The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-07)

MONDAY, MARCH 7 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

war in ukraine

Kharkiv
Volodymyr Hashenko,
D igital animator, 36
From the first day, it’s seemed
like a bad dream. A day before
the war, I was running in a
nearby Kharkiv park. Every-
thing was quiet and covered in
snow. But now the sounds of
fighter jets approach, and you
just hope they won’t bomb over
your head.
I live in the center of the city
with my wife, her mother and
our two cats. One morning we
were awakened by a very loud
blow. We saw later that the
central square about two kilome-
ters away from us was destroyed
— a place we’d visited countless
times, the heart of our city. And
throughout the whole day, things
started to get more intense.
We moved from our apart-
ment building to a big house in
the city’s center where we’re
staying with friends of ours and
their families. Tall buildings
don’t seem safe anymore. If there
are no carpet bombings, we may
have a chance at survival.
Leaving is really a last resort
for us. Our cats are 12 years old,
we don’t have a car, and my
parents — who also live in
Kharkiv — are just not really
willing to go. Besides, it seems
that Russia won’t stop in eastern
Ukraine, so it’s not like it would
be safe in the west.

Odessa
Anastasia Varvarina,
artist, 38

The sea is really important to
me. It is my strength, and it is my
friend. Since I was a child, I told
it all of my secrets. And now
when I look at it, I am afraid I’ll
see Russian warships and mis-
siles.
I woke up at 5 a.m. on Feb. 24
to the sound of explosions. I
thought: “Okay, maybe some-
thing happened.” But you never
think it’s going to be war. I called
my friend and started crying. I
think I’m still in shock. I live in
the same apartment complex
with my parents. They are in
denial, but they also want to stay
and help. Now we only get a few
hours of sleep a night.
I made a hiding place for
myself within my apartment. It is
near my front door, it has several
walls, and it doesn’t have any
widows. With every new siren, I
adjust the setup to make it more
cozy.
I like to cook. And I’ve been a

professional food photographer

for a couple of years. But now I’m

too stressed to eat.

It’s strange being angry. As an

artist, I never knew I could hate

so much. But this is my sea. This

is my prairie. This is my steppe.

Those are my trees. This is my

land. You can’t take it.

Kyiv

Olha Pariieva,

E nglish teacher, 32

This is not my first time ex-

periencing war. I’m from Lu-

hansk, which was taken by pro-

Russian separatists in 2014. My

parents and I have been in Kyiv

ever since. But this experience is

different. In 2014, we weren’t

ready. Now, everyone under-

stands that the Ukrainian army

is something you can’t mess

with.

To be honest, I’m not afraid.

I’m furious. I’m staying here

because I have no dependents

and I can be helpful here. I

volunteer where I can, helping

deliver supplies and aiding local

hospitals.

Last week, I was at a concert

seeing the band Kryhitka at one

of Kyiv’s central concert halls.

Now the only thing I watch is the

news.

My dog Chewy and I sleep

together now. Well, I don’t let

him sleep on the bed, but now I

sleep on his bed — the floor.

Kharkiv

Olena Benko,

s creenwriter, 3 4

I don’t go outside a lot. It’s too

scary because there are fires and

bombs everywhere, all the time.

Even when it’s quiet, it’s difficult

because you don’t know when it’s

going to happen again.

I have family in Kyiv and

Dnipro, but I’m alone in Kharkiv.

I’m trying my best to live my

regular life. But that’s hard when

you can’t really buy the same

food products you used to or be

outside freely.

Last Sunday, I had just gotten

my hair done and was walking to

meet my friend for a coffee — it

was a very warm and sunny day.

Now I’m mostly afraid. But

Peaches, my cat, keeps me safe.

He’s the best therapist. He re-

minds me that life goes on be-

cause his life didn’t really

change.

Eventually, I decided to leave

Kharkiv. It’s too dangerous to

stay there. I don’t know where

I’ll end up.

BY RUBY MELLEN

T

wo weeks ago, Ukrainians’ phones were filled with the exuberant texts and photos of happy daily life

— fresh snow on the usual jogging route, the blaring melody and flashing lights of a concert hall, a

selfie of a new hairstyle snapped en route to meeting friends for a hot drink. Then, on Feb. 24, it all

changed as Russian forces invaded the country. The usual jogging route was destroyed by shelling. The

blare of sirens replaced the sounds of live music. And selfies taken in joy became ones taken in fear. For

many living in the country of nearly 44 million people, life transformed overnight, and their phones be-

came surreal artifacts of this sudden shift. Four Ukrainians living in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa — the three

biggest cities in their war-battered nation — shared their experiences with The Washington Post. Through

text messages, photos, videos and interviews, they tell how swiftly their normal lives were upended, how

fresh the trauma feels and how torn they are over whether to leave their homes.

‘I woke up to the sound of explosions’:

How the invasion abruptly changed their lives

ANASTASIA VARVARINA

Calm in Odessa. “The sea is really important to me. It is my

strength, and it is my friend,” Anastasia Varvarina said.

SALWAN GEORGES/THE WASHINGTON POST

A Ukrainian military vessel makes it way across the Black

Sea near Odessa on Friday.

VOLODYMYR HASHENKO

Constitution Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine, before the

Russian invasion.

SERGEY BOBOK/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Rubble in Constitution Square in Kharkiv after the shelling

by Russian forces.

will have an advantage because

they know the terrain, she said.

They can build barriers, destroy

bridges to limit entrances into the

city, and place snipers on roof-

tops.

“In urban warfare, defense has

the advantage,” Konaev said.

European leaders have been

trying to game out what Russian

President Vladimir Putin would

accept as a potential end state for

a defeated Ukraine. Policymakers

say they don’t have a clear sense,

although the first European dip-

lomat said that Putin might at-

tempt to reduce Ukraine “to a

much smaller state.”

Under that scenario, western

Ukraine would remain independ-

ent. The other territories would

be incorporated into Russia, occu-

pied, or declared independent

states, as the Kremlin has already

done with the Donetsk and Lu-

hansk regions.

But Russia’s ability to impose

that vision is “most improbable,”

the diplomat said, given the pro-

found anger in Ukraine against

the Russian invasion.

“This is a country of 40 million

[people],” the diplomat said. The

Kremlin “can try to have a strat-

egy. But I think in our strategic

calculations we are always forget-

ting one small obstacle, and that’s

the will of the people. Putin has

forgotten how to be elected in a

democratic way.”

NATO leaders also say that

even if Russia captures Kyiv, that

would not end the resistance, nor

the existence of the Ukrainian

state.

“Russians cannot occupy all

the country and subdue it,” said

Latvian Defense Minister Artis

Pabriks, whose country main-

tained a diplomatic service in ex-

ile for 51 years after it was occu-

pied in 1940 by the Soviet Union.

Washington never recognized the

annexation of the three Baltic

states.

“There will be a partisan war,

there will be resistance. So even if

Kyiv falls, that does not mean the

end of the war,” Pabriks said.

Stern reported from Mukachevo,

Ukraine. Ellen Nakashima and Paul

Sonne contributed to this report.

cessful covert campaign to arm

Afghan fighters who drove out the

Soviet military in the 1980s.

If Russian and Ukrainian nego-

tiators who have been meeting

near the border in Belarus reach

some settlement, that will prob-

ably diminish the momentum for

an insurgency and support for it,

Devine predicted.

Marta Kepe, a senior defense

analyst at the Rand Corp. who

studies resistance movements,

said that they often change during

the course of a war.

“As occupation progresses and

extends for a longer time, what

can start out as a more centralized

resistance often changes into

smaller resistance groups or

units. It is not a negative thing,”

she said. “In fact, smaller groups

allow more resilience.”

NATO policymakers admire

the spirit of the Ukrainian forces,

but they also say that their ability

to hold out against Russia is not

unlimited, especially as stocks of

ammunition dwindle and the

Russian military extends its encir-

clement of major cities.

“Russia has more troops than

Ukraine,” said a second senior

European diplomat. “Ukrainian

troops are very brave, but they are

already fighting more than a

week.”

Experts in resistance and ur-

ban warfare said Russian occupa-

tion forces will try to squeeze

supply pipelines and cut off cities.

Rita Konaev, director of analy-

sis for Georgetown University’s

Center for Security and Emerging

Technology, said Ukraine should

be preparing its citizens for com-

bat in cities accompanied by mass

air and artillery bombardment,

which Russia will use to try to

reduce the amount of door-to-

door fighting that taking cities

requires.

Konaev said that Ukrainians

should also lay in supplies in ad-

vance, because Russian forces will

probably disable the electrical

grid and cut off access to water in

the cities, and that they should

establish safe areas underground

to survive the aerial bombard-

ment.

Once Russian forces try to

move into the cities, Ukrainians

Officials remain cautious about

overt support for a Ukrainian in-

surgency lest it draw NATO mem-

ber countries into direct conflict

with Russia. In Moscow’s eyes,

support for a Zelensky govern-

ment operating in Poland could

constitute an attack by the alli-

ance, some officials warned.

But Ukraine’s leaders and its

citizens aren’t likely to be de-

terred by NATO’s concerns.

“I doubt very much that the

Ukrainians will not continue an

underground resistance cam-

paign even after the Russians es-

tablish control,” said a senior

Western intelligence official.

Moscow has “grossly underes-

timated Ukraine’s ability to re-

sist,” the official said. “I’m remind-

ed, especially by my eastern col-

leagues, about Ukrainians them-

selves. Ukrainians were some of

the fiercest fighters... for the

Soviets during World War II.” He

predicted that a resistance would

continue for months and possibly

years.

The United States has backed

and fought against successful in-

surgencies. Veterans of such con-

flicts say that the Ukrainians so

far have demonstrated the key

ingredient.

“The number one thing you

have to have is people on the

ground who want to fight,” said

Jack Devine, a retired senior CIA

officer who ran the agency’s suc-

who served in Afghanistan as a

Special Forces officer.

As the Russian military strug-

gles with logistical challenges —

including fuel and food shortages

— Waltz anticipates that the

Ukrainians will repeatedly strike

Russian supply lines. To do that,

they need a steady supply of weap-

ons and the ability to set impro-

vised explosive devices, he said.

“Those supply lines are going to

be very, very vulnerable, and

that’s where you really literally

starve the Russian army.”

Moulton, who served in Iraq as

a Marine Corps infantry officer,

said that he is in favor of sending

Harpoons and Stingers — the ad-

ministration has decided to send

the latter weapons, according to a

U.S. official and a document ob-

tained by The Washington Post —

but that using them also will re-

quire training.

“You can’t ship them to Ukraine

at the last minute and expect

some national guardsman to pick

up a Stinger and shoot down an

aircraft,” he said. Continuing a

resistance campaign will require

continued clandestine shipments

of small arms, ammunition, ex-

plosives and even cold-weather

gear.

“Think about the kinds of

things that would be used by sabo-

teurs as opposed to an army repel-

ling a frontal invasion,” Moulton

said.

main in Kyiv.

“In our party, we didn’t discuss

any plan of evacuation, because

we don’t want to give up,” Ariev

said. “We are not in this govern-

ment, but we have arms, and we

will fight against invaders here,

together with the people. This is

the only plan we have — no evacu-

ation, nothing.”

Nevertheless, European diplo-

mats, like their American coun-

terparts, are starting to prepare

for how to support the Ukrainian

government if Kyiv falls or the

country is entirely occupied by

Russia. A U.N. resolution last

week condemning the invasion,

which drew 141 votes, is one el-

ement of “laying the groundwork”

to recognize Zelensky’s adminis-

tration as Ukraine’s legitimate

government and to keep it afloat

even if it no longer controls terri-

tory, said a senior European diplo-

mat.

“We haven’t made a plan yet,

per se, but it would be something

we would be ready to move on

right away,” the diplomat said. “In

our experience, it helps to know

generally you have international

support.”

As early as last December, some

U.S. officials saw signs that the

Ukrainian military was preparing

for an eventual resistance, even as

Zelensky downplayed the threat

of invasion.

During an official visit, a Ukrai-

nian special operations com-

mander told Rep. Michael Waltz

(R-Fla.), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-

Mass.) and other lawmakers that

they were shifting training and

planning to focus on maintaining

an armed opposition, relying on

insurgent-like tactics.

Ukrainian officials told the

lawmakers that they were frus-

trated that the United States had

not sent Harpoon missiles to tar-

get Russian ships and Stinger

missiles to attack Russian air-

craft, Moulton and Waltz said in

separate interviews. The United

States diverted some military aid

to Ukraine that it had planned to

send to Afghanistan, but that

package mostly included small

arms, ammunition and medical

kits meant for a fight against the

Taliban, not Russia, said Waltz,

Should the United States and
its allies choose to back an insur-
gency, Ukrainian President Vo-
lodymyr Zelensky would be the
pivotal force, officials said, main-
taining morale and rallying
Ukrainians living under Russian
occupation to resist their power-
ful and well-equipped foe.
The possible Russian takeover
of Kyiv has prompted a flurry of
planning at the State Depart-
ment, Pentagon and other U.S.
agencies in the event that the
Zelensky government has to flee
the capital or the country itself.
“We’re doing contingency plan-
ning now for every possibility,”
including a scenario in which Zel-
ensky establishes a government-
in-exile in Poland, said a U.S. ad-
ministration official, who, like
others, spoke on the condition of
anonymity to discuss a sensitive
security matter.
Zelensky, who has called him-
self Russia’s “target No. 1,” re-
mains in Kyiv and has assured his
citizens he’s not leaving. He has
had discussions with U.S. officials
about whether he should move
west to a safer position in the city
of Lviv, closer to the Polish border.
Zelensky’s security detail has
plans ready to swiftly relocate
him and members of his cabinet, a
senior Ukrainian official said. “So
far, he has refused to go.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser
to Zelensky, declined to describe
any contingency plans Ukraine
was making in the event that
Russian forces capture the capi-
tal.
“One can only say that Ukraine
is preparing for the defense of
Kyiv as purposefully as Russia is
preparing for its attack on Kyiv,”
Podolyak said.
“This war has become a peo-
ple’s war for Ukrainians,” he con-
tinued. “We must win the war.
There are no other options.”
Volodymyr Ariev, a member of
Ukraine’s parliament from the op-
position European Solidarity par-
ty, expressed confidence that the
Rada, Ukraine’s parliament,
would continue to be able to meet
despite the wartime situation and
noted that many lawmakers re-

INSURGENCY FROM A

U.S. and allies begin to shape support for a guerrilla resistance in Ukraine

WOJCIECH GRZEDZINSKI FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Oleksandr, a retired military officer in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine,

displays weapons he says he plans to use against Russian troops.