By Stanislav Kibalnyk | Project Coordinator
Over the past summer, our team's activity has somewhat decreased in intensity. The summer began with a spontaneous all-Ukrainian campaign to raise humanitarian aid for residents of the Kherson region who suffered from a catastrophic flood after the Kakhovka HPP explosion. This amazing wave, which exceeded even our most optimistic expectations, also swept through the neighbourhoods of Kharkiv. An inspiring experience, what to say!
The second half of the summer was marked by attempts by Russian troops to advance towards Kharkiv near Kupyansk (about 120 km to the east). They did not make any serious advancement, but regular assaults continue to this day. Our martyrology of local humanitarian volunteers killed by Russian shells became a sad reminder that the war in our lands is very far from over and there is no end in sight.
As autumn approached, anxiety began to grow about the upcoming heating season. To what extent the energy infrastructure is ready for it after the Russian air strikes last fall and winter - even official Ukrainian speakers give conflicting information. They only agree that in the event of new missile attacks, there will definitely be blackouts again, and the fact that new attacks can be much stronger than previous ones is indicated by how many months the Russian army has been accumulating reserves of missiles and drones. Therefore, the prospect of being without electricity for whole days with the onset of the first cold weather, instead of several hours as last winter, looks like a really serious threat.
Fortunately, thanks to your international solidarity, we are much better prepared for a winter without light and heat than a year ago. Our community warming center will once again be ready to serve those in need and was not damaged by four Russian missiles that struck a nearby train station on the evening of July 16th (a worker of some civilian industrial enterprise born in 1999 died, three his colleagues were hospitalized with injuries). At the same time, we still need to replenish food supplies and other humanitarian goods, the demand for which will increase sharply due to new economic disruptions due to blackouts.
We continue to run our English-language section on Libcom. This summer we were forced to suspend our regular coverage of anti-war direct action in Russia after the 22nd edition, partly due to declining audience interest to such activities, partly due to the increasing difficulty of verifying facts with increased Russian military censorship. The latter may indirectly indicate the growth of anti-war sentiment among some part of their society and the fear of the authorities because of this.
But due to the transformation of the expected lightning-fast southern counteroffensive into a months-long WWI-style meat grinder, social tension and disappointment are growing in Ukraine too. Already, only about 40-50% of the population (like in Russia) is in favor of war to a victorious end; among the other half, there are approximately equal numbers of supporters of freezing the conflict and peace negotiations. It is quite possible that a second winter without light will completely make a minority of those who want to continue fighting. What can be expected in such a situation is still an open question. We will figure it out as things progress.
At the moment, our attention is rather focused on preventing the cutting down of almost 20 hectares in the last remaining pine forest of Kharkov for the expansion of sand mining. The city council has already approved this idea, now the word is up to the Ministry of Environment. We have published an explanation of how to send a protest against these plans there and are still waiting to see what they will decide. We hope the reaction of the local part of our readers will force officials to reject the approval.
Perhaps that’s all the main points for today. As always, thank you so much for your incredible help and generally for being with us! New horizons are gloomy, but we have been through this before, so let's continue on!
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