The Times Magazine 31army is the second best in the world and is
really, really strong. And I was particularly
scared because I am politically active and
I did not want to be imprisoned.
First I went to a shop to buy some things
and I saw the longest queue I’ve seen in my
life. That was when I sent my boyfriend a
message on Telegram saying maybe we should
marry. We had talked about it before. We said
if real war starts, we should marry, to cover each
other’s backs and to help each other when we
can. To be together. So we married that day.
At first I was at the military base for a
month, working in the kitchen. I didn’t even
see Kyiv or how it had changed from the war.
I was doing a lot of work; I did not eat or
sleep very much and I suffered with anxiety.
Rockets were shooting, and hitting houses,
shops, markets. It was not safe.
But it was good for me to be busy because
I couldn’t stop to worry about Svitoslav. It didn’t
allow me to think, “Is he alive?” On the second
day of the war, he was taken to a position in
Hostomel, a city near Kyiv where there was
a lot of fighting. Russia was storming it and
I was in shock because I could see on the news
there was a column of Russian tanks that had
broken through the regular Ukrainian army.
He had to help stop the advance. They were in
great danger because they didn’t have enough
ammunition. Most of the guys were just in
jeans and sweaters and it was really cold. And
they couldn’t turn their phones on because it
would reveal their positions. Then the column
decided to go another way, to break through
the forest, and it was destroyed by the
Ukrainian army.
If I had to, of course I would kill for my
independence, for my freedom and for the
freedom of our land. But really I just want to
go on my honeymoon, which would be going
home to our flat and living a normal life. No
rockets. No explosions. Not being scared for
our friends and family. Just renovating my
flat, finishing the floor, trying out paint
colours and starting our family life.
Anastasiia, 24, wedding planner, Kyiv
At first I was giving out guns, then I was
patrolling the streets. My job involves guarding
a strategic building. Before all this I was an
events planner, mainly organising parties and
weddings. My boyfriend proposed to me on
February 12, and on the day the war started I
was meant to be choosing my wedding dress.
I was born in Mariupol and I have lived
in Kyiv since 2004. I can’t understand why
anyone would think I would flee my country
when people have come here to kill us. On
the first day of the war I went straight to the
military commissariat to join the territorial
defence force.
We are scared – only fools are not afraid
of death – but we are mostly scared for our
relatives. My dad is serving where the active
military actions are taking place.
I am having difficult conversations that
I never imagined I would have to have with
my loved ones: what I should do if I am
captured or taken hostage, because as awoman I understand what the consequences
are. I have said that I don’t want to be taken
alive, so how many lives can I take with me?
Can I kill someone before they kill me?
My brother is with my mother in western
Ukraine because she needs support. He’s
helping with humanitarian aid. I speak to my
mother once or twice a day. It’s very hard for
her because we don’t have any communication
with our father – we cannot speak to him.
I am asking colleagues for any information
about him but she doesn’t want to hear that.
I had some gun training – how to aim,
how to stand – shooting practice and some
first-aid training. I am on a four-hour watchYaryna, 21 Married her boyfriend,
Svitoslav, on the day the war started‘WE ARE SCARED. AS A
WOMAN, I KNOW WHAT
COULD HAPPEN TO ME IF
I’M CAPTURED’
PUTIN’S WAR