Ukraina SOS: Volume 9 - Dispatch from western Ukraine, my book!, new things to read and ways to help
Hi everyone, In October, I was able to visit Ukraine briefly for the first time since the COVID pandemic. In some senses, it was wonderful to be back, see family, and be immersed in a culture that I have long found totally fascinating. On the other hand, it was heartbreaking because the effect of the war was palpable, even in a part of the country that is far from the frontlines. I wrote up my impressions from the trip in an essay for Catapult magazine, which you can read here.
See below for more news from me, recommended links, and new ways to help.
My Book Has a Home on the Internet
As some of you know, for many years, I have been working on a book that reckons with my family’s experience in Ukraine during and after World War II. I’m happy to share that it will come out this February via ibidem Press’s Ukrainian Voices series and now has its own page on the Internet, where you can pre-order it.
The book was inspired by my desire to document the life of my grandmother, who grew up in western Ukraine and was just old enough to be deeply affected by the war and its aftermath. I completed the vast majority of the book prior to Russia’s invasion, but the events I wrote about are obviously connected to the story that continues to unfold today. My hope is that the book will give readers the chance to learn more about Ukraine’s difficult recent history, its fraught relationship with Russia, and its unique (and complicated) culture and identity—all through the lens of one family’s story (mine!)
I’ve been humbled to receive some early praise for the book, including from the Financial Times’ Ukraine correspondent Christopher Miller, who called it “one of the best and most intimate histories of Ukraine you’ll read,” as well as from Jan Gross, John-Paul Himka, and Omer Bartov, all historians I deeply admire.
What to Read/Watch/Follow Etc.
Larissa Babij, an American who has lived in Kyiv for decades, has been writing absorbing dispatches about life in the capital via her Substack newsletter
Yale professor Timothy Snyder has made his engaging Ukraine survey course this year available online and via podcast
Would you like to be able to better follow the string of obscenities that are often featured in videos documenting the war? You can improve your knowledge by following Curse Like a Russian
Mariupol: Unlost Hope is a Ukrainian documentary featuring gut-churning interviews with survivors of the siege of the city
OpenDemocracy put together a good list of five books to read to understand Russia’s war in Ukraine
Ukrainian broadcaster Current Time did an eye-opening segment on the deteriorating housing conditions internally displaced people are experiencing amid the power outages
Sundance Film Festival will be making two Ukrainian films available online for streaming this year as part of its programming in January: Iron Butterflies and 20 Days in Mariupol. I have seen some footage from the latter and it is devastating
How to Help
Donate to Renew Democracy Initiative’s Keep Ukraine Warm project, which provides provides sleeping bags, meals, and water filtration to those in need
Donate to United24, President Zelensky’s new initiative for collecting charitable donations for Ukraine for the purposes of defense and demining, humanitarian and medical aid, and the renovation of damaged infrastructure
This war breaks your heart in a million ways, often in areas that you don’t anticipate. The other day, for me, it was the appeal for funds from the Kyiv Botanical Garden, one of my favorite places in Ukraine. Their greenhouse plants are in danger because they can’t maintain the necessary temperature with the power outages. Some of their plants are more than 50 years old! You can read more from them here and as a foreigner easily donate via this Monobank account (note that contributions are in Ukrainian hrivnya.)
Baba of the Moment
Note: The image at the top is a memento from my trip during this year’s apple season in western Ukraine.