine bc here every donation we have to make is for the survival of our people. Something like a top surgery is frivoulos compared to that.

But if you do have a spare couple of dollars, they would make a huge difference for me. The exchange rate is 1USD=40UAH, so yeah. I would be tremendously happy for any donation you can make.

If you donate more than $20, pls get in touch with me (tumblr, instagram and twitter: @nezoriy, @stanmur in telegram), and I'll be happy to do a digital painting of yourself, your partner, your cat, your OC/DnD character etc. For a donation over $50 I'll draw for you pretty much anything you want.

Please share and donate if you can.

[k-s-morgan]

This is a belated post where I wanted to briefly address the outcomes of 2023!

While Ukraine mostly faded from the stage of world's news, unfortunately, the situation didn't get better for my people. Every day Russia kills, maims, and ruins everything it can touch. Every day civilians die from its imprecise missiles, random shootings and artillery, and outright executions. I often see that those living in other countries call this Putin's war, but it really isn't. This is the war sponsored by Putin and his regime, true, but first and foremost, this is the war of Russian people. It's hundreds of thousands of Russian people who arm themselves and go kill our defenders and our civilians. It's Russian people who fire from tanks and other deadly weapons to ruin the Ukrainians' homes, to scorch our land, to leave nothing but destruction instead of cities and villages. It's Russian people who build the missiles, load their bombers, and fly for 5+ hours to direct them at our cities, homes, factories, and even empty fields.

This is me during one of the latest massive attack that took place on January 2. At first, at night, 35+ Russian-Iranian drones bombed us. Then Russian people sent about 100 missiles at us, mainly at my city Kyiv.

Our air defense system managed to intercept the majority of them, but while it sounds like interception is an entirely positive thing, it might have terrible consequences. Because the parts of the missiles fall down randomly. They can kill any human or creature walking down the street; they can collapse on top of a residential building. There is no escape, no way to feel safe even with the best air defense systems surrounding the city. Here's one of many disastrous results of this attack.

Dead and injured people and animals. Damaged and lost apartments.

On December 29, another attack killed over 30 people in Kyiv alone. You can see their faces below. They deserve to be seen and remembered.

This is a short story of just two latest attacks that took place just within one week, just in one city. Imagine how many of them me and my people lived through during the entire year? How many more we will have to experience?

Actually, we lived through another one before I finished writing this post. It happened on January 8, and it killed even more civilians.

I know that there are good, sane, compassionate Russians. I have some relatives among them. One of them, my aunt, can't keep herself entirely silent: she's deeply religious, and a few weeks ago, in a church, she risked saying that killing Ukrainians is bad. Another man told her that she's scum and that if she dares to open her mouth again, he will report her to authorities. The headmaster of a school where my aunt teaches was imprisoned for 7 years for refusing to hold a Z-event among students. Living there must be a torture of another kind, where you are surrounded by zombies who openly promote terrorism and bless missiles sent to kill other human beings. The problem is that sane and compassionate Russians are the minority - the vast majority is happy to either kill us or they support those who kill us. Or they simply don't care, trying to claim that everything is complicated when in reality, there is nothing complicated about it at all. Russia is a terrorist state and the world allows its people and its government to keep being monsters.

Seeing the indifference and impotence of seemingly powerful countries makes me increasingly concerned and depressed. At this point, I don't think I'm simply affected by my experiences: the world is rapidly going to hell, with terrorist countries like Russia being allowed to revel in their blood-thirstiness and the other terrorist countries, like North Korea, or potential offenders like China, observing and taking notes. When a criminal sees that no one is punished for a crime, they escalate. More criminals appear. This is what I feel is going to start happening more and more, until half of the planet is plunged into death and destruction. I'll be so very glad to be wrong.

On a personal note, I lost my most beloved pet pigeon Daikiria in 2023. I love her and miss her so much that I still cry whenever I think of her. In turn, I acquired a red nightmare of a rabbit who eats everything, including my feet, and two more pigeons. Taking care of them brings me joy - I only hope that my effort will actually benefit them.

Here's a pigeon that I named Noveria the day I found her, in a video I made for my vet. Attacked by a cat, bleeding all over, with broken ribs and a missing piece of her wing, with no tail:

Here is she now. She is feeling much better, although unfortunately, she got sick because of her weakened immune system.

My kitties continue to be adorable dorks. Here's me sleeping with my cat Tom after one of the attacks - he's really scared of loud sounds, so he sleeps like a rock afterward, just like me.

My family stays strong, and I hope we will remain to be so.

Writing stories remains a huge source of relief and distraction to me, and your support, love, and care give me strength even when I feel like I'm about to run out of it.

Thank you to those who support me on Patreon and give me a chance to have a safety net shielding me from some of the horrors and insecurities - thanks to you, I can rest sometimes when I would have to work instead; I can afford some more distractions and to write more as a result. Thank you to those who leave comments, kudos, asks; thank you to my friends who never fail to message me with questions about my well-being. I love and I appreciate you tremendously, and despite all my fears and worries, I hope that we will get to see a better future still.

[ohsalome]

EVERYBODY DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GO READ "DO OXENS LOW WHEN MANGERS ARE FULL"

This is, hands down, one of my favourite classical ukrainian novels, and up till today I thought it didn't exist in english translation, but it does!!!!

Online version:

PDF version:

I fear that my synopsis won't give justice to the story, so I'll try to keep it short: this novel is set in 19 century ukrainian countryside and offers a deep exploration of the interrelation between the social and individual psyche. The main question of the novel is "what pushes a person to betray their fellow men and commit crimes?", but also takes something of a "100 years of solitude" approach to this (to a smaller scale) and pushes you to explore the interconnections between people, their relations and how much of a domino effect the small drama of everyday injustices can become.

Basically people ususally compare this novel with "cr*me and p*nishment" because both have criminals as main characters, but "Do oxen low..." is just so so much deeper, and I am not only saying this as a russophobe but also as a person who has read both the novels (and used to be a dostaevsky fan).

There is just so much great about this novel that no words can properly express my excitement. To people who have previously asked my recommendations of ukrainian literature: this is it ☝️☝️☝️☝️

[snovyda]

Why won't you answer any tells about the Azon Battalion and its reach within the Ukrainian Army? 🥺🥺🥺 afraid of your followers knowing your true beliefs? You fascist piece of shit.

I was dealing with some real life stuff, and I have to admit, your first two questions had me fooled into thinking that maybe they were asked in good faith, so I wanted to give a long and nuanced answer.

But I see you're a russian nazi supporter (LOL the levels of projecting you lot do by daring to call anyone else a fascist). And I also started my day with the sounds of missiles being intercepted nearby, so I'm really done. So short facts for you:

1. I have no faintest idea what "Azon battalion" is. If you want to have a gotcha on something, at least try to know what you are talking about.

2. If you meant "Azov battalion" (named after the Azov Sea, on the shores of which it was formed in the spring of 2014), then that one was doesn't exist, either, hasn't existed for about 9 years now. It was reorganised and regrouped multiple times, and many prominent members (some of whom were linked to right-wing groups) have left.

3. What is called "Azov" now is officially "12th assault brigade of the National Guard 'Azov'". It is operating in accordance to laws and, just like all the military, obeys the higher military command of the country and fulfills its tasks and orders. Their current command have spoken up multiple times about the condemnation of authoritarian fascist regimes (one of which they are actively fighting). It is also a BRIGADE, one of many, which is a few thousand people within the whole army of somewhere around a million. I haven't got the faintest idea what you are blabbering on about their "reach" or "influence" as if they are some sort of a "Hydra" spy network or even a political organization. Individually, there are all kinds of people in the army, of course, with all kinds of views, some good and some bad, but they are obliged to comply with laws and rules. You seem to have some cartoon level of thinking (plus a hefty amount of russian propaganda with its often photoshopped pictures and laughably stupid stories) on how a fucking army operates.

My views are very simple: I want the fascist invader to leave my country. I want to not be bombed or killed/raped/tortured/deported (all the things said fascist invader is doing here). I want the occupied territories, where the invaders are currently doing all those things, to be freed. I want to live in a free country with the human rights upheld. Currently the only thing that is defending me is the Ukrainian army. All of its brigades and battalions and regimens and what have you.

So from the bottom of my heart: go fuck yourself, you pro-nazi invader scum.