sho, znovu?

he/him | 🇺🇦 Art: “I See Your Deeds, Human” by Oleksandr Melnyk Pfp: art by Vladyslav Yerko --- непостійний щоденник, де думки йдуть поперед батька в пекло

[wordswithoutaworld]

Welcome

In this quiet space, I wanted to talk about Ukrainian art, especially media, but the lens of my camera was shattered by the blast wave of Russia’s military invasion of my country.

So, like many other Ukrainians, I also write about the war here. If any of my posts — or posts by other Ukrainians — resonate with you, please consider donating to an organization of your choice: https://ukrainewar.carrd.co/

People can only be interesting if they’re alive. It would mean a lot if you helped us stay that way.

[panimoonchild]

My sister is safe because, anticipating the shelling, she went to parents' house. And during the worst of it, she wasn't at home.

Lukyanivka, Kyiv💔 The district where my sister lives. Bloody Russians need to pay for their war crimes!

[pocket-nature-studio]

Танцювааааала риба з раком риба з раком

[ivyithink]

А петрууууууууушка - з пастернаком, з пастернаком

[mrsheo]

А цибуля з часником!!!

[thyinum]

А дівчина з козаком!!

[panimoonchild]

Our kids don't have to live through the experience of war and loss 'cause of Russia

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

13th July 2014: Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel chat at the World Cup final.

russia had invaded Ukraine five months earlier.

Four days after this picture was taken russia shot down civilian flight MH17 over Donbas.

Merkel still refuses to express regret over her years of close ties to russia.

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

[tsvitmar]

Gotta draw my own representation ✂️✂️🇺🇦

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

Composer George Gershwin (born Jacob Gershwine), whose father's family was from Odesa, Ukraine. Pictured in 1937.

His famous song “Summertime” from the opera Porgy and Bess was based on the Ukrainian lullaby "Oi Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon" ("The Dream Passes by the Window").

[mariacallous]

[folklorespring]

Many months ago, after a very rough week of bombings I was going through local chats of my hometown where tired and scared people were arguing with each other out of pure exhaustion. Main question you could see them asking in different ways was «Is it going to be this bad forever now?». We’ve had bad bombings before, but not like this and definitely not like right now. Before we used to have 1 or 2 days of quiet in between; they usually happened at night and when they happened in daylight we would joke about our bombing routine being disrupted. But gradually it turned into every type of weapon the whole day every day with breaks lasting hours at maximum instead of days. Air raid used to mean something: you hear an air raid, danger, air raid is over when the danger is over (with the exceptions of very fast weapons like ballistic missiles that we’ve often heard exploding before an air raid could turn on). Now, when air raid is just never-ending, it doesn’t really matter, you can’t be alert the whole day.

And one message in those chats has stuck with me. Some guy said: «We’ve all seen what Russians did to Mariupol, Bakhmut, Huliaipole. Move as far as you can and forget this place like a nightmare».

Forget this place? I couldn’t get this message out of my mind and thought about it while looking at everything as if for the first time, trying on this perspective.

Flowers waiting for spring in front of every apartment building, residents plant them and tend the gardens on their own, just to have a pretty communal yard (explosion). My usual route to school and another one we used to take when we got bored of the main one. My best friend and I have never ran out of topics to discuss while going to the school and back. We stood near her house for so long when going home because we couldn’t stop talking (drone buzzing). This is where my friends and I tried to smoke cigarettes for the first time when we were teenagers and thought that adults are crazy for doing this by choice (drone going down). This is where I almost won an e-book in a quiz many years ago and I still remember the right answers I didn’t give because I was scared to make a mistake (explosion). Books my parents bought me when I was a kid and jokingly asked me not to read them so fast this time (bombs in the air). My childhood plushie I’ve had almost my entire life, can’t imagine it in a different bedroom, he’s a homebody and a proud local (explosion). Pizza place where my friends and I celebrated end of the school year. My dad burned his hand here with a hot plate on my birthday once. The food was good (artillery somewhere far away). Listening to music in the backseat and looking at my favorite view in the entire world. One turn and we’re home (all clear).

Forget this place? This is the only place worth remembering.

[suratan-zir]

An entire family killed by russian missiles - mother, father and their child.

Tonight's attack targeted primarily residential buildings in Kyiv. Ballistic missiles can be intercepted reliably only by Patriot missiles, which Ukraine has an extreme shortage of.

I wasn't sure whether to post this picture. I blurred it. Sometimes other Ukrainians tell me it's disrespectful to the deceased to post the photos. I disagree. If I am ever killed by russian terrorists, I hope a gruesome picture of my body is shown to the world. The world deserves to feel uncomfortable, to feel haunted by these images. Because this has been allowed to happen for years. Because the world has - and always had - enough strength to stop it. Innocent people die every day because of the cowardice, compliance and indifference. We're receiving just enough help to keep standing, but not enough to put an end to this genocide. And it's not a game of who is or isn't grateful enough, not a time for debates and semantics - this is real, people are dying, people are suffocating under the rubble, the bodies of toddlers get shredded by missiles, men die in trenches, families lose their loved ones. It happens every day.

[wordswithoutaworld]

The new package of sanctions against Russia is finally supposed to include a ban on entry for Russians who took part in the genocidal war against Ukraine. But several countries are already pushing back, arguing that it should only be a recommendation rather than a binding measure.

It's the fourth year of the full-scale invasion and the twelfth year of Russia's war against Ukraine as a whole. Thousands of statements saying – "We are deeply concerned". Thousands more saying – "We must stand united".

And yet, when it comes to allowing Russian soldiers into Europe, the deciding factor is the money they bring as tourists. Some countries are literally worried about losing tourism revenue, regardless of where that money comes from.

People were outraged when the Olympic Committee argued that sport should be a "second chance" for people, regardless of what they had done during the war.

But Europe is effectively doing the same thing through tourism.

So in Europe, it's entirely possible for a Ukrainian refugee — a mother with her child, for example — to run into the very person who killed her relatives, committed sexual violence against civilians, took part in torture, or committed other war crimes, simply because he came there for a vacation.

Just fucking imagine that.

[wes-mstr]

Yesterday, on 2.07.2026, approximately at 2:20 AM a russian missile exploded right next to my flat.

I woke up with glass shards all around me and a door from another room that collided with mine, almost barricading me inside my bedroom. Every window and door in the apartment was blown out by the explosion. My family's car burned to the crisp. The entrance door of the flat was stuck and people have spent 40 minutes trying to break it open with hammers and axes.

Despite great material damage, miraculously, me and my family wasn't injured. Even my laptop and drawing tablet have somehow survived, despite being left right by the window. And, thankfully, I have another place to go to, where I'll be living full-time from now on.

The only thing I want to tell you guys, remember that Russia is a terrorist state. That night dozens of people have died and even more got injured or lost their every possession. I was lucky to only suffer material losses. Attacks like this one have been happening since 2014 on the east side of Ukraine and for four years now all over the country and will continue. Our UNESCO protected landmarks are being destroyed and whole cities are being wiped out by missiles and drones.

Please, be mindful and avoid supporting russian organisations, and don't spread misinformation about the war. This is very important, because info war is just as much of a real part of the war as physical destruction is. If you have the means to, donate to Ukrainian volunteers. Support those who are dear to you.

But even after that life goes on. I still have to collect all of my paperwork for the graduation and applying for uni. People will be going back to work and meeting with friends.

[rokuenknightofvoid]

"to students of the Kharkiv Medical School of all times and nationalites"

[hunnybear]

empire state building lovers - july 1, 2026

[rokuenknightofvoid]

Both russian, both not in russia, both silent about genocide what do their country rights now.

Peace lover, my ass.

[wintersmitth]

Either of them, seeing they are not in russia, had all the opportunities to at least do the blandest 'war is bad' and yet. Could've condemned their state and yet.

[wordswithoutaworld]

Russian activism is much closer to what a large part of Western audiences are used to than Ukrainian activism or the genuinely heroic and compassionate actions Ukrainians take. That's because Russian activism often shares the same element of privilege that much of Western activism does.

The recent example of the Russian couple holding up an no war sign during a marriage proposal on top of a tower is probably the clearest example of this. It's the kind of thing that easily fits booktok aesthetics and inspires edits where people imagine themselves in that moment, while completely ignoring the fact that it didn't actually help anyone or change anything. In terms of real impact, it's on the same level as posting a black square on Instagram.

There was no attempt to raise money for actual aid or direct people toward organizations that are genuinely helping.

It's simply a nice gesture — an activist version of "let them eat cake", where having a beautiful, symbolic moment matters more than creating real change.

It's a form of privileged activism where actually changing the situation isn't the important part.

The actions of Ukrainians during a genocidal war are the complete opposite. They're focused on actually saving lives, which makes the contrast even more obvious by showing what genuinely helps and what doesn't. For people who are invested in this kind of activism, acknowledging that difference would require rethinking their own beliefs, so it's often easier to simply ignore those actions instead.

Another reason for this is that these Russians are living peacefully in other countries, in circumstances much closer to the everyday lives of Western audiences. They're simply easier for them to relate to than Ukrainians living through war.

I've also often heard Ukrainian activists say that they have to think very carefully about how to communicate with this part of the Western audience. For many of them, almost everything is considered "outside of politics" and the war is reduced to "two presidents having a conflict". Because of that, even lectures about Russia's cultural genocide against Ukraine have to be framed in ways that won't upset people who insist on separating Russian culture from politics, even when that framing directly contradicts the reality of Russia's actions against other nations.

Honestly, it reminds me of how many of these same activists reacted to the protests in Iran.

People whose lives are in danger don't have the luxury of focusing on big beautiful gestures. For them, activism is about survival, not about creating aesthetically powerful moments.

[billornot]

Kharkiv in On Drive (2026) dir. Artem Lytvynenko

[gvalesdraws]

today you would be fifty years old