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KYIV, Ukraine – In the early months of the war, Yulia Fedotovsky found a coping mechanism to help her sleep at night: She flipped through Telegram every night and saw photos of burned and blown up dead Russian soldiers.
At first, she said seeing the photos made her feel more secure. But as the conflict drags on, he says he is tired of the war. She tries to avoid messages and no longer enjoys photos.
“I flipped through Telegram every night before going to bed, otherwise it was hard to sleep,” said Ms. Fedotovsky, 32, a public relations manager at an information technology company. Today, she says, “I’ve realized and accepted that I could die at any moment, so I’m living my life.”
Russia has made steady ground gains in nearly five months of bloody war, leaving many Ukrainians angry and defiant.
Lysisansk fell over the weekend, handing over the hard-fought eastern Luhansk province to Russia, including the worst attacks on civilian targets since Russia invaded in late February. A rocket attack hit a shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk, killing at least 20 people. At least 21 people have been killed in a strike in a seaside resort near Odessa. An attack on a residential building in the capital broke through the city’s fragile defenses.
The diversion of Russian troops from the capital in late March gave Ukrainians a strong sense of pride in their country and military, and confidence that victory would come soon. However, with the fighting slowing down, people are angry at the losses and express their frustration that the Ukrainian government is underestimating the challenges ahead in an effort to boost morale.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who captivated the world with his determination and green shirt, continues to address Ukrainians with conviction and defiance in late-night speeches.
“Something needs to be done about the policy of informing people,” Sergei Neredin, a journalist and former deputy head of Ukraine’s state film agency, wrote on Facebook.
Ukrainian officials justified the withdrawal of their troops from the eastern city of Severodonetsk, noting that it would help protect Lysysansk, the last major stronghold in the Luhansk region. Then Lysizansk fell.
“Almost every day we are given weapons, more and more powerful, and the images show them crushing the enemy in cold blood,” he wrote. “How should we perceive information about our performance, power and weapon distribution in the future?” he asked. “Read between the lines or take them at their word?”
The war has created a major humanitarian crisis, displacing millions of people from their homes and severely affecting the livelihoods of Ukrainians.
According to a poll released this week by the National Democratic Institute, only 5 percent of Ukrainians say they can live comfortably on their current income.
However, the majority of Ukrainians are against the armed forces and Mr. According to the survey, they also have strong faith in Zelensky.
Svitlana Kolodiy, 34, a crowdfunding expert who raised money to support Ukrainian soldiers, said she had resigned in the war that continued after the fall.
And few Ukrainians are interested in reconciliation with Russia. The NDI poll found that Ukrainians are “not interested in trading land for peace.” Eighty-nine percent of respondents said the only acceptable scenario was the return of all Russian-occupied territories, including the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
“There is no compromise with Russia,” said Mariana Horchenko, a 37-year-old dental assistant from Kiev. “Not after all the people have been killed.”
