From Moscow’s point of view, the Ukraine is an artificial structure that can be imposed with one’s own will, just like in the Soviet era. But years of conflict have formed a confident nation that looks west and knows how to defend itself.
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A large Ukrainian national flag has been flying since 2020 near the huge Mother Homeland statue in Kiev, which commemorates the Second World War.
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Sadness, anger, weariness, fear: the eyes of Ukrainian interlocutors flash a wide variety of emotions when they talk about Russia, the creepy neighbor in the east. But the topic is by no means as personal for all Ukrainians as it is for father Dionisi, the involuntarily famous priest of the little town of Druzhkivka in eastern Ukraine. If the times were more peaceful, the young clergyman would probably do something else than sprinkle close-cropped recruits with holy water. In the past few years he could have led a peaceful life with his Orthodox community around the local Church of the Assumption. Instead, he saw Hell with his own eyes.
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