843 day of war

Hi, friends!

This week, another power unit at a nuclear power plant was connected, so power outages have become much less frequent. As I expected, the authorities are finding solutions to these situations, and it's better not to believe the news that claims there will only be a few hours of electricity per day and that nothing will change.

Nastya and I got a little sick, but we are trying to work and do something productive. The exhaustion from stress is increasingly noticeable, and even ordinary daily tasks like cooking are becoming difficult. Air raid sirens go off almost every night now, making it hard to sleep properly, which probably adds to the daytime fatigue.

I'm trying to get a lot done in a limited amount of time and feeling very tired, but I hope to be able to rest soon. Tomorrow, my father is going on a trip to Mariupol. This week, I helped him remove everything unnecessary from his phone and hide anything that might arouse suspicion during inspections. The only thing I couldn't do was delete his data from the internet. We participated together in many pro-Ukrainian events in Mariupol, and there are photos of him online, but I hope they won't be able to find them. The scariest thing that could happen is that he gets imprisoned as a spy, or says something wrong and gets taken away. I'm very worried about him, and I don't think documents are worth such a big risk, but I can't influence his decision.

We also still want to get away to the mountains for the weekend, but we face the same problem as last year - no tickets for a convenient train. Ticket sales for July 5th, when we plan to go, will open tomorrow, but there’s little hope that tickets will be available. There's only one train that passes through my station at 4 AM, but there’s a curfew at that time. It's not too far for us to walk to the station, but if we are seen on the street, we will most likely be taken to the police station. I hope we can explain why we are out at that time, print out the train tickets, and hope everything goes well, but it's another reason to worry.

It's also frightening that I might not reach my destination because I could be taken to the military enlistment office along the way. But somehow I believe everything will work out, and I don't want to postpone the trip due to fears, especially since things are going well for us right now. Nastya has embroidery orders, and I have a few t-shirt orders, and this money will be enough for us to travel. If everything works out, Nastya and I will have many great experiences and be able to distract ourselves from the many problems we currently face.

Yesterday, I also saw Putin's "proposal" for peace talks. Overall, it's an ultimatum, not a proposal, as he wants us to give up several regions to him, even those they haven't captured. It's clear that his position is unreasonable, but the question arises why he made this move now. Why were there no proposals in the last six months when we lacked sufficient ammunition, air defense systems, and the Russians were actively capturing new towns and villages? Back then, he didn't want any negotiations because he felt powerful and capable of achieving his goals. Now, when significant aid is arriving from all over the world, and mobilization in the country has reached a level where there are almost no young men left on the streets, he starts dictating his terms.

I think he understands that the situation on the battlefield will soon start changing not in their favor. I also believe this is another attempt to disrupt the peace summit taking place these days. The latest attacks that occurred all week and this morning mostly targeted airfields in the neighboring region. The Russians believe our aircraft are there and that F16s will be stationed there, so they try to hit them every night. I see their fear in these attacks, that they understand where everything is heading. Now, there are all the conditions to take the initiative in this war and have the opportunity to make peace on fair terms.

Thank you all for your support, and I believe everything will be fine. Also, thank you very much for the help on BuyMeACoffee; it really helps. Thank you!