I can imagine how Canadians feel when they watch news from Ukraine on television.
Not long ago, we in Ukraine watched reports from Iraq and Syria, and it seemed to us like a broadcast from another planet – a planet of cruelty and destruction. Now we live on this planet.
To maintain a healthy mind, we have to rearrange our own psyche, including humour.
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[More reports from Ukraine with journalist Ihor Pavliuk]
Yes, it sounds strange, because what humour can there be if a missile or a war drone can fly into your house at any moment? What humour can there be, if on the other side of the front there are sadists ready to torture you?
And it’s not very comfortable to laugh when you have electricity in your house for only a few hours a day, especially in winter.
But, no matter what, Ukrainians continue to joke, and as far as I know, this infuriates the enemies the most. New topics for jokes appear almost every day. The most relevant are internet memes about watermelons and raccoons.
Turning tide
At the start of November, Ukrainian troops managed to liberate the heart of southern Ukraine – the city of Kherson. The famous Kherson watermelons are a symbol of this region, which is arid and has the only miniature desert in Europe. Farming in the Kherson region requires great skill, and even better, irrigation.
However, watermelons can be grown here without irrigation and thanks to fertile soil and scorching southern sun, the melons grow huge, juicy and tasty. The end of summer for all of Ukraine was symbolized by trucks with Kherson watermelons sold by farmers.
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This year, for the first time, we had no Kherson watermelons but the liberation of this region should see the return of this delicious tradition. Ukrainians reacted to the joyful news of the city’s liberation with various gastronomic jokes.
Watermelons were used to “shoot down” enemy helicopters and hit tanks. They replaced faces in some photos on social networks.
However, the abduction of a raccoon from the Kherson zoo was even more popular. When the enemies retreated from the city, they stole everything possible. Museums, shops, private houses – everything was looted. The occupiers blew up the heating and water supply facilities in Kherson. Hundreds of thousands of people risk freezing in unheated homes, and they are being evacuated as winter worsens.
The retreat of the Russians from Kherson was so shameful that one of their bloggers wrote that “the only good news is that they managed to steal a raccoon from the Kherson Zoo.” This post raised a huge wave of indignation and, at the same time, many jokes in Ukrainian society.
The raccoon was painted on the uniform of the Ukrainian army, in the form of Superman or a ninja. Now one of the main tasks for the army of Ukraine is, jokingly, the release of the raccoon from captivity. Soldiers offer to exchange the animal for one of the Russian prisoners of war.
Making light
It’s nice to joke around if you’re doing well. After the last massive rocket attack, the electricity in my house went out for three hours, for the first time. It was a shock because our town had not previously suffered from power outages.
However, my friends from other regions of Ukraine say that I live in some enchanted place, because they do not have electricity for 12 to 16 hours a day or more. It is impossible to work normally under such conditions. People buy candles and batteries. There is a shortage of gasoline generators, the price of which has tripled.
But, I have yet to hear a single person say what Putin wants to hear: “Come on, let’s give up, I can’t live without electricity.”
The Russians want to achieve our surrender using rocket attacks on electrical transformers and power lines. They act within their own logic, but they still haven’t understood that Ukrainians would rather sit in the cold and darkness than agree to this blackmail.
Ukrainian farmers constantly surprise me with their optimism and ability to survive under any conditions. Recently, I went to see a farmer who works in the Mykolaiv region, not far from liberated Kherson. I thought this person would have regrets, but Ivan offered to play football (soccer to most Canadians) with me.
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Then we looked at his fields of hardy winter wheat and the dozens of long plastic bags into which Ivan managed to stuff almost the entire harvest. He says he is not going to leave the fields unsown and he will not give his grain for nothing.
However, the biggest cause for optimism on his part was a new tractor, worth more than $400,000, and a seeder of a similar class.
“It’s 50 to 60 kilometres from you to the front line,” I said. “You buy expensive machinery, you build a new grain elevator, you repair roads in your village.”
I couldn’t believe it. But Ivan sees no problems.
“Why should I sit on my suitcase and wait? How long will the war last? A month, a year or 10 years? I have a family, I have employees, I have work. And I will fulfil it.”
Dire outlook
Few optimistic forecasts are voiced in Ukraine’s agrarian press. They write that 20 to 25 per cent of the planned winter wheat areas will remain unsown. Farmers have much unsold wheat, so they will supposedly save money in this way.
But none of the many dozens of Ukrainian farmers I spoke with told me they would sow less wheat or leave any piece of the field unsown. I think that, for now, the situation is more or less stable but if our farmers cannot sell grain at normal prices by March 2023, real problems will begin.
In that case, Ukrainians will reduce to a minimum the acreage seeded to corn and other crops. With an acute lack of funds, agricultural companies would begin to go bankrupt, and that would be a real food Armageddon.
Millions of people in the world would starve and an economic sector of Ukraine would be destroyed. This is what Putin hopes, it seems.
I do not believe the war will end in a few months. The enemy stubbornly wants to destroy us and will not be influenced by calls for peace.
A real winter has begun here, with snow and frost periodically replaced by cold rain. For the first time in recent history, we must survive with the risk of being without electricity and natural gas, though most Ukrainians have houses in the village that can be heated with firewood.
Not everyone is so lucky. There are thousands of refugee families and people who don’t have the option of spending winter in the village. Others, including farmers, try to help them.
I hope all Ukrainians will welcome Christmas warmly, even if they only have candles for lighting.
The greatest hardship will be suffered by Ukrainians who are at the front defending our lives and freedom.
