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Source: Haaretz
Roundup
2/27/2022

I'm a Holocaust Historian. I'm Also Taking Up Arms for Ukraine

by Artem Kharchenko

Dr. Artem Kharchenko is associate professor at the Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute, National Technical University and coordinator of academic projects at the Center for Interethnic Relations Research in Eastern Europe.

Kharkiv, Ukraine – At 5.30 A.M. I woke up to my phone ringing. My wife and daughter were sleeping, exhausted from celebrating my nephew's wedding. So many of the guests had approached the new couple with one overriding wish: Peace.

But the phone call had different tidings: Russia had invaded. Putin had started a war.

The wish for peace is very resonant in Ukraine, a country that has been subjected to aggression by Russia since 2014. On the night I got that call, the night of February 24, the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin committed yet another crime, violating international treaties and the UN charter. 

Every day and night since, Ukrainian citizens have witnessed a full-scale Russian invasion. The territory of Ukraine is being attacked from all sides: from the south, north and east. 

One of the main targets of Russia’s aggression in the east is Ukraine’s second largest city – Kharkiv, where I live. The first air strikes hit the city's airport; Chuguev, a military airfield not far from Kharkiv, was also attacked. During the shelling of the airport, Russian missiles also hit residential buildings, and several people were killed and injured. In the early morning, a television tower was also fired on, after which the local television channel partially suspended its work.

Kharkiv residents follow the news on social networks and telegram channels, also encountering a disturbingly high proportions of disinformation, fake news items intended to dodge, divert and deceive. Nevertheless, we in Kharkiv remain relatively calm. There are not many people out on the streets: most city residents are trying to stay home for now. 

Even if they haven’t faced it personally, Ukrainians are used to the fact that a military conflict has been going on in their country for many years. A certain level of Russian aggression has become normalized. And as we absorb the blows, the world outside has not always even acknowledged this aggression against Ukraine, which has cost many thousands of lives.

Read entire article at Haaretz