"If something goes wrong now, Ukraine will simply disappear": many Ukrainians long for a ceasefire in the exhausting war, but at the same time are deeply worried about a possible unfavorable agreement with Russia.
For three years, Ilya Borsuk has been evacuating people from Ukraine in his minivan. He did it as a volunteer and often came under Russian fire, the man tells the German public broadcaster ARD. Does he believe the war will end soon? No, Borsuk is adamant.
"It will take a century for peace to come"
"If there is a ceasefire, we should use it to prepare for war," the man explains, talking about his eldest daughter: "She is already learning how to aim and shoot properly. It will take a century for peace to come".
His daughter is 13, his other child is three. The family moved to Dnipro from a small town in Donetsk after their home was hit by a rocket.
Borsuk would like to continue evacuating people, but his car is not in good condition - it is too slow to avoid the grenades. That's why the man is now repairing the silencers that protect soldiers from kamikaze drones.
If a ceasefire is agreed, Russia will immediately violate it, believes Ilya Borsuk. This has already happened more than once in the past ten years. "Are the Ukrainians tired of the war? Yes, of course. But what about the boys and girls in the trenches? Do you know what it's like for them? They can barely stand it, but they know that if they leave, it's all over."
Ukraine's Wounds: Destroyed Temples, Monuments, Museums
The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia, has been going on for over 1,000 days. Many cultural monuments have suffered from the hostilities: temples, monuments, museums. Here we show just a few of them. The terrible sights are much more.
On the night of July 23, 2023, an air raid was carried out on Odessa. Port infrastructure was destroyed and at least 25 architectural monuments were damaged. A missile also hit the "Transfiguration of the Lord" Cathedral - this is the largest Orthodox church in the city. The damage is colossal.
Drobitsky Yar is an area near Kharkov, where in 1941-1942, after the occupation of Kharkov by German troops, Jews and Roma were massacred en masse. The Memorial to the Victims of Fascism reminds us of this today. On March 26, 2022, the monument was seriously damaged during Russian shelling.
The international human rights organization „Amnesty International“ has defined the airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater carried out by the Russian armed forces on March 16, 2022, as a war crime.
During Russian shelling in the Donetsk region in the spring of 2022, the Assumption Cathedral and the premises of the Orthodox monastery "Svyatogorsk Lavra" were seriously damaged. Monks lived there, but refugees were also sheltered. In early May 2022, Russian artillery also completely destroyed the monastery's educational center.
In the spring of 2022, the Russians also bombed the village of Borodyanka near Kiev. The attack also damaged the monument to the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. His literary legacy is considered the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the Ukrainian literary language.
On the night of August 24, 2024 the museum building was set on fire after being hit by a shell. Before this fatal strike, the museum had been attacked by the Russians three more times.
The museum, dedicated to the life and work of the philosopher Grigory Skovoroda, burned down on the night of May 7, 2022, in a Russian missile attack. According to the Kharkiv Regional Administration, the most valuable exhibits had been removed before that.
On May 19, 2022, as a result of artillery shelling, the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos “Joy of All Who Sorrow“ in the village of Bogorodichnoye, Donetsk region, was destroyed.
During heavy fighting in 2022, the monument to the workers and employees of the “Azovstal“ plant who died and disappeared without a trace during World War II was destroyed in Mariupol.
On October 28, 2024, an airstrike hit the "Gosprom" building - one of the first Soviet skyscrapers, built in the 1920s. The iconic building on the central square in Kharkov is a monument of national importance in the constructivist style of architecture.
In an abandoned factory hall in the center of Kiev, soldiers are being trained to operate drones, ARD continues its story. One of them is 42-year-old Dmytro, who has been at the front for three years - most recently in an anti-tank brigade.
The soldiers are constantly discussing a possible ceasefire, he says. "Everyone is talking about it, including in the trenches at the front. Of course, we are tired and want the war to end. But the question is under what conditions." The war between Russia and Ukraine is a war for our existence, Dmytro says, adding: "This is a war for survival. If something goes wrong now, Ukraine will simply disappear".
"Until the last breath, until the very end"
A similar opinion is expressed by his comrade Mykola, who is 32 and from the same combat unit. "We want everything to end as quickly as possible. But with a good agreement." And if a ceasefire is not reached, "we will fight until the last breath, until the very end", Mykola tells ARD. "No one will just leave, even if we are all mortally tired. We must fight - this is our task."
The cessation of fighting would be very important for Ukraine - no one disputes it, but this is not the main issue, says Volodymyr Yermolenko, a philosopher, university professor and one of the most authoritative intellectuals in Ukraine. "If this pause leads to the fact that everyone suddenly calms down again; if the Europeans say: No, we don't really need these 800 billion for armaments; if the Germans start spending less on defense or if gas is sent again through "Nord Stream" - if this pause leads to that, there will be another war."
That is, It's not so much about the pause as about where it will lead, Yermolenko also points out, adding: "The goal should be to thwart Russian ambitions for imperial rule in Europe".
Most people in Ukraine are convinced of this: it is Russian expansion that is the cause of the war in Ukraine - and it will be the cause of future wars if it is not curbed.