Edward Novodvorsky, Period 1, 10/16/23

Edward Novodvorsky
Period 1
10/16/23
Modern Mythology 2024

Socio-Political Consciousness: The Impact of War

When I’m asked of an event which incited strong feelings in me, and continues to do so to this day, I often look to a chilly day in the middle of February of last year. It was our midwinter break, and I had spent the day doing physics homework and watching Manchester United take on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. I remember being elated after Anthony Elanga scored a late equalizer, thinking we’d have a good chance of winning the tie back at Old Trafford. As day turned into night, I prepared to settle in for a few hours of watching The Crown. I went to my room after dinner, opened up my computer, and turned on the TV to see what I had missed in terms of headlines while Netflix loaded up.

I saw a storm of fire over Kyiv, accompanied by three words on the headline at the bottom of the screen: “RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE.”

Everything became a blur. I remember running to my parents’ bedroom to tell them what had happened, I remember my mother crying, my grandmother screaming, my father desperately trying to call our relatives who had been forced into an active warzone. I remember flicking between CNN, NBC, FOX, and ABC, trying to get updates as soon as they were available, seeing reporters wearing helmets, ducking for cover with St. Sophia’s Cathedral in the background. I remember going to bed at 2 in the morning, and waking up at 5 to see the streets of an empty Maidan Square.

I was not oblivious to the rising tensions going on between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. From the start of the year, I had seen the buildup of Russian troops on the border near the Donbas region. I had heard the warnings by U.S. intelligence, warning the Ukrainians of an impending attack. Only two days before the start of the war, I remember Vladimir Putin’s speech where he lied about all of the history of the region and the speech given by Sergyi Kyslytsya during the UN Security Council meeting that evening. And yet, I did not actually expect war to happen. But it did.

And everything changed.

From that moment on, I could no longer think of Russia and Ukraine in the same way as I did before. I bought Ukrainian flags on Amazon, I stopped eating Russian-made products, I tried learning as much Ukrainian as I could on Duolingo. Every time I heard Russian on the street, whether it be on Brighton Beach or during my trip to Las Vegas later that spring, I would have some sort of ringing in my eardrum. I went to pro-Ukraine rallies and wore shirts with the Ukrainian tryzub to school.

Most of all, I was worried. Worried about the relatives who I knew lived in active war zones. Worried about my parents and grandparents, who had seen the country they had lived in for the majority of their lives being blown up by a man who had no respect for international law. There was a war going on, a war between two countries which I have known ever since I was born. My mother and grandmother are both from the eastern city of Kharkiv, a city which had been struck by Russian artillery since Day 1. My father is from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, a country whose leader, Aleksander Lukashenko, has shown zero respect towards democratic values and the utmost respect to Vladimir Putin.

Those first few months of the war were a time of sheer panic. It was as if the sky was collapsing in front of my eyes.

My attitude towards the actual conflict itself hasn’t changed, and likely never will. I perceive Russia to be a state dominated by terrorist and fascist ideals, controlled by a leader who wishes to restore the Soviet Union and is willing to walk along a road of skulls and bones to do so, whether it be the bones of those like Boris Nemtsov who speak out against him in his own country, or the bones of Georgians and Ukrainians who had died fighting Russian invasions. I will never stop believing in Ukrainian victory, and I still pump my fists in celebration whenever I hear a town has been liberated by the armed forces. However, there is one thing which continues to affect me, angering me every day I see it - the love towards Russia among some in the United States of America.

Of course, I expected some form of Russian propaganda to be spread throughout our country. Throughout the past year and a half, I have seen propaganda of all sorts, with some of it spread by the Russian state media which I have been familiarized with over the years before the war. Russians praising Russia isn’t new, however. Those in countries who claim to support democracy and freedom are. Every day when I scroll through my Twitter feed, I often see idiotic comments being made by people who claim that Russia is justified in their war of aggression, who say that the United States has better things to do than fund a so-called “Nazi regime”. These comments don’t just come from random people hiding behind avatars, however. They come from congressmen, from TV show hosts, from candidates for the White House, and from the richest man in the world. Elon Musk, a man who I used to admire for his work for SpaceX and Tesla, now frequently interacts with Kremlin propaganda outlets like Tucker Carlson who claim that Russia is defending the world against fascism. Vivek Ramaswamy, the man currently in 4th in the GOP Presidential Nomination polling (“Real Clear Politics”), repeatedly mentions Kremlin talking points, claiming Ukraine should cede land which belongs to them (“Vivek Ramaswamy Defends Positions on Ukraine and Taiwan.”).

Although I still get angered every time I see them, I try my best to ignore those comments. After all, there are idiots everywhere. And yet, I cannot ignore what carries on in the halls of Washington. And as the Republicans continue to argue with the Democrats in the chamber of Congress, as a Speaker of the House is removed for not wanting the government to shut down, the Russian army is approaching 100,000 war crimes committed in Ukraine (“Russia-Ukraine War at a Glance: What We Know on Day 595 of the Invasion.”).

War is hell. I have always thought that, and that thought will never change. It should be avoided at all costs.

And here we are, almost 600 days later from that fateful February day. The war still goes on. The scary thing is, it’s not going away anytime soon. We continue to deal with the stress of waking up every morning, not knowing whether or not our family in Kharkiv or in Kremenchuk are still alive. Fortunately, we haven’t lost anyone yet, but others, the victims of a deranged man’s ambitions of evil, have. Evil can ruin lives.

But evil cannot win. And it won’t win, as long as there’s something to fight for. A belief, a cause to fight for.

Over the last 3 years, I fell in love with the lighthearted Apple TV show “Ted Lasso,” about an American football coach who goes over to manage an English soccer team, AFC Richmond, in the Premier League. As a massive soccer fan, when I logged in to watch the first episode, I expected a funny show with some jokes about America’s lack of knowledge of the sport mixed in with the beautiful game. Instead, what I got was a show which not only pulled on the heartstrings due to Ted’s monologues, but helped reinforce the ideas of having a cause to fight for. Ted says this in one quote: “I believe in belief.”

“I believe in belief.” If you don’t believe that you can do something, then you can’t believe at all. But if you do believe in believe, if you do believe in a cause, if you believe in good triumphing over evil, then it will happen.

This thought is why Kyiv didn’t fall in 3 days, like Putin said it will. This is why Ukraine is still standing. And this is why, even though I continue to deal with the tragedy of war daily, I move on. In this war, I know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. And to get to the light, you have to fight for it. Of that I have never been more certain.

For every person who speaks out in favor of aggression and genocide, I believe that there are 100 who will speak out against it.

For every defender that loses their life in the field of battle defending their homeland, I believe that there will be 100 who will carry on their legacy.

For every day that this war goes on, I believe that it is a day closer to achieving victory.

I believe in good over evil. I believe in justice. I believe in hope. I believe in belief.



Sources:

“Russia-Ukraine War at a Glance: What We Know on Day 595 of the Invasion.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 11 Oct. 2023, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/11/russia-ukraine-war-at-a-glance-what-we-know-on-day-595-of-the-invasion.

RealClearPolitics - 2024 - Latest GOP Primary Polls, www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/gop_primaries/#!

“Vivek Ramaswamy Defends Positions on Ukraine and Taiwan .” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 29 Aug. 2023, www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/vivek-ramaswamy-defends-positions-ukraine-taiwan-rcna102408. Accessed 12 Oct. 2023.