920 day of war

Hi, friends!

This week began with a massive morning attack. Around 7 AM on Monday, the air raid sirens started blaring, and it was immediately clear that this was going to be one of those missile strikes, not just a plane taking off. Earlier, at the start of the war, this happened every week. On Monday morning, the air raid siren would begin, and for several hours, missiles would be launched at us. Now, it doesn’t happen as often, perhaps because they don’t have enough missiles to attack us every week anymore.

They say it was the most massive missile attack since the war began. Many missiles were shot down, but there were still damages, and during the missile attack, we lost power, which took a couple of days to restore. Stabilization schedules are still in effect now, with a few hours of power outages each day.

The most frightening situation is in Kharkiv, which is still being bombed with guided bombs due to its proximity to the border. Although such incidents have become less frequent since the start of the Kursk operation, these days have shown that the threat is still present. Many of my friends from Mariupol moved to Kharkiv, so I’m a bit worried for them during these bombings.

Also, this week was Nastya’s birthday. Neither of us is very good at celebrating, but I tried to make the day special. We took a walk in the park, watched the squirrels, had some cake, and in the evening, we were lucky to have electricity, so we were able to watch a movie at home. I gave her something she had wanted for a long time—a plant press. So now we’re looking forward to autumn, collecting flowers and leaves, and making herbariums.

For me, birthdays have become sad days. During this time, I mostly think about how the good years are passing by while we live as if on pause, paralyzed by the war, and unable to do anything about it. When it’s the third birthday during the war, it feels like there’s no hope that the fourth or fifth will be any different. I try to believe in a better future, that this will come to an end. And I try to think about it less and work more.

Dyeing shirts really helps me with this, and now I feel inspired to create something new again, so I’m actively working on that. I’m trying to show more of the process and do a better job of editing videos of the finished work, which is harder for me than the dyeing itself. But I believe that with time, I’ll learn everything—what’s important is not to give up and keep going.

Thank you all for your support and thank you for the help on buymeacoffee. It really helps a lot!