1025 day of war

Hello, friends!

Real frosty winter has arrived, and it’s absolutely beautiful. I still can’t get used to how cold and snowy winters are in Western Ukraine—I’m always freezing—but it looks so stunning and really lifts the mood.

Right now, we have quite a lot of work. Nastya and I run a small online shop as our main job, selling Asian treats. We prepare nice gift packaging, and people buy ready-made gifts for their kids and loved ones for the holidays. Before the war, it was a great business that allowed us to pay our rent, buy food, and even travel once a year. Now, this is no longer the case. Our target audience has left Ukraine, and sales have dropped by about four times, forcing us to spend most of the year looking for side jobs just to survive. However, December is the gift-giving season, and I’m doing everything I can not to miss it. So, my days now start at 6 AM and are filled with work until evening. Despite the difficulties, I’m very happy to have orders coming in and that we can afford something beyond just potatoes and cabbage.

Just a week ago, I was feeling quite upset about my tie-dye T-shirt business and even thought it might be the end. For over two months, I’d had almost no orders, and I was running out of dyes, fabrics, and threads, with no money for new materials. But this week, I came up with a new advertising format, and it worked! I made a few sales from available stock and even got a custom order. I was able to buy dye and T-shirts, so I can continue working.

Now, I’m juggling all kinds of work, trying to find time to make gifts for loved ones, and feeling absolutely exhausted—but happy. Two more weeks of this schedule, and then things will return to how they were before. For now, I must give it my all.

In town, preparations for Christmas are in full swing. They’ve set up a festive display with sheep, decorated a Christmas tree, and only the sound of generators reminds us that the war is still ongoing.

Yesterday, there was another attack. It seems like they launched some new types of missiles. They flew right over our town toward a neighboring region, at a very low altitude. The sound was so loud that windows shook—it was quite terrifying. In moments like that, it always feels like the end, like it’s going to hit the house any second. Sometimes, I just want to live without this constant fear that life could irreversibly change at any moment. But for now, there’s no end in sight.

There’s a lot of talk in the country about the war ending and various plans, but I can’t yet imagine how that could happen. Russia isn’t interested in peace—they continue their terror campaigns, advance in Donbas, and try to intimidate everyone with their "oreshnik"... All of this feels incredibly challenging, and I can’t even imagine what awaits us in the next year. I just hope that this will all end someday.

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