KYIV JEWS HOPE FOR THE BEST AND PREPARE FOR THE WORST

Tensions on the Ukrainian borders continue to grow. Despite the statements of the Russian leadership, the Russian army in recent days continued to concentrate in proximity to the state border. It was decided to extend the "military exercises" in Belarus after the previously announced date of their end. From this north direction, the closest way to attack on Kyiv. The fighting on the line of contact in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has sharply escalated. Civilians were injured, a school and a kindergarten in the Ukrainian government controlled territory were shelled. Moscow, as Western intelligence agencies had warned, began to spread completely implausible statements about the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces. Allegedly, groups of Ukrainian saboteurs and even infantry fighting vehicles penetrated Russian territory, but were destroyed. It is clear that anything else in this than the fabrication of casus belli – according to the patterns known in Europe since the beginning of the Second World War. It is difficult to get rid of these historical parallels. The situation looks too similar.

Russia's official "recognition" of the separatist proxy-state entities looks like an intermediate culmination of the tensions of recent months. The subsequent signing of treaties of friendship and assistance between the Russian Federation, the LPR and the DPR looks like the final self-disclosure. The Kremlin is no longer trying to hypocritically feign a semblance of legality and is openly violating international law. The direct intervention of Russian troops into territory not controlled by the Ukrainian government is an act of undisguised armed aggression. However, the Russian aggression against Ukraine is now eight years old, and the presence of Russian military and weapons in Donetsk and Luhansk has not been a secret since the summer of 2014 at least. We can say that now there is a situation of utmost clarity, which many in Ukraine perceived almost with relief.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech on Monday evening was watched by Ukrainians, perhaps even more closely than Russians.

“It's hard to see this as anything other than a war declaration,” says Elena, 52, a school history teacher. She is not going anywhere to leave Kyiv. When asked about how she personally prepares for the further development of events, she says in confusion that she bought several cans of canned food. “How else can I prepare? If there is an offensive, the Russian army is unlikely to limit itself to the capital. Russia will probably want to seize the entire country in order to establish a controlled occupation regime. After all, Putin said that he denies not only the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government, but also the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state itself.”

Anna, 46, a translator, perceives the situation in the same way. “Russia directly declares that it wants to destroy us. Seize our territory, appropriate our history. The Russian message is formulated very clearly. They will never stop. It is not enough for them to take Crimea, to take Donbass. They want to take our very lives." Two years ago, Anna translated into Ukrainian from Hebrew the book “1948” by Yoram Kanyuk, the memoirs of a young volunteer who took part in the Israeli war of independence. The dramatic experience described in this talented book seemed to her very consonant with the Ukrainian one. “Today we are living through our War of independence,” she says. “A war for our very existence. We have to endure, we just don't have any other option." Most of all, she worries about her son, she admits. In a few months he reaches military age.

Many Ukrainians are not intimidated by the prospect of their own military service. On Tuesday morning, after Vladimir Putin's speech, queues formed at the Kyiv military registration and enlistment offices. Ukrainians en masse enroll in the ranks of the Territorial Defense. These detachments of the active reserve of the Armed Forces are recruited from civilians. Volunteers undergo basic military training and are assigned to the active reserve of the army. They will form the core of resistance to the aggressor if the forces of the regular Ukrainian army are not enough.

Lyudmila, 35, is a internally displaced person from Crimea. She says she was already forced to leave her home and move away from the war eight years ago. Now the war threatens to catch up with her again. She admits that the first thing she did was to collect an “alarm suitcase” – a set of essentials in case of an emergency evacuation. But then she decided to enlist in the defense forces. “You can't run all the time,” she says. "I can't afford to lose my house a second time." Lyudmila doesn't look like cinematic "Soldier Jane". She is not athletic, she has no combat training. True, like many, she recently completed first aid courses, and she hopes that she can be useful as a paramedic.

Konstantin, 48, is an IDP also, from Luhansk. He signed up for the Territorial Defense last spring, when Russia concentrated significant military forces near the Ukrainian borders for the first time. For almost a year, together with other volunteers, he has been training, and considers himself ready to meet the enemy. “Not only the Ukrainian army, but also ordinary Ukrainians are mentally prepared and physically able to provide long-term and stubborn resistance even to superior enemy forces,” he says. He notes with satisfaction his foresight and foresight, although he admits that he is worried about the family: his son went to first grade last year. In the event of a swift Russian invasion, Konstantin will be mobilized to defend the capital, and will not have time to withdraw his family. “So we must not let the Russian army through to Kyiv,” he concludes.

The indecisiveness of Western diplomacy infuriates him. “What are they waiting for in European capitals? Images of destroyed Kyiv and Kharkiv in the news? Millions of refugees on the Polish border? Is it really not clear that war is easier to prevent than to stop?

Meanwhile, the office of the Federal Chancellor sent a response to the collective appeal of Ukrainian Jews (see the previous issue of the newspaper), which was transmitted through the German Embassy in Ukraine. " Wir stehen gemeinsam mit unseren westlichen Partnern und Verbündeten zu weiteren Beratungen mit Russland über Sicherheitsfragen bereit […] Die Ukraine kann sich gewiss sein, dass wir fest und geschlossen an ihrer Seite stehen. Deutschland ist ein langjähriger Unterstützer der ukrainischen Souveränität und Demokratie und zudem seit vielen Jahren der größte Geber für die Ukraine, bilateral und europäisch. Die Bundesregierung beabsichtigt überdies, ihr entwicklungspolitisches Engagement für die UKR noch weiter auszubauen," says the answer. No specifics about a possible increase in assistance to Ukraine, nothing about a change in German policy, to the disappointment of the authors of the message.

"Everything will be fine," Rabbi of Kyiv Moshe Reuven Azman is sure. “Light always conquers darkness, our tradition teaches us so. We pray every day for peace in Ukraine. So be it, amen."