Ukrainians, hardened by war and full of faith, dream of one thing – a strong and independent state. Their souls yearn for peace, and their hearts beat in unison with a single desire — to rebuild their country.
The journalist of IA “FAKT” Julia Bozhok went to Zhytomyr and Kyiv to hear people’s opinions about the future of Ukraine after the victory.
Quotations from respondents:
“I want Victory! There will be Victory and reconstruction. I will somehow hold on“. (Gryhoriy, Zhytomyr)
“I really want a country with peace! Our military will liberate Ukraine, and then the reconstruction process will begin. But the victory itself will come when there will be less theft in the state. And there will be patriots of our country, not now: “For whom is war, and for whom is a mother.”“. (Svetlana, Zhytomyr)
“The main thing for me now is peace. I think that Victory will come in a year or two, when the US Army will intervene in the war. In general, I see the next five years as very changeable. My predictions are as follows: Russia will lose, then we will begin to rebuild, and then it will be the most difficult. The EU countries will not allocate financial assistance, and we will be left alone. The prices will rise to the sky, and the majority will go abroad. Sorry, but there will be no positive scenario!”. (Antonina, Zhytomyr)
“I hope that Victory is ours! And we will somehow rebuild everything with joint efforts. And I think Russia will pay some reparations. They will rebuild all the cities that were bombed.” (Vasyl, Zhytomyr)
“What can I say? Now is a very difficult situation! Despite this, I think that soon there will be peace in Ukraine. Then they will begin to rebuild the bombed-out cities and villages. As for financial support, it will soon be gone. We will have to work on our own economy. And no one will help us in this. While the war is going on, it is very difficult to predict any future. In our time, they say: you have lived a day, then a good onee” (Anna, Zhytomyr).
“I dream of the war ending and us being able to live in peace. So that our children do not know what war is, and that Ukraine becomes a flourishing country” (Oksana, Zhytomyr)
“Victory will be very soon! After the Russians are expelled from our land, people will start rebuilding their homes. Of course, the prices will be high, and it will be even more difficult, but I think our foreign partners will not abandon us” (Iryna, Kyiv)
“It seems to me that the near future will be unchanged! The only thing that will change is that we will win. There is no need to rely on the support of the EU countries. We will slowly rebuild everything.” (Olena, Kyiv)
“Very hI want to believe that Ukraine will win and become even stronger than before the war. We have rallied like never before and we will not give up until we liberate every meter of our landsand. However, it is becoming more and more difficult for us every day, my brothers are dying, and it is hard to bear, because they were supposed to be the future of our country. How many of us will remain alive is unknown. How many unborn children! How many crippled destinies! How many children were left without fathers, and mothers without sons! How many people have gone abroad and are unlikely to return! So think about our future…“. (Serhiy, a military man from Kyiv)
Military Oleksandr from Zhytomyr serves in the 33rd Brigade. He has been storming the positions of the Russians for 2 years, so every day he “dies” and is “born” again.
“I have been serving in the Armed Forces for two years! And my predictions are not very optimistic! Russia now has a lot of weapons. And she shoots from everything there is! Our boys are dying! And our future directly depends on the behavior of the USA. I think that in half a year we will stop being financed by the EU countries. And we will be left alone with the Russian Federation. I pray every day to survive! Therefore, I will not say that it will get better, because the forecasts are very negative. Of course, I and my brothers will stand to the last, but name me at least one person who will voluntarily go to death right now? Therefore, it is difficult now with good personnel in the army, support, products. Of course, I believe in our Victory! We work here to ensure that our loved ones have the opportunity to live fully”.
During a conversation with another military man who was mobilized for service after February 24, he says that the situation on the battlefield is very difficult now.
“We have hell now! We fight back and then go on the offensive again, but it is very difficult. We have very few weapons, but we defend our land. I think that in two years our long-awaited Victory will come, but all this depends not only on ourselves, but also on our allies. Therefore, it is difficult to predict anything now”, – emphasized the military Ihor.
Similar opinions were expressed by a large number of people, here are only some of them, which testify to the general mood of Ukrainians. In general, most of them believe in Ukraine’s victory and look forward to the start of active recovery. Ukrainians hope that the destroyed cities will come to life, and new, even better buildings will be built on the sites of the ruins. However, the opinions of Ukrainians about when exactly victory will come and what the path to recovery will be, differ significantly. Some expect quick and generous help from the West. Others believe that Ukraine should rely only on its own forces and resources. At the same time, everyone understands that it will be very difficult to restore the economy and return people from abroad. It is a pity that people could not clearly formulate what exactly they see as the future of our country, that now they live one day at a time. It is also noteworthy that the military, hardened by battles, give restrained forecasts for the future. They see the horrors of war with their own eyes, so their expectations are based on a pragmatic view.
