Reading the news coverage about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine makes a person anxious enough to imagine themselves being placed in the war zone.
While trying to escape the tumultuous shelling and the harsh rigours of surviving in bunkers amidst the chilling cold weather of Ukraine, I am sure that the last thing that an Ukrainian ever wants to invite upon their plight is the pity that the members of the developed world cast upon the forceful invasion of their peaceful democratic country.
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After reconnecting with many of my Ukrainian colleagues whom I had worked with at the Humanities Research Institutes in Europe, and after expressing solidarity towards their cause of defending Ukraine’s sovereignty, one thing that these proud Ukrainians cautioned me against was the temptation to feel a pity for their country’s people.
I was told that their countrymen represented a proud and brave lot of soldiers who were prepared to defend the honour of their independent nation with all their might and even lay down their life if the need shall arise.
However, despite their steadfastness and indomitable patriotism I have learnt that the Western oriented countries, including central Europe, can’t help but give in to their primal human trait of feeling pity for the difficult situations prevailing in Ukraine.
Yvgeny, a former colleague of mine who now works at an University in Poland expressed to me that seeing his University in Warsaw organising food collection drives on campus grounds represented the lowest point of public opinion about his once bustling and prosperous homeland. “These Poles now expect my people to get by consuming dry goods and canned foods” he sighed, knowing that his country has seen better days.
Daria, another former colleague chose to simply put aside the lamentation of the West Europeans and their leaders by terming their unnecessary pity as Western indecisiveness. Daria happens to have a degree in Anthropology and works in Spain at present. She commented upon the situation in her country as being a temporary drawback and observed that Ukraine’s undeniable history with the former Soviet Union had conditioned her countrymen’s expectations of defeat while immunising them against the Russian domination by potential invaders.
Even on social media platforms like Twitter, users are quick to ascribe a “like” or a “heart” symbol to the images of entire cities in Ukraine being destroyed by Russian artillery and missiles. If an Administrative building in the city of Kharkiv has been bombed by Russian Airstrikes, Twitter users choose to Retweet the post on their profile. When I scroll through Twitter nowadays, ever since Russia declared war on Ukraine, I regret to admit that I haven’t found a single social media post which expresses solidarity towards the Ukrainian cause. Is this level of insensitivity on our part as citizens of the world even worthy of being touted as support for Ukraine. Are we even doing enough through our elected representatives to enable a ceasefire being negotiated in Ukraine?
