Ukraine Shows Its Resilience

Kyiv and Kharkiv — When Kyiv’s air-raid sirens go off, I was told, don’t do what the Ukrainians do: They’ll carry on as normal unless their well-honed senses tell them otherwise. Living with war creates its own habits and best practices. Lacking these, I should make immediately to an air-raid shelter. A metro station would do. The sirens sounded in the street and on our phones (there are apps for that) just after dinner on our first evening in Kyiv, and so that was where our group stopped off before heading to our hotel and, it proved, a long night.

After an eight-year warm-up in Crimea and the Donbas, Russia launched a “full scale” invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Contrary to the Kremlin’s anticipation of a quick victory, its “Special Military Operation” has now lasted longer than the First World War. It has become embedded into everyday existence.

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Andrew Stuttaford

Andrew Stuttaford is the editor of National Review's Capital Matters.

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Kyiv and Kharkiv — When Kyiv’s air-raid sirens go off, I was told, don’t do what the Ukrainians do: They’ll carry on as normal unless their well-honed senses tell them otherwise. Living with war creates its own habits and best practices. Lacking these, I should make immediately to an air-raid shelter. A metro station would do. The sirens sounded in the street and on our phones (there are apps for that) just after dinner on our first evening in Kyiv, and so that was where our group stopped off before heading to our hotel and, it proved, a long night.

After an eight-year warm-up in Crimea and the Donbas, Russia launched a “full scale” invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Contrary to the Kremlin’s anticipation of a quick victory, its “Special Military Operation” has now lasted longer than the First World War. It has become embedded into everyday existence.