Ukraine has been suffering from the latest heatwave just like the UK and much of Europe – on top of the continuing missile and drone attacks from Russia.
We have another personal report from Kateryna Popova, returned to her native Ukraine after completing an MA in War Studies in London where she joined meetings of the AEJ UK.
Heatwave. A Letter from Kyiv
‘Don’t forget a jacket. We have chilly evenings in London,’ my friend wrote to me this morning.
We had another “worst of the worst” night in Kyiv, and I am honestly at a loss. I am committed to a month of intense studying at Cambridge starting next week, but my instincts always tell me a different story before every trip. Stay. There are a lot of reasons why people choose to stay in Ukraine while the war continues, and the main one is still this deep feeling of belonging, like you have to guard what is yours.
This winter was severe, and then the summer heat arrived. Summers have been very hot over the last decade, with temperatures routinely rising to 35–40°C. We hate to ruin the facades but most flats can’t survive without air conditioning. Experts believe some of the recent attacks were aimed at the electricity grid because the absence of power would make Ukrainians suffer even more from the heatwave, as well as there was not enough hardship already.
I manage a small team, so every morning begins with checking whether everyone is okay after another night of attacks.
‘We have a prylyot,’ my colleague Uliana writes in the corporate chat. ‘I need a day off.’
Prylyot literally means “arrival”, but in wartime Ukrainian, it refers to a strike landing nearby. My jokes become bitter as if I had any right to deny her a day off.
‘Tell the clients you’ll be offline for a couple of days,’ I write to her.
‘Of course, I will.’
One of the clients replies to her immediately. Their office and warehouse were destroyed during the night attack.
‘Our email will be down for a couple of days, so please use messengers for quick communication,’ our client says.
I am extremely grateful to the AEJ for the opportunity to share my Letters from Kyiv, as any chance to be heard is valuable for us. Perhaps it would be more reasonable to write about the rise of Ukrainian miltech and the gasoline crisis unfolding in Russia. Ukrainian defence technologies are now capable of conducting deep strikes inside Russia, reaching as far as the Urals. The Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, is close to being effectively cut off from Russia, as Ukraine’s armed forces have greater fire control over bridge crossings and logistical routes, seriously restricting fuel imports to the peninsula.
But to me, the real story is always about people: my colleague, who calmly goes through the rubble of her ruined home, and my client, who lost everything yet keeps working after a sleepless night.
With that spirit, I promise you, Ukraine will be all right.
Kateryna Popova
Managing Director, PLEON Talan (Kyiv)
MA Strategic Communications (Department of War Studies, King’s College London)
