CHP-6 in Kyiv 80% damagedand CHP-4 was completely destroyed. The enemy may repeat attacks on the capital’s thermal power plants, which endangers heating next winter.
Nine people died and another 23 were injured as a result of the night missile-drone attack attack on Odessa. Mourning was declared in the city, state flags were flown at half-mast and entertainment activities were limited.
Kharkiv for more than a day is under constant fire opponent Russia is not just attacking civilian objects, but is using the city as a testing ground for new jet drones.
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Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Fedir Venislavskyi stated on the need to strengthen mobilization in large cities:
“That is, so that there is no feeling in society that there are certain unjust actions, when in some village of Western Ukraine there is not a single man of conscription age left, and in the city of Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkiv, in other large cities of Ukraine, life proceeds peacefully, and many young people who are potentially conscripted do not have any feeling that the war is on a full scale.”
All these news are dated around the same time: April 2026. And at first glance, they clearly contradict each other. How can one claim that life in Odessa or Kharkiv is “peaceful” if the enemy systematically terrorizes Odessans and Kharkiv residents? How can it be considered that there is “no sense of war” in Kyiv, if the people of Kyiv have recently experienced the hardest winter of the war without light and often without heat?
A few months ago, it seemed that Ukraine would have to say goodbye to the popular narrative about the rear, which “does not feel the war”. In practice, however, this narrative proved unshakeable.
Among other things, this is due to the difference between the ordinary human vision of military confrontation and the state vision.
Millions of people see life as a self-sufficient value. One’s own life, the life of a family member or the life of a close friend is valued just because it is.
But for the state, especially during a bloody war, the lives of citizens are important because they can be used as a resource to solve certain tasks.
Accordingly, from a human point of view, “to feel war” means to feel discomfort in life, directly or indirectly caused by military actions. Moreover, this discomfort can vary widely: from psychological problems to severe disability or loss of a home.
And from the state’s point of view, “to experience war” means to be involved in the military efforts of one’s country and to benefit. To defend the Motherland with a weapon in hand, to escort a relative to the army, to work at critical defense enterprises, etc.
Does an ordinary capital dodger without connections and big money feel the war? From a purely human point of view, yes. Because of the war, he is under constant stress, fearing possible mobilization and sending to the front. Because of the war, he may not leave his apartment for weeks and months to avoid meeting with the TCC. Because of the war, he is unable to lead a normal life and has been suffering for several years in a row.
However, from the state’s point of view, such suffering cannot be taken seriously. A citizen who evades mobilization does not benefit in the midst of military confrontation – therefore, does not feel it.
If enemy drones and missiles fly over the house of such a citizen, and in winter he and his family have to sit without electricity and heating, then, from a human point of view, he begins to feel the war much more acutely than before.
But, from the state’s point of view, it does not change much. The capital dodger and his relatives are still not involved in the military effort as much as it is necessary for the state – therefore, they do not feel the war for real. In contrast to the inhabitants of some remote village, which has never been hit by the enemy, but where almost all men of draft age have been successfully mobilized.
Of course, not every resident of Kyiv, Kharkiv or Odesa shies away from mobilization. But, as a rule, the contribution of civilians to the defense of the country still cannot be compared with that of the army. Accordingly, from the state’s point of view, their discomfort – even a very strong one – should not be treated in the same way as the discomfort of military personnel.
No matter what hardships and misadventures the civilian population experiences, it can always be said that, unlike people in uniform, it does not feel the full extent of war.
From a human point of view, a lonely and helpless pensioner freezing in a capital high-rise can suffer from war no less than a young and healthy guy in an active army. However, in the state coordinate system, the suffering of soldiers is necessary to deter the enemy. And no one needs an old man with his personal troubles – only a burden for the state body. It sounds cruel and cynical, but you can’t get away from it.
This is what the natural priorities of a warring state look like. And it must be admitted that in the fifth year of the great war, this strict logic still did not prevail in Ukraine. Compared to such textbook examples as the Soviet Union or the Third Reich in 1939–[1945wehavetoomuchhuman-andnotenoughstate
Therefore, the troubles of civilians in our country are discussed as widely as the problems of the Armed Forces. Therefore, the population tends to feel sorry for men who try to escape from the TCC. Therefore, the Ukrainian leadership reluctantly resorts to harsh and unpopular measures, delaying their implementation whenever possible. And public statements such as “Ukraine has enough human resources to fight for ten years or even more” provoke a scandal.
But the longer a full-scale war lasts, the stronger the need for people as a living resource.
Every year in Ukraine there is less and less space for the human – and more for the state. Less compassion – and more demands on millions of its citizens.
This process is irreversible and inexorable.
From a human point of view, our rear has long felt the war thanks to the actions of the aggressor. But in the near future, the Ukrainian rear will be more and more persistently reminded that it must experience war in the state sense.
And you have to be ready for that.
Mykhailo Dubynyanskyi
