Dark Days, Determined People

After Russia attacked Ukraine from the north, east, and south in February 2022, many Ukrainians had to put their lives on hold to protect the very possibility of living in their homes. While telling wartime stories of people of different backgrounds, this book also delves into the wider historical, political, and cultural context of life in Ukraine.

How did two friends save hundreds of civilians, and how did one restaurant manage to feed a besieged city? What is it like to live under Russian occupation? What does a former businessman feel as he evacuates the bodies of fallen soldiers, day after day? Why do some people choose to live amid the rubble of their homes? And what is it like to fight continuously for ten years? Each of these 20 stories reveals an important theme of life during the full-scale war, with all its difficulties, hesitations, and inner conflicts, when reality sometimes surpasses fiction.