Nastya’s Tale, Part 1: “At any second a war may happen”
Anyone who reads the news has heard that Russia is ready to invade Ukraine at any moment—whether the Russians will go through with it or not remains unclear. News sources highlight President Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden in what seems to be an elaborate and expensive staring contest, waiting to see who will crack first. Often Ukraine is left out of the conversation, caught in the middle, and the experiences of its citizens are overshadowed by Russia and the United States.
My friend—we’ll call her by her nickname Nastya for privacy purposes—is 18 years old, studying international relations at university, and living in Odessa, Ukraine, just a few hundred miles from the Russian border where troops are stationed. I met her through an organization that helps Ukrainian teenagers learn English, and after many Zoom meetings on Saturday mornings, despite the ten-hour time difference, we became friends.
The threat of attack is constant for everyone in Ukraine, but for Nastya it’s underlying and she tries to go about her life as normally as she can. Most of the time she can’t spare a second to worry about the conflict. She’s attending her second year of university, and it’s all-consuming.
“I’m studying two languages—English and German—and I want to study Spanish,” she told me. “I have English courses three times a week and German courses twice a week. There are different types of English-language learning—one teacher focuses on grammar and writing, and we work on speaking with the other. I have to study different subjects for my major, and then I usually end up doing my English and German late at night, till two or sometimes three a.m.”
On her time off, she enjoys touring Odessa to observe the architecture, copying the American accents on the TV show “Friends,” and crocheting. Someday she hopes to open her own shop where she can sell her crocheted creations. At home, her attention is hoarded by a hamster named Mouse and a pug called Archie.
“For a pug, Archie is quite clever,” Nastya said proudly. “I’ve made him an intellectual.”
She loves Odessa, but Nastya’s favorite place to be is Volodymyrets, her grandparents’ small town in western Ukraine. Every holiday she gets off school, she piles into the car with Archie for the ten-hour drive. She has spent Easter Sundays in Volodymyrets’ beautiful electric-blue church and New Years enjoying her grandparents’ elaborate feasts.
However, the town holds more than just nostalgic value for Nastya—it’s also her escape plan.
“For now, I’m staying in Odessa, but if it looks like my city is going to be attacked, I will probably move to my grandparents’ town because it’s the safest place I know,” she said. “I try to ignore the conflict with Russia, but it’s almost impossible. All news sources are talking about it.”
Nastya’s uncle’s parents are living in occupied territory in Lugansk, a city positioned right by the Russian border. Their home is not under direct threat because the fighting is going on in another part of the city, but the situation could change in a heartbeat.
“They are some of the few people left in the city because all families with children have left,” said Nastya. “Everything is stable there, but I think because of loneliness, after some period of time they will also come to another city.”
Right now, Nastya, like her fellow Ukrainians, is taking things one day at a time.
“It’s almost impossible not to be anxious when all the news broadcasts say that any minute a war could start and my city could be attacked, but our president tells us that everything will be okay and that our military is strong enough to defend our country,” she said. “We try to be happy in each moment, because at any second a war may happen.”
I like how this article shows us a glimpse in someone else’s life during these dangerous times. While the war has broken out I hope that Nastya is okay! It just shows us that we may have everything normal at one moment and things can change. This war has created a lot of fear and a lot of innocent lives has been lost. You think since we learn about these things they don’t really happen our modern time, but we are living through a war. Whether we see it on the news or first hand we cant deny this is happening.
I think creating articles like this and getting to tell stories from people who are being impacted by the war between Ukraine and Russia is the best way for many people to understand and try to make Ukrainians or whoever is involved have hope. Along being able to connect to those around the world and getting to know what it’s like for them.
i think it is very unfortunate that innocent people, who prefer to live their lives peacefully, are going through this hard time. i cannot imagine how challenging it must be to get through a regular day with the thought of being at risk. i hope nastya and her loved ones stay safe.
I think that Putin should be charged with war crimes for starting this war and for all crimes he has committed in this war, and I think that if possible he should be charged with war crimes that are capital offenses, because I think that Putin is one of the FEW people who deserve death. This war would be far less likely if Putin was NOT around to cause any more mass death. Putin needs to go away and NEVER be the leader of Russia again, because he is NOT a leader.
I can’t imagine how stressful life is for your family and others. It’s unfair and cruel what Russia is doing. It’s good that you spoke up and are giving your input on your current situation, we need more people like you so people understand what Russia is truly doing. Someone whose life can be impacted by this situation. It’s important to hear their side of the story.
I’m glad that Nastya along with other Ukrainians are safe. It must be lots of anxiety and stress that Ukraine and the city she lives in may be attacked at any given moment. It is disappointing to know that there are many people out there who are experiencing lots of trauma stress that the safety and security of their nation is under a threat from other foreign nations. I hope that Nastya is able to move to her grandparents’ small town in Volodymyrets with her pet pug Archie and her hamster Mouse. I understand that she doesn’t want to get involved in all of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and just wants to live peacefully even though she hears it all over the news. I think moving to her grandparents’ town would be a good idea if it means for her own safety. She will also be able to take her English and German courses without the thought of being attacked on her city. It must be frustrating to have constantly thought about Russian attacks on the border of Ukraine every second that passes by. Hopefully she can regain peace and freedom without constant pressure and anxiety from unnecessary threats on her safety. The Russian attacks on Ukraine along with wars in other nations is ridiculous and must be stopped as it is only causing more harm than good. Everyone should stop the conflicts and learn to restore peace again. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be in constant pressure because of conflicts from another government doesn’t know how to control and maintain peace.
I think that Putin and those who are helping him need to BACK OFF and leave Ukraine alone, because they aren’t helping Ukraine with ANYTHING, all they are doing is hurting Ukraine and we should NOT have to go to war with Ukraine. I think that Putin should be locked up in Ukraine for this and should be locked up for life for what he has done. Putin wants USSR. We DO NOT want OR need USSR.
This is interesting because if Russia was planning on invading the US I would be worried all the time. It would also be scary since Russia and the US are so powerful and use nuclear weapons. I feel bad for the people who live there and hopefully there aren’t any deaths or violence.
I love how we are able to look into someone’s life in Ukraine (just like the title). Usually, people brush off war if it does not affect their own lives, but being able to connect with an individual gives us another perspective. There is now a connection between the reader and Nastya without the reader even having to meet her. We know about her pets, her everyday life, her mindset in all of this. Her story is amazing and I’m glad it was told. She is positive in times of fear and anxiety, which I think is amazing. I think we can all strive to be like Nastya in low times of life.
I can’t imagine having to live in constant fear that one day, my life could end in an instant and knowing that the military could destroy my house. Just trying to stay happy at a time like this is hard enough, since life could suddenly never be the same one day. It really sucks that anyone has to go through this while trying to stay sane at the same time to live a normal life. Nastya is definitely a very strong person to be able to focus on their goals in life while living through a war with another country especially since they are only 18 years old.
I like how this article highlighted the citizens of Ukraine and shinned their lives on a more personal level. I think people often don’t think about what the citizens of Ukraine are doing. These people have lives, jobs, and school that are being effected. It’s important to know that they’re not just NPC’s and are real people with real lives, experiencing real life changing events. I hope Nastya is doing well.
I like how this article highlighted the citizens of Ukraine and shinned their lives on a more personal level. I think people often don’t think about what the citizens of Ukraine are doing. These people have lives, jobs, and school that are being effected. It’s important to know that they’re not just NPC’s and are real people with real lives, experiencing real life changing events. I hope Nastya is doing well.
It is scary that countries like Russia that have insane amounts of power still feel as though they need to expand their territory. Invading other countries is an outdated idea, and a conflict like this could easily lead to nuclear warfare and unnecessary destruction of huge areas of land. I hope Russia is able to come to their senses and realize that this is a horrible idea, but I don’t know if they’re capable of it.
I feel that Nastya tells a perspective that is very powerful and overlooked. As someone who is in danger of war but feels as if the best thing to do is to take things one day at a time. As someone who is human like us and like anyone, would be in constant fear of what will happen next. I couldn’t imagine the worries of her family and friends. As well as their family and their friends and so forth. Knowing that people are living through this constant fear now, is what makes it different.
War. A word usually referred to when referencing history, the past. But to hear it used in the present day as something imminent holds a very different context and holds a very different emotion. For those in the Ukraine that emotion is fear. Hearing things on the news from a newscaster is different from hearing things from a resident. Someone whose life can be impacted from this situation. It’s important to hear their side of the story.
The current situation is very concerning. If war was to break out there is a high possibility it would end in the mutual destruction of our planet. Both Russia and the US have a large enough nuclear arsonal to destroy the planet. If war were to break out there would be a substantial amount of temptation on both sides to use nuclear weapons.