SaprKatArt

Kate || 🇺🇦 || She/they || Commissions open! Illustrator & fic writer

[saprkatart]

I feel like one of the most frustrating things in war (well, not really, no even in the top 10, but, you know, turn of a phrase) is that you don't deal with it in any of the ways characters in fantasy do. 

When the full-scale invasion started we too went to the countryside to hide from the air raids and enemy troops, just like Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. There were no magic wardrobes there, no lions, no fawns, just the constant news, anxiety and trying to come to terms with the new reality. And I was among the lucky ones, because while going to the village was an alright decision for us, it became detrimental for those who went to Irpin or Bucha. Again, no magical lanterns or snowy fairy tales, just the people hating you for your very existence banging out the door into your house, making it theirs for the time being, and once that time came to an end, taking microwaves and children shoes with them, leaving behind hundreds of tortured souls apart from the bodies.

It's one of the most frustrating things when fighting the evil is not about avada kedavring an evil psycho. The thing you want to do most is just to have this simple solution of just sending a lightning right into the head of the head terrorist and be done with it. But it's a wild fantasy not only because it's not really on the cards, but because it's not just "One person's war". One person can declare a war, but he is nothing if not supported by hundreds of people spreading propaganda and misinformation, thousands of people taking weapons into their arms and stepping foot on the territory of an independent country, not-their country, with the intention of killing, thousands of people sending all kinds of things to fly over civil cities and throw bombs into the houses of sleeping people, millions of people endorsing it. And don't forget about all the predecessors working their asses off to do the same thing, to kill the spirit, to occupy, to get rid of our identity, to make everyone believe they are on the right side of history. They managed to bring "well he is a serial killer but he loves his wife and children" to a national level. Hey, don't look at all of the war crimes, we have ballet.

And don't forget we live in a crossover episode, so Jafar brings over more poison to spoil more apples and Maleficent comes over to shake hands with evil stepmother and blame the victim.

What you want is to go on a quest to throw a piece of jewellery into fire, for the horror to end. And it doesn't work like that. But fighting here is not all that dissimilar from that app that counts your steps as if you are going to Mordor. Everything you and I do is just a small step, but sooner or later it'll bring us to where we need to go. Spreading word about and disproving the propaganda is a step forward. Donating blood to save someone's life is a step forward. Going to a protest and showing the governments around the world that democracy should be supported and the spread of terrorism stopped is a step. Donating to the army is a step that helps literally keep the frontline and not let them go further and further in Ukraine and in Europe. And, obviously, all the people who fight and very tangibly, with their own hands don't let the evil spread are bringing us closer and closer to the goal.

So don't detach yourself from the events, don't ignore the world around you and don't stop. Life might not be a fairytale, but here victory comes not by outworldly actions of a main character, but by mundane and at the same time heroic actions of thousands of people.

Keep fighting.

[wintersmitth]

Russians moving to Mariupol are ordinary Russians. Those ordinary Russians are taking pics with destroyed homes in the background, they wear propagandist shirts. They climb up them ruins and make videoblogs.

Ordinary Russians are adopting deported children. They don't care those children have been stolen from homes. They lie that their parents gave them up. They are horrified those stolen children speak Ukrainian as an act of rebellion.

Ordinary Russians are supporting Putin. They believe they are the better than others, that God is helping them.

Ordinary Russians are working on the ammo factories and produce shells and bullets and bombs. Those are all ordinary Russians.

Ordinary Russians leave thousands of comments cheering to our deaths and tragedies. Deaths and tragedies done by their fucking country and by their fathers brothers and sons. Who also are, you know, ordinary Russians.

[wintersmitth]

A reminder. Do not forget about banality of evil.

[wordswithoutaworld]

So, the Paralympic Committee banned Ukrainian athletes’ parade uniforms with a map of Ukraine on them...

Olympic committees are really doing everything they can to make Ukraine look like a country without symbols — like a “neutral country” — instead of countries like Russia and Belarus, which should be in that role but are currently competing under their national symbols.

I want to say — then ban Ukrainian bodies altogether.

Ask how people become disabled in our country.

A Russian shell that leaves me without an arm — is that apolitical?

A fragment from Russian destruction that leaves me without an eye — is that outside politics?

Losing my leg to a Russian mine — is that just some natural disaster, like something blown in from Russia by the wind?

Masses of tortured bodies in territories occupied by Russia, which you won’t allow us to show together with the map of our country — is that “political” because it might make Russian Paralympians uncomfortable, since they were the same soldiers?

You are just as “for peace in the world” as those Russians who simply don’t finish the sentence out loud — “without Ukraine”.

Ph: by Marta Syrko

[yellowcry]

I genuinely hate how russians are treated as innocent by half of the word. Once, I remember how someone said that even russians that ARE in favour of the war aren't to blame. Because 'they are poor babies that are brainwashed by propaganda'. Like listen, I grew in annexation since I was 8. And after that happened I had to constantly listen to how 'Great russia is' and 'how wonderful it is that they returned Crimea thank you putin'. From every corner

And SOMEHOW by the age of 12, I looked around and said "Hold up, this was actually illegal". Sure, I didn't understand the full picture of all russian atrocities, I barely even knew what was going on behind the facade. But being a fucking preteen I managed to figure out that you don't just take come and rip a part of another country??

But noo... apparently it's so hard to understand. Poor russians, someone, teach them😫/sark

[wordswithoutaworld]

With the film “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” reaching its awards peak — which everyone already understands will end with an Oscar — I just want to say that I honestly don’t care at all.

I don't care about the tragedy of Russian children who are being taught that their country’s military invasion of Ukraine is some kind of holy mission, that Ukrainians are backward people or even “Nazi” non-humans, and all that.

For me there is no tragedy in the loss of potential humanity in people who don’t consider me human on the same level as themselves.

It is a tragedy for those who can imagine themselves in the place of those people, not in mine. Everyone relates to what feels closer to them.

I still remember how, in the first year of the full-scale invasion (not the beginning of Russia’s military actions and occupation, because that would be 12 years), a film about Ukrainian children in an orphanage in a frontline city lost to a film about a Russian politician who, before Russia’s actions against Ukraine affected his country directly — both militarily and in its relations with Europe — treated his country’s actions with condescension. And then, during his Oscar speech, it was framed as if he had been jailed by Putin’s regime for supporting Ukraine, rather than because he was a Russian opposition figure for Russians. Nothing was done for us — not by him, not by his colleagues.

So when Ukrainian children already lost to a Russian once, it’s not some turning point for me if Russian children and a Russian protagonist win again at the Oscars, where there are no Ukrainian films at all.

After all, at the Berlinale, the Ukrainian film “Traces,” about victims of sexual violence and torture by Russian soldiers, wasn’t shown in the main hall, while “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” was. Our film wasn’t selected for the main documentary competition on major social and political issues.

I only feel sorry for our mothers and children, not for those who will later support their killings, no matter under what narrative.

Several generations of Russians have grown up, continuing this path on Russia’s side since 2014, and no one cared — not about studying that education system, not about the propaganda system, nothing.

So yeah, willfully ignorant foreigners can study those people as much as they want — after all, if not stopped by our country, those same people will later be ready to fight not only against us, but against them too.

[suratan-zir]

Just pretend I've written something meaningful and profound to commemorate the four years since the full-scale invasion, because I have nothing new or deep to say.

My hometown has been under occupation since 2014. My parents probably already have russian citizenship, because you can't survive there otherwise. But I don't ask them about it.

The town most dear to my heart is now in ruins, and Ukraine is slowly losing ground there - but, more importantly, lives. So it has become another cemetery, a concrete desert among many others, like I knew it would. The frontline has now reached the little village where I spent the first few years of my life, and which I still see in my dreams sometimes, however fuzzy - a little house on the hill, summer, tall grass (it probably seemed way taller because I was so small), my great grandma and I harvesting berries in a raspberry patch, a tapestry with deer on it in the summer house. None of it exists anymore, or ever will again.

I saw some war footage with russians hiding in a graveyard, probably somewhere in those parts. It could have been one of countless little graveyards, but for some reason, for the first time, I imagined my great-grandma's grave being uprooted by a missile, and that thought made me sick.

Thinking about any of it makes me sick. I don't think I can feel the normal spectrum of human emotions regarding the war anymore. It's either sickness or nothingness.

Living in Donetsk, in 2016 or so, I remember thinking - it'll be over soon, it can't go on much longer. In 2021, I faced the truth - it's not going to end. I need to leave and try to start over, so I did. In 2026, I'm trying not to think about anything. Not to count years. Not to plan. Not to stare too long as elderly mothers bring flowers to the portraits of their fallen sons and wipe stains off their photograph faces. Because thinking about any of it, looking at it, is unbearable, and only gets worse as time goes on.

May russia crumble into a thousand pitiful pieces.

[wordswithoutaworld]

«Only a world-changing discovery can save me»

I think some of you may have seen this photo of the Pectoral and the man who proudly — and with a certain irony — put it on himself.

Behind this photograph lies not only a moment of triumph, but also a deeply personal drama from the life of Borys Mozolevskyi — the very person who discovered it.

The reason he believed that only a discovery of such global significance could save him was that, within the Soviet system — at the height of the persecution of Ukrainian dissidents and show trials against them — Mozolevskyi was considered “politically unreliable.” He was friends with Vasyl Stus and other members of the Sixtiers movement, wrote patriotic poetry, and was under KGB surveillance for his so-called “nationalist views,” that is, pro-Ukrainian ones.

After graduating from the Faculty of History and Philosophy, he was denied a job placement in archaeology and was forced to earn a living as a boiler operator — one of the most common professions available to dissidents after being pushed out of their field for ideological reasons.

His one stroke of luck was that Oleksii Terenozhkin, head of a department at the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, treated him with sympathy and brought him into an expedition researching Scythian burial mounds. And when, as Mozolevskyi later wrote, the noose around his neck was already tightening — and he knew he was being closely monitored — he realized that only a discovery of world-level importance could save him:

“Thus I dreamed and suffered my way to my Tovsta Mohyla.

My audacity was rewarded with a royal pectoral.

Instead of being sent to Mordovia, I ended up at the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, which hurried to enroll me retroactively.”

Almost immediately, a denunciation was filed against Terenozhkin for having “sheltered the anti-Soviet individual Mozolevskyi.” The professor was even expelled from the Communist Party for daring to defend his student. However, Terenozhkin’s authority proved strong enough for his party membership to be reinstated and the case quietly dropped.

So what happened after the discovery of the Pectoral?

There was success — but, as always, shaped by the constraints of the system of that time.

To avoid the embarrassment of such a monumental discovery being made by a researcher not formally affiliated with a major institution, Mozolevskyi was hastily added to the staff of the Institute of Archaeology retroactively and appointed a junior research fellow. The Academy of Sciences also granted him a three-room apartment on Nauky Avenue, after it became an awkward revelation that he had been living on the outskirts of the capital in a cramped one-room Khrushchev-era apartment near Zhuliany Airport — hardly fitting for the supposed “pride of the Union.”

Mozolevskyi prepared his PhD dissertation, naturally, using materials from Tovsta Mohyla. In the Soviet Union, the right to defend a dissertation in the language of a particular republic required a special decision by the academic council, granted at the candidate’s request. Mozolevskyi stated:

“I consider it degrading to human dignity to ask anyone, in my own homeland, for permission to speak my native language.”

In time, he became head of the archaeology department — yet he was never allowed to attend international exhibitions. Mozolevskyi prepared the exhibitions, but abroad they were presented by other scholars, ones deemed more politically “reliable.”

Until the end of his life, he continued his research, excavations, and scholarly work, eventually dying of cancer.

The Pectoral saved him from persecution and brought him fame — but had it not been for his choice to remain openly Ukrainian, he might, sadly, have achieved far greater recognition.

[mariacallous]

[folklorespring]

during the second Chechen war

[wordswithoutaworld]

I’ll be honest, guys. I’m grateful for any support for Ukraine from foreigners. But when, in a monologue about helping Ukraine, you gradually slip into rhetoric like “Russians and Ukrainians are alike,” you lose most of the Ukrainian audience in the room. At that point, only Russians remain — and even then, a certain kind of them.

“Russian soldiers are all forced to go to this war.” Please, listen to at least some real interviews with them.

Because in 90% of cases, after the word “forced,” one of these reasons follows:

“I was forced to fight because I signed a contract that said I would only dig trenches and do logistical support. But I was betrayed and sent to assault positions. I was promised I’d just help the army and earn money while staying safe.”

“I was forced to fight because I was in prison and was told my sentence would be canceled if I signed a contract. It’s very unfortunate that other Russians don’t really respect me.”

“I was forced to fight because I wanted a better life, to pay off my loans. They said they would pay well, so I signed the contract.”

Yes, there are ideological Russians who are genuinely interested in destroying Ukrainians. But the majority see these killings — and their participation in them — as a source of income. This is not the first such case in human history, including today. Yet for some reason, you fail to grasp this.

At the same time, many of you refuse to listen to Ukrainians, considering our perspective unreliable — even though we have lived with and interacted with this nation for centuries, while you may have only had a couple of Russian acquaintances.

So yes, thank you for the support. But Ukrainians are not fighting to “liberate Russians from Putin” and make Russia free so that we can then live together with it in harmony — as many of you once imagined, and as many “liberal” Russians still do.

Those Russians who are truly on Ukraine’s side — not just “against the war” — most often do not see the continued existence of this modern empire as a result of Ukraine’s victory. Because that victory would lead to further attempts to free Belarus, to cut Georgia off from Russian influence, and then to internal processes within Russia itself. Beyond that, representatives of national minorities are already discussing the creation of their own forms of statehood without Kremlin control, if they are given such a chance.

So yes, Ukrainians do fight for the freedom of others — this has also been true historically — but in the case of our victory, there will be courts just like after World War II, where the excuse “I was just following orders” is not a valid alibi.

And in the case of a Russian occupation of Ukraine — you will simply have the opportunity to meet many more Russian soldiers and form your own opinion of them.

[5soswfttwtaf]

I'll consider believing all these unbombed people who are trying to tell us we're delusional that the sudden rise of portraying russians in media without ever mentioning the genocide they're committing is russian propaganda when these people can name all russians war crimes against us committed this week alone

i promise you it's a long list

and idk how you can be politically aware or simply reading the news every morning and then enjoy russians in media after seeing what they're like irl

[wordswithoutaworld]

Sport as Russia’s soft power is slowly returning to what it was before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. First it was chess and taekwondo, now it is football.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has stated that the organization should consider lifting the suspension of Russian teams from international competitions.

In 2022, following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian clubs and national teams were banned from major football tournaments. Infantino believes that the ban imposed on Russia did not help the situation in any way. The FIFA president is still ready to consider lifting the relevant restrictions on Russia.

“We definitely need to look at this. The suspension of Russia has achieved nothing, only creating more frustration and hatred,” Infantino said.

According to the FIFA president, it would be better “if girls and boys from Russia had the opportunity to play football in other parts of Europe.”

He noted that Russian footballers and the national team of the aggressor country should “be fully reinstated in their rights and in their ability to participate in international competitions under FIFA.”

“That is what we think, and what we have thought from the very beginning. And we hope that sooner or later such discussions will take place within FIFA,” Peskov added.

“The fact that at least discussions on this topic have appeared is, of course, good. Yes, we have seen these statements, and we genuinely welcome them. It has long been time to think about this,” Peskov said in response to a question from propagandists about the Kremlin’s attitude toward Infantino’s recent remarks.

“In general, sport, the idea of Olympism, and football in particular should never have been politicized,” the Kremlin spokesperson emphasized.

The video shows one of the many children’s and youth sports complexes that were hit by the Russian army—whose soldiers will later cheer for their favorite football teams, because they are just ordinary Russians.

[kamiana-ruzha]

"slavic", "slavic" хуявік блять так і скажи шо ти на їбучу русню дрочиш їблан ти тупий

[anoonimthepoorchad]

I live in Kyiv, Ukraine so I guessed telling about my personal experience with the blackouts might be interesting to people!

In autumn russia began targeting our power plants during air raids to create a humanitarian disaster in Kyiv, region around the city and many many other big cities and towns in Ukraine. Along with electricity they planned to destroy our water systems and central heating, so that they could sway civilians to despair. If you can't win the war on the frontline, target the people in the back.

So since autumn there have been scheduled blackouts in my city and many cities all over Ukraine. In Kyiv that meant all buildings were separated in 12 groups and each group had its time with and without electricity. Good weather and less attacks meant more electricity, cold and air raids meant less electricity.

Since the temperatures dropped to -20°C russians began attacking the power plants even more. Since early January there's over 4000 buildings in my city without central heating. That means freezing temperatures inside apartments. Our workers are fixing the power plants in record times but it's hard work bordering on overworking.

Then there's the electricity. The situation is so bad, there are no more schedules for it, and we get electricity when there's the least amount of demand for it. That means that we get it at 12 am and it dissappears at 8 am, and there's little you can predict about it.

Our oven only works from electricity, so there's no cooking unless at nighttime. Our warm water is broken too, and nobody is really rushing to fix it (understandably, there are buildings without water at all) and so not-freezing-cold water is only available from an electric boiler.

But good news, my family bought an ecoflow (a huge expensive battery) and it powers our light and wifi! You can see our apartment from outside when there's a blackout, since we're one of the only windows still bright. The battery charges from the main powergrid and then pours the electricity back into it when we turn it on. Sometimes we even turn on the kettle or the microwave with it's power!

Among those things you get used to when the electricity is back on is preparing some boiling water to pour into thermoses, charging the ecoflow battery and cooking whatever is urgently needed. Then you get to do what elsetime would take the precious electricity from your battery: using the pc, charging the less important devices etc. You can even use the elevators!

We're lucky enough to have a pretty good central heating situation! Sure, you don't want to get out from your blankets, but it's still warm enough to only need one sweater. My cousin had no electricity, water nor central heating before the city got to fixing her building. My friend has the same situation with electricity as us, but his ecoflow is weaker.

Our universities sent the students back to their homes (or the dorm if it's any better) so that they could get a better chance with finding electricity to study. I don't even want to think about my thesis. I'll do it when the power gets better, yeah. Definitely not procrastinating.

The city is dark. I thought I could snap a picture but it would be hard to understand what is what in the darkness. There are no street lights working, and the buildings are dark too. The only light you can see comes from cars, flashlights the people are carrying, and from stores that have manual electricity generators. Those are very loud too, you can barely hear a thing while passing by them.

Our neighbor ran out of power and asked in the group chat for some help. We gave her our powerbank and she told us to call her up if we ever need some gas cans for a gas stove. Yay community!

People are allowed to go outside during curfew to get to a city confirmed location with electricity to charge their devices or to warm up a bit. Those are called "the unbreakable points", pretty cool, right? But most people charge up or work with their laptops at the local cafes. Just buy some food and enjoy the complimentary electricity!

I may be forgetting something else but that's okay. Please reblog to spread awareness! And for the last part, here's a picture of our dog with his personal flashlight! He's afraid of the dark stairs we have to climb without electricity, so we got him one to feel less scared! It's strapped to his neck like a collar and turns him into the most adorable horror game protagonist during walks!

[what-even-is-thiss]

Whenever tankies show up in my notes I get so ticked off because I’ve met people who grew up in a variety of communist countries and they certainly don’t seem to agree with your rosy vision of what it’s like living in those sorts of places.

Like yeah maybe it wasn’t as cartoonishly bad as Americans seem to think it is but it’s still not good.

Like I met a woman from Russia once who told me that when she first came to the US as an exchange student in the 90s she cried the first time she went into an American grocery store because she’d never seen that much food in one place before. Like if that’s your people’s reality I think maybe there was likely a problem or two.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Although I want to make it 1000% clear that I am anti-dictatorship and these countries have other massive problems, there are dictatorships and other types of authoritarian states that make sure their people are fed. Singapore is functionally mostly authoritarian. China is a dictatorship and despite all of its problems, currently hunger levels are pretty low. In fact, poverty and hunger were higher before the economy started to let some capitalism in.

There are some authoritarian states that keep people happy enough. There’s places where the end of communism brought more food and safety and places where the opposite happened. And that’s really uncomfortable to think about. That’s the nuance of reality. Both communism and capitalism aren’t destined to succeed or fail and neither are democracy or authoritarianism.

[wordswithoutaworld]

Ukrainian women artists

Author: oliahercules on insta

[antigravityy-deactivated2026020]

It's not that I don't want to watch Heated Rivalry because of spicy gay scenes.

I don't wanna watch it because they're presenting a character from the same scumtry (scum+country) that is killing Ukrainians everyday and bear in mind that most people in russia openly support and cheer for this genocide and the fascist propaganda that encourages it, while the ones that openly don't (and have explicitly condamned it) are either dead, or jailed or have fled/left and are now fearing for their lives.

Idgaf if the plot it's set before 2022: the scumtry started the war in 2014, but its shitty propaganda started years and years before.