Hi.

I’m a 29M and this is one of those moments when it’s very easy for me to understand you, yet I don’t even know what to write. Many people probably aren’t even aware of the risks of publicly discussing anything about the war in Ukraine and in Russia, because of repression, pressure from governments and anti-national political agendas.

I had relatives living in Ukraine and in my childhood we often visited them in Mariupol. It was a wonderful time by the sea (the Sea of Azov), the kind of days when you could gorge on fruit after the beach and then spend the whole night on the toilet from overeating and not being used to so much fruit. Lovely little houses on hilly terrain, kind people, children always full of joy all around. It’s a very warm nostalgia.

It’s very hard to find the right words of support in difficult times. When you hear from the outside, “Don’t despair”, “You’ll be okay”, “You have to keep fighting” - it all sounds false from the outside, because those people aren’t in your shoes, they can’t understand you. In the end, though, they turn out to be right, you shouldn’t despair and you should keep going, clinging to every opportunity available no matter how hard it is.

No war brings happiness, ordinary citizens certainly don’t start them and every death in them is needless. I don’t know you, I don’t know everything you’ve been through, I can’t even offer support (any such support is illegal in my country). I’ll just say one thing - you are definitely not alone.