3/11/2022 - politics-and-society

Ukraine looks at melancholy pandemic

By augusto macias

Ukraine looks at melancholy pandemic

The world of the 21st century has increased its speed exponentially for just two decades. New and faster transports have managed to reach distances and the Internet has allowed instant communication and traffic multiplication of images and messages.

The vertiginosity of the present world produces an inertia from which the current man seems unable to leave and should move from one stadium to another at the pace of a toy. In this situation are now the Ukrainians, for whom the pandemic was forcefully behind.

They are living in a completely opposed situation to the transition from 2020 principles. At that time, they were forced to stay in their homes, while now many must escape from them, their cities and even their country. According to the figures the UNHCR said, refugees are more than a million, whose 50% went to Poland. The rest moved mainly to Hungary, Moldova and Russia1. With Covid, the Ukrainians had a worthy place to hide.

Anabell Sotelo, the Ukrainian actress of Latin American parents, is now living in the underground of the theatre where she works in Kiev, along with thirty other people, approximately, as new people and others constantly flee to other countries. "In Kiev there are still some shops, such as pharmacies and we left within the safe schedules to help civilians with medicines or take the elderly to the train station", told Sotelo, who on his emotional situation sustained: "We have a lot of resistance and are prepared to fight. So we don't have time to cry or be sad. Thanks to the pandemic, we're ready for encierro. We develop a skill to support this situation in the best way."Another paradox that leaves this war is that military on one side and on the other. NATO/Ukraine and Russia are planning strategies, organizing their fighters, calculating where to launch their missiles and visualizing possible scenarios in which this conflict will result. Although he seems to be thinking, no one in his healthy judgment could claim that both parties are using the head. In this century, it seems logical and unforgivable that the interests of military alliances and political bureaucracies lead millions to have frequent nightmares for the rest of their days.

There are sober accounts of what involved the first and second world war. Jewish thinkers like Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, after escaping Hitler's claws, reflected on the illusion of rationalism within the age we live: “What has always happened to the triumphant thought: while voluntarily abandoning its critical element and becoming a mere instrument at the service of the existing, it contributes without wanting to transform the positive that had done its in something negative and destructive. [...] The metamorphoses of criticism in affirmation also affect the theoretical content: their truth volatilizes” (Horkheimer and Adorno, p. 52). 2There are so many engineers, senior military and politicians using all their dexterity to destroy the other - and above its territory -, while leaving aside the great problems that pursue humanity and climate change and world hunger.

Taras Yagofarov, in turn, is another Ukrainian, but with relatively greater tranquility than Anabell, since it is in a girl town called Stryi, where there have been no bombings or fights so far. Yet his life has changed dramatically, even in aspects he has never thought: "I am bilingual and in my house is spoken Russian. In this region, Ukrainian is fundamentally used. In general, there was no problem with that until this war began. Mostly because Russia has sent spies and when people here hear me speak, distrust me because it is alert. The other day, while talking to my wife on a cell phone, they stopped me to ask for the documents.""Thank God we have not lost anyone close, but my friends who live in other parts of the country. The distance is from two people. I am afraid of my parents and my grandmother who are in the capital and who can be victims of any bombing. "He added. Although, despite fear, he said he would not escape his country. " We will resist until the end. Although they want to eliminate us with nuclear rockets. This is the spirit of Ukraine. We believe we can win"He said.

But not only the Ukrainians, but everyone is on the run because there is a button away from an unprecedented nuclear war; nothing demonstrates or warrants that world leaders are up to circumstances. The poor Russian Chancellor, Sergei Lavrov, was the first to mention the elephant in the room: " The Third World War would be nuclear and devastating.Although the war itself is unpredictable, international analyst Julio Burdman states that he does not see on the horizon a nuclear escalation, although he assured that “Putin and Zelenski are playing to see who’s crazier.” As for the outcome of the war conflict, it considers that in the long run Russia has to win. It seems inevitable that Ukraine breaks into two parts minimally and that the exit of Zelenski occurs.

1Ukraine Refugee Situation2 Adorno, Theodor and Horkeimer, Max (1998) “Dialectic of illustration”, editorial Trotta

Do you want to validate this article?

By validating, you are certifying that the published information is correct, helping us fight against misinformation.

Validated by 0 users
augusto macias

augusto macias

Hi, I'm Augusto Macias, student of Social Communication Sciences at UBA. I work as a journalistic producer on different radios and sporadicly as a notary. I am interested in politics both local and international. I also like to travel to discover new landscapes and learn how people live in different parts of the world. In fact, I did it for a year and a half before returning to Argentina to continue my studies.

Total Views: 3

Comments