As the devastating war in Ukraine approaches the two-year mark, IAN BIRRELL goes to Kyiv to see how moral is holding up. His verdict? Despite mounting casualties, the will to beat Putin burns brighter than ever
DAILY MAIL
The scene seemed typical of any European capital: a woman sipping fruit tea while chatting amid the bustle of a cafe.
Yet Nataliia Drapak was listing casualties among her circle of friends on the bloodstained front line of war. ‘I have friends who have fallen. I have one friend missing since May.
I have another friend badly wounded, injured in all four limbs. He’s a father of four, so it is very difficult for his family.’
Her fiance has been fighting since June last year, never getting the chance to bid farewell to his dead comrades as bodies are transported back to their families.
‘He knows that he’ll think about this for the rest of his life,’ said Drapak, 33, who works in the arts. Little wonder her exhausted boyfriend suffers mental health issues.
‘He has a lot of stamina and stability for someone who is so depressed,’ she said. ‘But we need one million more people to fight.’
Another soldier has launched a petition calling for long-serving troops to be rotated, sparking a difficult debate over mobilisation in a country seeing casualties rise as the snows of a second winter of war fall. For Ukraine is confronting a harsh reality: that this war – which has killed, injured and displaced so many – might grind on far longer than most people here initially anticipated.
Last year, after heroically resisting Russia’s attack on Kyiv and recapturing more than half their seized terrain, there was heady talk of snatching back even Crimea from Vladimir Putin’s clutches by Christmas. Now the counter-offensive is stalling against well-fortified Russian lines. Moscow has found new suppliers of weapons, world attention has shifted to the Middle East, support from allies is wavering and the economy is ravaged.
So many people have lost everything… this is a fight for humanity
Even President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted to dissatisfaction, saying they are entering a ‘difficult’ phase as he orders defensive fortifications and urges the world not to forget their fight.
Returning to Ukraine after several months away, I found the mood gloomier, with growing concern over the nation’s readiness for a long struggle – yet their fatigue seems matched by even fiercer determination to defeat their enemy.
The sombre mood is unsurprising. One study found people typically know seven family members or friends killed or injured since the start of last year’s full-scale invasion, a chilling statistic reflected by everyone to whom I spoke.
The petition pleading for rotation of weary front-line troops was launched by Kyrylo Babii, who was an actor, artist and architecture student in Kharkiv before Russia attempted to crush his country.
He signed up instantly to defend Ukraine. More than 21 months later, he commands a front-line intelligence unit that has participated in some of the most savage battles. ‘I joined the army because I want to live in freedom,’ said the bushy-bearded 32-year-old. ‘We were attacked by a country that wants to destroy us. The scale of the invasion was so huge that I felt we had to do everything possible.’