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On November 26, the former mayor of Kherson Volodymyr Mykolaenko became one of the hundred laureates of the third annual ceremony “UP 100“. After receiving the award, he went on stage with a speech he had written on the train, dear from his native Kherson to Kyiv. We offer you its text version.
I thought a lot both in captivity and when I returned, about what was happening to us, why it happened to us, whether we could have prevented it, how to stop it. And, you know, these are stupid thoughts. They give nothing but bitterness and despair.
The answers are actually simple.
Why did this happen to us? Because it is geography. Geography is destiny. Because we could not go to rallies against Putin instead of the Russians, could not defend their mass media or the constitution. They had to do it. But it suited them, and it suits them now, let’s be honest.
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Could this have been prevented? There was probably a few percent chance that it wouldn’t happen. If we didn’t give up our nuclear weapons, if we didn’t give up our strategic aviation planes, if we immediately elected Chornovol instead of Kravchuk, if, if, if…
We all still torture ourselves with these ifs, as if we could go back in time and fix everything. But no. And these endless ifs only become tension points around which we endlessly argue.
You have to accept reality as it is, even when you don’t like it at all and you want to live in 2008 and pretend that there is no war.
But this is how we live now. Adults hide their children, Russians kill civilians for fun, the country is filled with the hum of generators, the front line is thousands of kilometers long. And in the international arena, they still haven’t decided whether you and I are worthy to survive and save the country.
This is the reality. And within that reality, I’m very disturbed by the idea that a huge number of people are involved in this war somehow, you know, a little bit.
I am not even talking about the so-called dodgers, because they are only a small part of the great Ukrainian people. I think we have no complaints against the people, because the people fight en masse, and evade – this is an exception from the people, not its rule.
My claim to those who speak for the people, make decisions for the people, directly affects how and what the people live. I am talking about our politicians and some of our journalists.
It is difficult for me to accept that there are a huge number of people within our elite who have been behaving for 4 years as if there is some kind of spare Ukraine to which they will flee if it falls. No, I understand that most of the subject people have enough money, connections to spend the rest of their lives in Paris, Prague or New York, where it will be possible to talk about how the bad people failed and lost, and you warned.
But most of us do not have a spare Ukraine – there is only this one, there is no other life – there is only one that we are ready to give for Ukraine and in Ukraine.
See also: Who surrendered Kherson, torture by dogs in a Russian prison and exchange – a conversation with Mayor Mykolayenko
I am incredibly annoyed by politicians who see a crisis in power not as a risk, but as a chance to grab something. I can’t read the news, which is written in such a way as to kill the last nerve cell in me for the sake of unnecessary viewing of meaningless delusion.
Everyone perceives Ukrainians as a resource. But this resource is not infinite.
I really wanted Ukrainian politicians to at least learn to respect their people, their people, for whom they work. Because these people are the only thing we have, and this is the only thing that can save us.
There are people who go through everything, who overcome incredible difficulties, who are stronger than death and despair. People who do not know fear, and for whom “Ukraine above all” is not just words.
These people are our compatriots. And thanks to their dedication, you and I are able to gather here and give each other honors and awards.
All we have are people, the Ukrainian people. And it is in people that we should invest. In everyone who stayed here, in everyone for whom Ukraine is important. In all those who are repulsed by the thought of Russians, who fight and do not give up.
I have seen Russia up close, and I am sure that there is nothing more disgusting, more despicable and more unlike Ukraine than Russia.
Sometimes it seems to me that those who have not seen Russia as closely as I have, do not quite understand what we are fighting against and how important it is not to lose.
If Satan has a residence on earth, it is right there, in Russia.
We must not become a part of this hell under any circumstances. And we won’t. Thanks to the incredible people who slay this pillowcase every day. And thanks to the fact that everyone who is not at the front should do everything possible to help them – with gratitude and devotion every day.
And then the time will surely come when we will not argue and say: what if…
Volodymyr Mykolaenko, for UP
”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
On November 26, the former mayor of Kherson Volodymyr Mykolaenko became one of the hundred laureates of the third annual ceremony “UP 100“. After receiving the award, he went on stage with a speech he had written on the train, dear from his native Kherson to Kyiv. We offer you its text version.
I thought a lot both in captivity and when I returned, about what was happening to us, why it happened to us, whether we could have prevented it, how to stop it. And, you know, these are stupid thoughts. They give nothing but bitterness and despair.
The answers are actually simple.
Why did this happen to us? Because it is geography. Geography is destiny. Because we could not go to rallies against Putin instead of the Russians, could not defend their mass media or the constitution. They had to do it. But it suited them, and it suits them now, let’s be honest.
Advertising:
Could this have been prevented? There was probably a few percent chance that it wouldn’t happen. If we didn’t give up our nuclear weapons, if we didn’t give up our strategic aviation planes, if we immediately elected Chornovol instead of Kravchuk, if, if, if…
We all still torture ourselves with these ifs, as if we could go back in time and fix everything. But no. And these endless ifs only become tension points around which we endlessly argue.
You have to accept reality as it is, even when you don’t like it at all and you want to live in 2008 and pretend that there is no war.
But this is how we live now. Adults hide their children, Russians kill civilians for fun, the country is filled with the hum of generators, the front line is thousands of kilometers long. And in the international arena, they still haven’t decided whether you and I are worthy to survive and save the country.
This is the reality. And within that reality, I’m very disturbed by the idea that a huge number of people are involved in this war somehow, you know, a little bit.
I am not even talking about the so-called dodgers, because they are only a small part of the great Ukrainian people. I think we have no complaints against the people, because the people fight en masse, and evade – this is an exception from the people, not its rule.
My claim to those who speak for the people, make decisions for the people, directly affects how and what the people live. I am talking about our gender eticians and some of our journalists.
It is difficult for me to accept that there are a huge number of people within our elite who have been behaving for 4 years as if there is some kind of spare Ukraine to which they will flee if it falls. No, I understand that most of the subject people have enough money, connections to spend the rest of their lives in Paris, Prague or New York, where it will be possible to talk about how the bad people failed and lost, and you warned.
But most of us do not have a spare Ukraine – there is only this one, there is no other life – there is only one that we are ready to give for Ukraine and in Ukraine.
See also: Who surrendered Kherson, torture by dogs in a Russian prison and exchange – a conversation with Mayor Mykolayenko
I am incredibly annoyed by politicians who see a crisis in power not as a risk, but as a chance to grab something. I can’t read the news, which is written in such a way as to kill the last nerve cell in me for the sake of unnecessary viewing of meaningless delusion.
Everyone perceives Ukrainians as a resource. But this resource is not infinite.
I really wanted Ukrainian politicians to at least learn to respect their people, their people, for whom they work. Because these people are the only thing we have, and this is the only thing that can save us.
There are people who go through everything, who overcome incredible difficulties, who are stronger than death and despair. People who do not know fear, and for whom “Ukraine above all” is not just words.
These people are our compatriots. And thanks to their dedication, you and I are able to gather here and give each other honors and awards.
All we have are people, the Ukrainian people. And it is in people that we should invest. In everyone who stayed here, in everyone for whom Ukraine is important. In all those who are repulsed by the thought of Russians, who fight and do not give up.
I have seen Russia up close, and I am sure that there is nothing more disgusting, more despicable and more unlike Ukraine than Russia.
Sometimes it seems to me that those who have not seen Russia as closely as I have, do not quite understand what we are fighting against and how important it is not to lose.
If Satan has a residence on earth, it is right there, in Russia.
We must not become a part of this hell under any circumstances. And we won’t. Thanks to the incredible people who slay this pillowcase every day. And thanks to the fact that everyone who is not at the front should do everything possible to help them – with gratitude and devotion every day.
And then the time will surely come when we will not argue and say: what if…
Volodymyr Mykolaenko, for UP