Myroslav Marynovych For NP-UN
Dark Days, Determined People is a collection of 21 stories that gives voice to ordinary people volunteering in dangerous roles throughout Ukraine while the country is under siege by the Russians. It is published by German publisher Ibidem and is part of the book series “Ukrainian Voices,” devoted to publishing monographs and anthologies by Ukrainian intellectuals, activists, officials and journalists.
The series is collected by Andreas Umland, Ph.D., Senior Expert at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, Kyiv, and Research Fellow at the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies, Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Dr. Umland lives in Kyiv and is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. The “Ukrainian Voices” series aims to introduce Western and other audiences to Ukrainian exploration, deliberation and interpretation of historic and current, domestic and international, affairs.
The book is literally transcribed from the radar of the Ukrainian spirit, as presented by its authors, accredited journalists Orysia Hrudka and Bohdan Ben. Through several months of interviews and extensive research, the authors witnessed how only the human spirit can convince ordinary people to rush to evacuate wounded and desperate civilians, putting their own lives at risk and ignoring constant bombardment.
It is this spirit that encourages a warrior to remain on the battlefield and cover soldiers-in-arms, realizing that they may be seeing daylight for the last time. It is the human spirit that prompts farmers to sow grain amid hidden mines, not knowing if they will be able to harvest a crop. However, when you stand on the side of Light, the possibilities of your inner strength become virtually limitless.
In each of these stories, we read about on-the-ground events which only a journalist can glean from real people and, in turn, share with the world. The authors try to depict life during the war as it is — with all its difficulties, hesitations, and inner conflicts and how two realities — peaceful and military — coexist in constant tension. We see the blatant and triumphant evil of the Russian occupier who has been given the command: “Attack!” The consequences of these attacks are suffered by everyday people — helpless civilians who flee from vicious occupiers; endless funerals of fallen soldiers; Red Cross evacuators gunned down; and dead children dumped into ditches.
This was and is quite obvious to me — a human rights activist and political prisoner of the Brezhnev era — as well as to all my companions in the infamous Gulag, who shared with me the title of “especially dangerous criminals against the state.” Those of us who are still alive today warn the world in one voice against the temptation to quickly reconcile the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, allegedly for the sake of saving lives, as America’s President Donald Trump proposes.
I write these words in the days when the master of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, the undeniably autocratic president, has come out with new and cunning “peacemaking” initiatives, which are an undisguised ultimatum to Ukraine. And once again, there are so many politicians and just, good people who have forgotten the warning that “the aggressor is always peace-loving.” He seeks to conquer only “peacefully.” May God guide the minds and hearts of those who will make these crucial decisions in the world today.
This book invites readers to rethink many long-standing stereotypes. You will not be able to put it down, wondering if Russia’s war against Ukraine will make world democracies consider whether they retain — in an age of post-truth and new weapons of mass destruction — their ability to distinguish truth from deception, and therefore good from evil. I invite all readers to feel the truth of this conclusion, as reflected in these stories.
I can only admiringly note that the authors — Orysia Hrudka and Bohdan Ben — managed to capture and highlight new “shining traces of God’s light” in the grim days of war. It is thanks to these manifestations of love and mutual support, resilience and self-sacrifice, that the book — despite its undoubted tragedy — is not pessimistic. Dark Days, Determined People accurately conveys the candour of the famous quote by Erich Maria Remarque: “In dark times, bright people are clearly visible.” Through their self-sacrifice, these bright people are defining the history of Ukraine today. I believe that the light these determined people radiate is capable of overcoming the greatest darkness of dark days.
I hope this book will give its readers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the current Ukrainian reality and will help to explore how Ukrainians perceive this war and what gives them faith and strength.
Dark Days, Determined People is distributed by Ibidem publishers, Columbia University Press, and Euromaidan Press. It is also available for pre-order at Amazon.ca.
Myroslav Marynovych is a Ukrainian publicist, human rights activist, and former Soviet political prisoner
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