Confronting war, young Ukrainians find new purpose
| ODESSA, Ukraine
Ukrainian cook Diana Khalilova is in her happy place, working her wizardry in the kitchen to delight the taste buds of hungry friends.
But she鈥檚 not at the food and wine bistro where she normally works 鈥� it closed when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Instead, the young cook is in a cramped kitchen, after curfew, throwing together a bulgur risotto for her 20-something housemates brought together by war.
The tools of flavor are the same: pouches of pre-prepped delicacies brought home from the restaurant to eat so they don鈥檛 spoil, such as anchovy and shredded onion paste, wild mushrooms, and salty goat pecorino cheese.
Why We Wrote This
A pacifist who enjoyed learning to use a gun. A coffee shop owner making sleeping bags. War鈥檚 capacity to radically change people鈥檚 thinking and lives is on dramatic display in Odessa.
As snow falls outside, the thick-walled 150-year-old apartment 鈥� with its high ceilings and artistic touches (an illustrator and musicians live here too) 鈥� fills with the mouthwatering aroma of frying onions and garlic.
Yet it is not long before the war intrudes upon the conversation, bringing with it a boiling anger at Russian attackers.
鈥淭oday we learned how to shoot; it was so much fun,鈥� says Ms. Khalilova, about a session for volunteers to learn assault rifle basics. It was the first time she had ever touched a gun.
鈥淚鈥檓 a complete pacifist 鈥� I never thought about arms and weapons,鈥� she says while scoring several locally produced brie cheeses for baking.
鈥淏ut today I am so ... angry,鈥澛燤s. Khalilova says, using an expletive. 鈥淚 am so shocked at all the damage and cruelty. I just want to 鈥� I don鈥檛 know 鈥� I just want to kill these Russian [invaders] by my own hands.鈥�
A greater cause
The cook may not join actual combat. But she is one of legions of young Ukrainians whose trajectories have been upended by Russia鈥檚 invasion and who are now temporarily reorienting their daily lives.
Largely unprepared for the impact of Russia鈥檚 three-pronged assault, which has enveloped Ukraine and triggered an outpouring of global support, many young Ukrainians are finding unexpected purpose for their seething anger in renewed national pride, and by taking personal action on behalf of a greater cause.
鈥淣ow I am just trying to be useful,鈥� says Ms. Khalilova, who these days often serves at a volunteer kitchen, cooking food for security forces and for Ukrainians displaced by the war.
鈥淚 love to make delicious food,鈥� she says. The place where she volunteers was a center for feeding homeless children, she adds. 鈥淭hey just took on more responsibility.鈥�
Dreams of being a chef are on hold, thanks to the war. She brushes garlic skins off the cutting board, then picks up a gourmet pouch. 鈥淔ermented lemons!鈥� she exclaims. It is not the sort of delicacy that she expects to be using much in her new role.聽
Overflowing volunteerism
A few blocks away in this historic Black Sea port city 鈥� expected to be the final target of Russia鈥檚 southern advance, with Russian warships lurking off the coast 鈥� another young professional Ukrainian is putting the parameters of her life on a wartime footing.
Chief legal counsel for an information technology firm, Kseniia Havrina lost her job last week when her company downsized. Now her dream of setting up on her own has been inadvertently fast-tracked.
When the invasion began, the first bomb she heard prompted a frantic Google search for the contents of the emergency suitcase used in the sitcom series 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory鈥� by the show鈥檚 nerdy intellectual character Sheldon Cooper.
Ms. Havrina packed the essentials, from key documents to phone chargers, and raced across the border to safety in Moldova. Almost immediately she had second thoughts, because her mother and sister were stuck in bomb shelters in 鈥渁 very hard part鈥� of the capital, Kyiv.
Telling her mother that she was 鈥� and still is 鈥� safe in Moldova, Ms. Havrina drove back to Odessa on the fourth day of the war with jugs of gas and motor oil to make Molotov cocktails. She teamed up with a friend she had recently met on the Tinder dating app, and began to live with a small group in central Odessa, which today inspires her with its devoted volunteerism.
Now the lawyer ferries vulnerable Ukrainians to the border in her car, and helps her housemates to fill sandbags and prepare Odessa鈥檚 civil defense.
The number of volunteers wanting to join the Territorial Defense force is so high, she says, that even a young man working with the police, who lives with her group, has found it impossible to bribe his way into a unit.
Ms. Havrina has been awed at how the war is changing Ukrainian society, and the priorities of young people like herself.
鈥淚 have never seen people so unified as now. It鈥檚 everywhere, in shops, on the streets; people are talking to each other, and it鈥檚 so inspiring,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not Ukraine, it鈥檚 a New 鲍办谤补颈苍别.鈥�
Her new project aims to help Ukraine鈥檚 IT army wage the information war against Russia.
Her first step was to petition the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, asking that IT specialists be exempt from rules forbidding men from leaving Ukraine. They can do more effective work for the war effort if they are allowed to use their expertise, says Ms. Havrina, rather than adding one more gun to the front line.
Her experience in the month of violence since Russia attacked 鈥� and since Ukraine began rekindling its national spirit 鈥� allows only one prediction, she says: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe, I am sure that Ukraine will win.鈥�
For Ms. Havrina, that means being ready to throw Molotov cocktails from her balcony, if Russian troops ever appear below.
She doesn鈥檛 think Russian President Vladimir Putin will survive the conflict with Ukraine, and adds, 鈥淚 suppose he understands that we are unbreakable.鈥�
Supplies for the distant front
That is the calculation, too, on the other side of town at a coffee shop with a bicycle racing theme, where most customers these days come only to the takeaway window 鈥� which is taped, to minimize potential blast damage 鈥� between air raid sirens. On one recent frigid day, a couple hold each other while waiting for their coffee.
Inside, a pet dog roams and donations pile up, from bandages to tea, which will be delivered to army outposts up to 60 miles from Odessa.
鈥淎 lot of people are afraid to go outside the city ... because of the danger,鈥� says owner Gregorii Bayrak, a bearded and lean bicycle racer whose network of cyclists is among soldiers deployed at those distant camps.
鈥淲e are sure those outposts will be the first to meet the enemy,鈥� says Mr. Bayrak, who works directly with army officers to fulfill their needs. He says he is worried, but has 鈥渘o time to panic鈥� because he is so busy with volunteers.
鈥淥ur military is now feeling the support of the world,鈥� he says. 鈥淏eing in the Ukraine army now is one of the most romantic positions in the world,鈥� he adds with a smile.
鈥淎 lot of people didn鈥檛 know it, that this country is worth something, worth fighting for. We didn鈥檛 feel that before,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I think of my own role, I will take a gun or Molotov cocktail, but now I am more an organizer.鈥�
For Mr. Bayrak, that means more than just collecting tins of food.
He steps out onto the sidewalk, and at a shopfront nearby raises the graffiti-covered metal door. Inside is a bicycle repair workshop, its air thick with the smell of gasoline and oil, which has been converted to make Molotov cocktails and homemade sleeping bags for soldiers.
The production line made 170 Molotov cocktails on the first day, then 450 the second. But then production switched to making sleeping bags for troops, and finding tactical gear like gloves and kneepads.
Why the change?
Explains Mr. Bayrak, 鈥淎 lot of people are doing Molotovs ...鈥�
