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Everyday War: The Conflict over Donbas, Ukraine
Everyday War provides an accessible lens through which to understand what non-combatant civilians go through in a country at war. What goes through the mind of a mother who must send her child to school across a mined field? In Ukraine, such questions have been part of the daily calculus of life. Greta Uehling engages with the lives of ordinary people living in and around the armed conflict over Donbas that began in 2014 and shows how conventional understandings of war are incomplete.
In Ukraine, landscapes filled with death and destruction prompted attentiveness to human vulnerabilities and the cultivation of everyday, interpersonal peace. Uehling explores a constellation of social practices where ethics of care were in operation. People were also drawn into the conflict in an everyday form of war that included provisioning fighters with military equipment they purchased themselves, smuggling insulin, and cutting ties to former friends. Each chapter considers a different site where care can produce interpersonal peace or its antipode, everyday war.
Bridging the fields of political geography, international relations, peace and conflict studies, and anthropology, Everyday War considers a different site where peace can be cultivated at an everyday level.
In Ukraine, landscapes filled with death and destruction prompted attentiveness to human vulnerabilities and the cultivation of everyday, interpersonal peace. Uehling explores a constellation of social practices where ethics of care were in operation. People were also drawn into the conflict in an everyday form of war that included provisioning fighters with military equipment they purchased themselves, smuggling insulin, and cutting ties to former friends. Each chapter considers a different site where care can produce interpersonal peace or its antipode, everyday war.
Bridging the fields of political geography, international relations, peace and conflict studies, and anthropology, Everyday War considers a different site where peace can be cultivated at an everyday level.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published February 15, 2023
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December 19, 2023
(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)
Пламя внутри тебя и меня. Наши глаза от слёз ослепли
К ненависти огня тянутся вверх красные стебли
Солнца наших сердец медленно гаснут искрами в пепле
Каждый из нас уже мертвец, тянутся вверх красные стебли
На сегодняшний день эта книга является наилучшей из всех тех книг, что я читал по поводу конфликта между Россией и Украиной 2014 и 2022 годов. Возможно, природа войны на Донбассе не позволяет утверждать, что это конфликт между Россией и Украиной, однако с моей точки зрения, то, что началось в 2014 году можно охарактеризовать как частично гражданская война внутри Украины и частично как военное и финансовое вмешательство России в дела Украины (пропорции разные, конечно). В принципе, именно так и видится эта книга. Но о чём же она?
Эта книга является довольно серьёзной научной работой по антропологии конфликта на Донбассе начавшегося в 2014. В книге автор рассматривает повседневную жизнь на фоне непрекращающейся войны, т.е. что думают, о чём говорят и как ведут себя люди, попавшие в мясорубку войны начавшуюся в 2014.
Несмотря на то, что книга несёт в себе черты научной работы и временами читать не всегда легко, книга написана просто и понятно. В то же самое время из-за того что в книге содержится относительно много интервью с людьми которых война затронула напрямую, временами читать книгу становится психологически тяжело. Пожалуй, эта книга является одной из самых тяжёлых для чтения именно в психологическом плане. К примеру, интервью с матерью, которая отправила своего единственного сына защищать украинскую землю и который был убит. Так как автор анализирует поведение человека оказавшегося в такой ужасной ситуации, читатель становится свидетелем довольно тяжелого разговора, в котором в деталях рассматривается психологический портрет матери, отправляющей сына на войну. Это не единственное такое тяжёлое интервью. Тут важно подчеркнуть, что автор не пытается выдавить у читателя слезу, ибо диалог, представленный в книге, довольно обычный, т.е. такой, какой мог бы возникнуть у любого человека, который бы затронул тему военного конфликта на Донбассе в 2014 году. Я имею в виду именно научный подход к анализу поведения людей, которые были затронуты войной. Вот другой пример.
Автор рассказывает множество историй когда муж и жена разводились либо из-за политических разногласий (один поддерживал официальное правительство Украины, а другой – сепаратистов) либо из-за того что муж, который долгое время находился на линии фронта, становился совершенно другим человеком, что также вело к разводу. Вообще, военный конфликт на Донбассе кардинально изменил людей, как пишет автор, в некоторых случаях их переставали узнавать знакомые. Вот ещё один пример. Бабушка, которая живёт на линии соприкосновении, уговаривает тестя привести 4 или 6 летнюю внучку к ней, чтобы она полюбовалась то ли на какое-то дерево то ли ещё на что-то. Когда же тесть спрашивает её, как обстоят дела с обстрелами, она говорит, что да, иногда прилетают снаряды. Суть в том, что для бабушки прилетающие снаряды стали фоном, обыденностью, вследствие чего она не видит проблемы в том, чтобы тесть привез к ней внучку. Ещё один пример касается большой семьи, в которой мужчины воюют за разные стороны, при этом каждый вечер приходят домой, и едят за одним столом. Во всех подобных историях мы видим один и тот же паттерн – привыкание к войне, вплетение войны в каждодневную рутину и появление общих точек соприкосновения, которые позволяют коммуницировать двум сторонам конфликта.
Безусловно, разделение людей на «своих» и «чужих» является ещё одной важной темой. Как можно понять, пропасть между двумя сторонами конфликта увеличивалась постоянно и «обычным» явлением была, к примеру, ситуация когда мать теряла сына на войне при этом зная, что её родная сестра финансово поддерживала сепаратистов. И это не говоря о том, что люди действительно разделились на два лагеря, веря в то, что говорит им телевизор (пропаганда) о противоположной стороне. Как легко, оказывается, стравить два региона в рамках одной страны! Пожалуй, это ещё одна удивительная вещь этой книги. У автора блестяще получилось показать, как вчерашние лучшие друзья, коллеги или даже члены семьи, в одночасье становились врагами. Я хочу сказать, что там люди действительно верят во весь тот бред про нацистов и пр. Впрочем, как показала книга «Escape from Mariupol A Survivor's True Story», это взаимно. На что это похоже? На гражданскую войну. Именно так она и выглядит. Интересно, конечно, узнать какие изменения произошли после начала полномасштабного вторжения 24 февраля, но думается мне, изменения произошли минимальные (хотя, я могу ошибаться, конечно). Как показывает книга, и как я прочитал во множестве других книг, это недоверие восточных украинцев к западным украинцам (и наоборот) копилось годами и в 2014 году оно вылилось наружу. Безусловно, Россия внесла огромный вклад в этот конфликт, в том смысле, что вполне возможно, без её прямого вмешательства масштаб был бы в разы меньше, а может быть, его вообще не было (восстание было бы подавлено украинскими войсками).
Но что же может нам сказать книга? Люди привыкают к войне. Люди привыкают жить, даже если вокруг летают снаряды. Как пишет автор, дети, взрослеющие во время этого военного конфликта, начинают принимать стучащие пули за капли дождя. Каковым же будет восприятие мира у этих детей войны в этом случаи? Возникает, конечно, вопрос, чья правда будет в итоге сильнее? Это вопрос хороший, т.к. как показывает книга, этот шрам никогда не зарастёт. Можно, конечно, предположить, что события, начавшиеся 24 февраля 2022 года, кардинально изменили точку зрения жителей Донбасса и Луганска, однако у меня есть сомнения. Можно так же предположить, что объединение будет безболезненным. Однако есть один нюанс о котором говорят те украинцы, которые настроены оппозиционно как к участникам Евромайдана так и к РФ. И эти люди говорят о неспособности или нежелание официального Киева услышать тех украинцев, которые находятся по другую сторону баррикад. И, возможно, главный аргумент, это не подписание Минских соглашений, которые могли предотвратить все те смерти, которые случились после 24 февраля 2022 года. Не отрицая большей ответственности России, эти люди спросят, почему не были подписаны Минские соглашения и что было сделано, чтобы не допустить смерти сотен тысяч украинцев? Другими словами, ради чего была принесена такая жертва? Неужели все те сотни тысяч были принесены в жертву только ради того чтобы получить билет в ЕС и НАТО? А если билет так никогда и не будет выдан американцами и европейцами, тогда получится что, все жертвы были напрасны и вся история оранжевой революции 2004, это выброшенные в корзину истории года? Как пишет Абас Голямов, частый гость украинских СМИ, если Запад отвернётся от Украины («устанет» от Украины), как он это сделал по отношению к России в конце 90-х, тогда Украина разочаруется и впадёт в этнонационализм и ресентимент и «придут реальные сторонники Бандеры, которые займутся подготовкой к следующей войне с Россией, а заодно вспомнят про давние конфликты с венграми, поляками и так далее. На Востоке Европы может появиться ещё одна агрессивная автократия и ситуация на континенте значительно ухудшится». Так может это и хорошо? Каждая нация должна пройти через понимание того, что политика всеобщей одинаковости (а также политика поиска врага), это тупиковая политика, что только через разнообразие можно построить нормальное государство. Сегодня и в Украине и в России и даже в Белоруссии в приоритете именно такая политика всеобщей одинаковости и страха что кто-то шагает не в ногу, что кто-то не такой как все. В конце концов, эта политика рухнет, конечно, весь вопрос только в том, сколько людей она погребёт под собой.
This book is by far the best book I have read on the 2014 and 2022 conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Perhaps the nature of the war in Donbas does not allow one to say that it is a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but from my point of view, what started in 2014 can be characterized as partly a civil war inside Ukraine and partly Russia's military and financial interference in Ukraine's affairs (the proportions are different, of course). In principle, that is how this book is seen. But what is it about?
This book is a rather serious scientific work on the anthropology of the conflict in Donbas that started in 2014. In the book, the author examines everyday life against the background of the ongoing war, i.e., what people think, what they talk about, and how they behave, caught in the meat grinder of the war that began in 2014.
Even though the book has the characteristics of a scientific work and, at times, it is not always easy to read, the book is written simply and understandably. At the same time, because the book contains relatively many interviews with people who were directly affected by the war, it is psychologically difficult to read at times. Perhaps this book is one of the hardest to read psychologically. For example, an interview with a mother who sent her only son to defend the Ukrainian land and who was killed. As the author analyzes the behavior of a person in such a horrible situation, the reader witnesses a rather difficult conversation in which the psychological portrait of a mother who sends her son to war is examined in detail. This is not the only such heavy interview. It is important to emphasize that the author is not trying to make the reader cry because the dialogue presented in the book is quite ordinary, i.e., the kind that would occur to any person who would have touched upon the topic of the military conflict in Donbas in 2014. I am referring specifically to the scientific approach to analyzing the behavior of people who have been affected by the war. Here is another example.
The author tells many stories when husband and wife divorced either because of political differences (one supported the official government of Ukraine and the other - the separatists) or because the husband, who had been on the front line for a long time, became a completely different person, which also led to divorce. In general, the military conflict in Donbas has radically changed people - as the author writes, in some cases, they were no longer recognized by acquaintances (friends). Here is another example. A grandmother who lives on the contact line (line of contact) persuades her father-in-law to bring her 4-year-old or 6-year-old granddaughter to her house to admire a tree or something else. When her father-in-law asks her how things are with shelling, she says that yes, sometimes shells come. The point is that for the grandmother, the incoming shells have become a background, an everyday occurrence, so she sees no problem in her father-in-law bringing her granddaughter to her. Another example concerns a large family in which the men fight for different sides yet come home every night and eat at the same table. In all such stories, we see the same pattern - the habituation of war, the weaving of war into everyday routines, and the emergence of common ground that allows the two sides of the conflict to communicate.
Of course, the division of people into "insiders" and "outsiders" is another important theme. As one can understand, the gulf between the two sides of the conflict was constantly widening, and it was a "common" phenomenon, for example, for a mother to lose her son in the war while knowing that her own sister was financially supporting the separatists. And this is not to mention the fact that people are really divided into two camps, believing what the TV (propaganda) tells them about the other side. It's so easy, as it turns out, to bring two regions into conflict within one country! Perhaps that is another amazing thing about this book. The author did a brilliant job of showing how yesterday's best friends, colleagues, or even family members became enemies overnight. I want to say that people there really believe all that nonsense about Nazis and so on. However, as the book "Escape from Mariupol A Survivor's True Story" has shown, it's mutual. What does it look like? Civil war. That's what it looks like. It would be interesting to see what changes have occurred since the full-scale invasion began on February 24, but I think the changes have been minimal (although I could be wrong, of course). As the book shows, and as I have read in many other books, this distrust of Eastern Ukrainians to Western Ukrainians (and vice versa) has been building up for years, and in 2014, it came out. Of course, Russia made a huge contribution to the conflict, in the sense that it is quite possible that without its direct intervention, the scale of the conflict would have been many times smaller, or maybe it would not have happened at all (the uprising would have been suppressed by Ukrainian troops).
But what can the book tell us? People get used to war. People get used to living, even if shells are flying around. As the author writes, children growing up during this military conflict begin to mistake the pounding bullets for raindrops. What will be the perception of the world of these children of war in this case? The question arises, of course, whose truth will be stronger in the end? This is a good question because, as the book shows, this scar will never heal. Of course, we can assume that the events that began on February 24, 2022, have radically changed the point of view of the residents of Donbas and Luhansk, but I have my doubts. We can also assume that the unification will be painless. However, there is one nuance that those Ukrainians who are in opposition to both the Euromaidan participants and the Russian Federation are talking about. And these people speak about the inability or unwillingness of official Kyiv to hear those Ukrainians who are on the other side of the barricades. And perhaps the main argument is the failure to sign the Minsk agreements, which could have prevented all those deaths that happened after February 24, 2022. Without denying Russia's greater responsibility, these people will ask why the Minsk agreements were not signed and what was done to prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. In other words, for what was such a sacrifice made? Were all those hundreds of thousands sacrificed just to get a ticket to the EU and NATO? And if the ticket will never be issued by the Americans and Europeans, then it will turn out that all the sacrifices were in vain, and the whole history of the Orange Revolution of 2004 is the history of the year thrown into the basket? As Abas Golyamov, a frequent guest of the Ukrainian media, writes, if the West turns away from Ukraine ("gets tired" of Ukraine), as it did towards Russia in the late 90s, then Ukraine will become disillusioned and fall into ethnonationalism and resentment and "real supporters of Bandera will come, who will prepare for the next war with Russia, and at the same time will remember the long-standing conflicts with the Hungarians, Poles and so on. Another aggressive autocracy could emerge in the East of Europe, and the situation on the continent would deteriorate significantly." So maybe this is a good thing? Every nation must go through the realization that the policy of universal sameness (as well as the policy of searching for an enemy) is a dead-end policy and that only through variousness it is possible to build a normal state. Today, in Ukraine, Russia, and even Belarus, this policy of universal sameness and fear that someone is out of step, that someone is not like everyone else, is a priority. In the end, this policy will collapse, of course, the only question is how many people it will bury under it.
Пламя внутри тебя и меня. Наши глаза от слёз ослепли
К ненависти огня тянутся вверх красные стебли
Солнца наших сердец медленно гаснут искрами в пепле
Каждый из нас уже мертвец, тянутся вверх красные стебли
На сегодняшний день эта книга является наилучшей из всех тех книг, что я читал по поводу конфликта между Россией и Украиной 2014 и 2022 годов. Возможно, природа войны на Донбассе не позволяет утверждать, что это конфликт между Россией и Украиной, однако с моей точки зрения, то, что началось в 2014 году можно охарактеризовать как частично гражданская война внутри Украины и частично как военное и финансовое вмешательство России в дела Украины (пропорции разные, конечно). В принципе, именно так и видится эта книга. Но о чём же она?
Эта книга является довольно серьёзной научной работой по антропологии конфликта на Донбассе начавшегося в 2014. В книге автор рассматривает повседневную жизнь на фоне непрекращающейся войны, т.е. что думают, о чём говорят и как ведут себя люди, попавшие в мясорубку войны начавшуюся в 2014.
Несмотря на то, что книга несёт в себе черты научной работы и временами читать не всегда легко, книга написана просто и понятно. В то же самое время из-за того что в книге содержится относительно много интервью с людьми которых война затронула напрямую, временами читать книгу становится психологически тяжело. Пожалуй, эта книга является одной из самых тяжёлых для чтения именно в психологическом плане. К примеру, интервью с матерью, которая отправила своего единственного сына защищать украинскую землю и который был убит. Так как автор анализирует поведение человека оказавшегося в такой ужасной ситуации, читатель становится свидетелем довольно тяжелого разговора, в котором в деталях рассматривается психологический портрет матери, отправляющей сына на войну. Это не единственное такое тяжёлое интервью. Тут важно подчеркнуть, что автор не пытается выдавить у читателя слезу, ибо диалог, представленный в книге, довольно обычный, т.е. такой, какой мог бы возникнуть у любого человека, который бы затронул тему военного конфликта на Донбассе в 2014 году. Я имею в виду именно научный подход к анализу поведения людей, которые были затронуты войной. Вот другой пример.
Автор рассказывает множество историй когда муж и жена разводились либо из-за политических разногласий (один поддерживал официальное правительство Украины, а другой – сепаратистов) либо из-за того что муж, который долгое время находился на линии фронта, становился совершенно другим человеком, что также вело к разводу. Вообще, военный конфликт на Донбассе кардинально изменил людей, как пишет автор, в некоторых случаях их переставали узнавать знакомые. Вот ещё один пример. Бабушка, которая живёт на линии соприкосновении, уговаривает тестя привести 4 или 6 летнюю внучку к ней, чтобы она полюбовалась то ли на какое-то дерево то ли ещё на что-то. Когда же тесть спрашивает её, как обстоят дела с обстрелами, она говорит, что да, иногда прилетают снаряды. Суть в том, что для бабушки прилетающие снаряды стали фоном, обыденностью, вследствие чего она не видит проблемы в том, чтобы тесть привез к ней внучку. Ещё один пример касается большой семьи, в которой мужчины воюют за разные стороны, при этом каждый вечер приходят домой, и едят за одним столом. Во всех подобных историях мы видим один и тот же паттерн – привыкание к войне, вплетение войны в каждодневную рутину и появление общих точек соприкосновения, которые позволяют коммуницировать двум сторонам конфликта.
Безусловно, разделение людей на «своих» и «чужих» является ещё одной важной темой. Как можно понять, пропасть между двумя сторонами конфликта увеличивалась постоянно и «обычным» явлением была, к примеру, ситуация когда мать теряла сына на войне при этом зная, что её родная сестра финансово поддерживала сепаратистов. И это не говоря о том, что люди действительно разделились на два лагеря, веря в то, что говорит им телевизор (пропаганда) о противоположной стороне. Как легко, оказывается, стравить два региона в рамках одной страны! Пожалуй, это ещё одна удивительная вещь этой книги. У автора блестяще получилось показать, как вчерашние лучшие друзья, коллеги или даже члены семьи, в одночасье становились врагами. Я хочу сказать, что там люди действительно верят во весь тот бред про нацистов и пр. Впрочем, как показала книга «Escape from Mariupol A Survivor's True Story», это взаимно. На что это похоже? На гражданскую войну. Именно так она и выглядит. Интересно, конечно, узнать какие изменения произошли после начала полномасштабного вторжения 24 февраля, но думается мне, изменения произошли минимальные (хотя, я могу ошибаться, конечно). Как показывает книга, и как я прочитал во множестве других книг, это недоверие восточных украинцев к западным украинцам (и наоборот) копилось годами и в 2014 году оно вылилось наружу. Безусловно, Россия внесла огромный вклад в этот конфликт, в том смысле, что вполне возможно, без её прямого вмешательства масштаб был бы в разы меньше, а может быть, его вообще не было (восстание было бы подавлено украинскими войсками).
Но что же может нам сказать книга? Люди привыкают к войне. Люди привыкают жить, даже если вокруг летают снаряды. Как пишет автор, дети, взрослеющие во время этого военного конфликта, начинают принимать стучащие пули за капли дождя. Каковым же будет восприятие мира у этих детей войны в этом случаи? Возникает, конечно, вопрос, чья правда будет в итоге сильнее? Это вопрос хороший, т.к. как показывает книга, этот шрам никогда не зарастёт. Можно, конечно, предположить, что события, начавшиеся 24 февраля 2022 года, кардинально изменили точку зрения жителей Донбасса и Луганска, однако у меня есть сомнения. Можно так же предположить, что объединение будет безболезненным. Однако есть один нюанс о котором говорят те украинцы, которые настроены оппозиционно как к участникам Евромайдана так и к РФ. И эти люди говорят о неспособности или нежелание официального Киева услышать тех украинцев, которые находятся по другую сторону баррикад. И, возможно, главный аргумент, это не подписание Минских соглашений, которые могли предотвратить все те смерти, которые случились после 24 февраля 2022 года. Не отрицая большей ответственности России, эти люди спросят, почему не были подписаны Минские соглашения и что было сделано, чтобы не допустить смерти сотен тысяч украинцев? Другими словами, ради чего была принесена такая жертва? Неужели все те сотни тысяч были принесены в жертву только ради того чтобы получить билет в ЕС и НАТО? А если билет так никогда и не будет выдан американцами и европейцами, тогда получится что, все жертвы были напрасны и вся история оранжевой революции 2004, это выброшенные в корзину истории года? Как пишет Абас Голямов, частый гость украинских СМИ, если Запад отвернётся от Украины («устанет» от Украины), как он это сделал по отношению к России в конце 90-х, тогда Украина разочаруется и впадёт в этнонационализм и ресентимент и «придут реальные сторонники Бандеры, которые займутся подготовкой к следующей войне с Россией, а заодно вспомнят про давние конфликты с венграми, поляками и так далее. На Востоке Европы может появиться ещё одна агрессивная автократия и ситуация на континенте значительно ухудшится». Так может это и хорошо? Каждая нация должна пройти через понимание того, что политика всеобщей одинаковости (а также политика поиска врага), это тупиковая политика, что только через разнообразие можно построить нормальное государство. Сегодня и в Украине и в России и даже в Белоруссии в приоритете именно такая политика всеобщей одинаковости и страха что кто-то шагает не в ногу, что кто-то не такой как все. В конце концов, эта политика рухнет, конечно, весь вопрос только в том, сколько людей она погребёт под собой.
This book is by far the best book I have read on the 2014 and 2022 conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Perhaps the nature of the war in Donbas does not allow one to say that it is a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but from my point of view, what started in 2014 can be characterized as partly a civil war inside Ukraine and partly Russia's military and financial interference in Ukraine's affairs (the proportions are different, of course). In principle, that is how this book is seen. But what is it about?
This book is a rather serious scientific work on the anthropology of the conflict in Donbas that started in 2014. In the book, the author examines everyday life against the background of the ongoing war, i.e., what people think, what they talk about, and how they behave, caught in the meat grinder of the war that began in 2014.
Even though the book has the characteristics of a scientific work and, at times, it is not always easy to read, the book is written simply and understandably. At the same time, because the book contains relatively many interviews with people who were directly affected by the war, it is psychologically difficult to read at times. Perhaps this book is one of the hardest to read psychologically. For example, an interview with a mother who sent her only son to defend the Ukrainian land and who was killed. As the author analyzes the behavior of a person in such a horrible situation, the reader witnesses a rather difficult conversation in which the psychological portrait of a mother who sends her son to war is examined in detail. This is not the only such heavy interview. It is important to emphasize that the author is not trying to make the reader cry because the dialogue presented in the book is quite ordinary, i.e., the kind that would occur to any person who would have touched upon the topic of the military conflict in Donbas in 2014. I am referring specifically to the scientific approach to analyzing the behavior of people who have been affected by the war. Here is another example.
The author tells many stories when husband and wife divorced either because of political differences (one supported the official government of Ukraine and the other - the separatists) or because the husband, who had been on the front line for a long time, became a completely different person, which also led to divorce. In general, the military conflict in Donbas has radically changed people - as the author writes, in some cases, they were no longer recognized by acquaintances (friends). Here is another example. A grandmother who lives on the contact line (line of contact) persuades her father-in-law to bring her 4-year-old or 6-year-old granddaughter to her house to admire a tree or something else. When her father-in-law asks her how things are with shelling, she says that yes, sometimes shells come. The point is that for the grandmother, the incoming shells have become a background, an everyday occurrence, so she sees no problem in her father-in-law bringing her granddaughter to her. Another example concerns a large family in which the men fight for different sides yet come home every night and eat at the same table. In all such stories, we see the same pattern - the habituation of war, the weaving of war into everyday routines, and the emergence of common ground that allows the two sides of the conflict to communicate.
Of course, the division of people into "insiders" and "outsiders" is another important theme. As one can understand, the gulf between the two sides of the conflict was constantly widening, and it was a "common" phenomenon, for example, for a mother to lose her son in the war while knowing that her own sister was financially supporting the separatists. And this is not to mention the fact that people are really divided into two camps, believing what the TV (propaganda) tells them about the other side. It's so easy, as it turns out, to bring two regions into conflict within one country! Perhaps that is another amazing thing about this book. The author did a brilliant job of showing how yesterday's best friends, colleagues, or even family members became enemies overnight. I want to say that people there really believe all that nonsense about Nazis and so on. However, as the book "Escape from Mariupol A Survivor's True Story" has shown, it's mutual. What does it look like? Civil war. That's what it looks like. It would be interesting to see what changes have occurred since the full-scale invasion began on February 24, but I think the changes have been minimal (although I could be wrong, of course). As the book shows, and as I have read in many other books, this distrust of Eastern Ukrainians to Western Ukrainians (and vice versa) has been building up for years, and in 2014, it came out. Of course, Russia made a huge contribution to the conflict, in the sense that it is quite possible that without its direct intervention, the scale of the conflict would have been many times smaller, or maybe it would not have happened at all (the uprising would have been suppressed by Ukrainian troops).
But what can the book tell us? People get used to war. People get used to living, even if shells are flying around. As the author writes, children growing up during this military conflict begin to mistake the pounding bullets for raindrops. What will be the perception of the world of these children of war in this case? The question arises, of course, whose truth will be stronger in the end? This is a good question because, as the book shows, this scar will never heal. Of course, we can assume that the events that began on February 24, 2022, have radically changed the point of view of the residents of Donbas and Luhansk, but I have my doubts. We can also assume that the unification will be painless. However, there is one nuance that those Ukrainians who are in opposition to both the Euromaidan participants and the Russian Federation are talking about. And these people speak about the inability or unwillingness of official Kyiv to hear those Ukrainians who are on the other side of the barricades. And perhaps the main argument is the failure to sign the Minsk agreements, which could have prevented all those deaths that happened after February 24, 2022. Without denying Russia's greater responsibility, these people will ask why the Minsk agreements were not signed and what was done to prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. In other words, for what was such a sacrifice made? Were all those hundreds of thousands sacrificed just to get a ticket to the EU and NATO? And if the ticket will never be issued by the Americans and Europeans, then it will turn out that all the sacrifices were in vain, and the whole history of the Orange Revolution of 2004 is the history of the year thrown into the basket? As Abas Golyamov, a frequent guest of the Ukrainian media, writes, if the West turns away from Ukraine ("gets tired" of Ukraine), as it did towards Russia in the late 90s, then Ukraine will become disillusioned and fall into ethnonationalism and resentment and "real supporters of Bandera will come, who will prepare for the next war with Russia, and at the same time will remember the long-standing conflicts with the Hungarians, Poles and so on. Another aggressive autocracy could emerge in the East of Europe, and the situation on the continent would deteriorate significantly." So maybe this is a good thing? Every nation must go through the realization that the policy of universal sameness (as well as the policy of searching for an enemy) is a dead-end policy and that only through variousness it is possible to build a normal state. Today, in Ukraine, Russia, and even Belarus, this policy of universal sameness and fear that someone is out of step, that someone is not like everyone else, is a priority. In the end, this policy will collapse, of course, the only question is how many people it will bury under it.
April 7, 2023
The Review
This was a gripping and thought-provoking read. The author does an incredible job of capturing the heart and emotion of the subjects that are interviewed throughout this book while also providing a clear and concise image of the direction that the conflict in the Donbas region had taken during this time. In light of the recent changes of events that have seen Russia launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it the importance of understanding how conflict impacts everyone, not just the politicians ordering the war or the soldiers fighting on the front lines, but the people and noncombatants who are stuck in the middle of this conflict, is more crucial than ever before.
What really stands out to me about this book was the author’s approach to the subject. Rather than focusing on the more scholarly or regimented facts about the situation, the book hones in on the more personal and emotional moments of the conflict. The blend of personal interviews with Ukrainian citizens who experienced the conflict firsthand, along with the author’s own foray into the war-torn nation and the experiences that the author and these individuals all shared showcased the deeper meaning of modern-day warfare. Far more often than not, war is being fought not on some distant isolated land or battlefield, but in residential neighborhoods and people’s private lands and even major metropolitan cities within the nations fighting with one another. The emotional impact of these stories, especially when combined with the imagery and videography showcasing the horrors Ukraine is still enduring, all bring together the theme of finding peace and hope in times of great distress and chaos, especially in a military-driven war.
The Verdict
Heartfelt, important, and engaging, author Greta Lynn Uehling’s “Everyday War” is a must-read nonfiction book on the political and sociological effects of war, in particular the conflict nearly a decade earlier in the Donbas region. The way the author was able to bring to light the multitude of “players” in the field aside from the soldiers themselves, as well as the devastating losses people endured during the war, from property loss and injuries to emotional distress and even loss of loved ones, helped readers to gain a better, more nuanced yet equally moving idea of what these battles do to those struggling to survive in the midst of war and hopefully paved a path for future conflicts to be avoided or fought on a different road.
This was a gripping and thought-provoking read. The author does an incredible job of capturing the heart and emotion of the subjects that are interviewed throughout this book while also providing a clear and concise image of the direction that the conflict in the Donbas region had taken during this time. In light of the recent changes of events that have seen Russia launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it the importance of understanding how conflict impacts everyone, not just the politicians ordering the war or the soldiers fighting on the front lines, but the people and noncombatants who are stuck in the middle of this conflict, is more crucial than ever before.
What really stands out to me about this book was the author’s approach to the subject. Rather than focusing on the more scholarly or regimented facts about the situation, the book hones in on the more personal and emotional moments of the conflict. The blend of personal interviews with Ukrainian citizens who experienced the conflict firsthand, along with the author’s own foray into the war-torn nation and the experiences that the author and these individuals all shared showcased the deeper meaning of modern-day warfare. Far more often than not, war is being fought not on some distant isolated land or battlefield, but in residential neighborhoods and people’s private lands and even major metropolitan cities within the nations fighting with one another. The emotional impact of these stories, especially when combined with the imagery and videography showcasing the horrors Ukraine is still enduring, all bring together the theme of finding peace and hope in times of great distress and chaos, especially in a military-driven war.
The Verdict
Heartfelt, important, and engaging, author Greta Lynn Uehling’s “Everyday War” is a must-read nonfiction book on the political and sociological effects of war, in particular the conflict nearly a decade earlier in the Donbas region. The way the author was able to bring to light the multitude of “players” in the field aside from the soldiers themselves, as well as the devastating losses people endured during the war, from property loss and injuries to emotional distress and even loss of loved ones, helped readers to gain a better, more nuanced yet equally moving idea of what these battles do to those struggling to survive in the midst of war and hopefully paved a path for future conflicts to be avoided or fought on a different road.
June 11, 2023
QUICK TAKE
Everyday War: The Conflict Over Donbas, Ukraine by Greta Lynn Uehling is an essential read for understanding what civilian life has been like in a land where warfare and military activity have altered daily life. Uehling’s research is phenomenal, and she covers a variety of social aspects that have been changed by ongoing destruction. While this is not light reading, the topic is well explored and is ideal for anyone looking to learn more about the conflict in Ukraine and its impact on civilians.
TELL ME MORE
Military activity has been ongoing in Ukraine, and while the conflict has been widely publicized, the daily life of civilians has not received as much press as it should. Greta Lynn Uehling’s book, Everyday War: The Conflict Over Donbas, Ukraine, fills that gap. Impeccably researched, Uehling’s writing focuses on what everyday life has been like for the civilians of Donbas, Ukraine, and goes as far to explore how such relationships as friendships and marriage have been impacted.
But the insight does not stop there. One harrowing section of the book focuses on a group of civilians called The Black Tulips who have volunteered to retrieve the dead. This section does not sugarcoat the atrocities that this group faces, and it tears the reader apart.
While the book is highly educational and reads like college material, it is engaging and ideal for anyone looking to learn more about the conflicts in Ukraine. Uehling writes with a caring hand, and while much of the book is difficult to digest, she writes in such a way that it is easy for the reader to understand and absorb.
Everyday War: The Conflict Over Donbas, Ukraine by Greta Lynn Uehling is a current read about a historical event that is perfect for readers of history and nonfiction. It is searing, blunt, and compassionate in the best of ways. This is not a book to miss.
Everyday War: The Conflict Over Donbas, Ukraine by Greta Lynn Uehling is an essential read for understanding what civilian life has been like in a land where warfare and military activity have altered daily life. Uehling’s research is phenomenal, and she covers a variety of social aspects that have been changed by ongoing destruction. While this is not light reading, the topic is well explored and is ideal for anyone looking to learn more about the conflict in Ukraine and its impact on civilians.
TELL ME MORE
Military activity has been ongoing in Ukraine, and while the conflict has been widely publicized, the daily life of civilians has not received as much press as it should. Greta Lynn Uehling’s book, Everyday War: The Conflict Over Donbas, Ukraine, fills that gap. Impeccably researched, Uehling’s writing focuses on what everyday life has been like for the civilians of Donbas, Ukraine, and goes as far to explore how such relationships as friendships and marriage have been impacted.
But the insight does not stop there. One harrowing section of the book focuses on a group of civilians called The Black Tulips who have volunteered to retrieve the dead. This section does not sugarcoat the atrocities that this group faces, and it tears the reader apart.
While the book is highly educational and reads like college material, it is engaging and ideal for anyone looking to learn more about the conflicts in Ukraine. Uehling writes with a caring hand, and while much of the book is difficult to digest, she writes in such a way that it is easy for the reader to understand and absorb.
Everyday War: The Conflict Over Donbas, Ukraine by Greta Lynn Uehling is a current read about a historical event that is perfect for readers of history and nonfiction. It is searing, blunt, and compassionate in the best of ways. This is not a book to miss.
April 29, 2023
A well articulated deep dive into the research behind some of the less discussed aspects of a modern, continuous war. I was hoping for more emotional stories, but instead get like I was listening to an incredible PhD research paper. Very good content, just not what I was hoping for.
September 29, 2023
Thoroughly researched and yet not overly scholarly,
the author does a brilliant job in laying bare the impact modern war fare has had on the friendships, the relationships, the marriages of the everyday folk of Dunbas, Ukraine where relations, friends and lovers found themselves on differing political and, yes, even military sides, avoiding those with opposing views, keeping away from fractious conversations.
Ideal reading for both those seeking knowledge on the political and sociological effects of a war fought not so much on a battle field but rather a residential and industrial area as well as those wishing to understand how war impacts not the soldier, not the politicians but rather the average person caught in the middle of warring factions.
Honing in on the personal and emotional toil of war as it does Everyday War was never going to be an easy read and yet I'm so glad that I did read it as amongst all of the horrors the author also focusing in on the individuals caring for others despite going through untold horrors of their own; people like Svetlana who, despite having friends fighting on both sides of the conflict, sought to create a sanctuary from violence in her home which saw men from opposing military forces sitting across from each other at her kitchen table; people like the members of the the 'Black Tulip', a group of volunteers, non-combatants tasked with crossing enemy lines to retrieve the remains of fallen soldiers left behind by its retreating army.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer ... Read and reviewed on behalf of Coriolis, Book Publicity, Marketing, Author Branding and Literary Services. Agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own. No financial compensation was asked for nor given. Threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.
the author does a brilliant job in laying bare the impact modern war fare has had on the friendships, the relationships, the marriages of the everyday folk of Dunbas, Ukraine where relations, friends and lovers found themselves on differing political and, yes, even military sides, avoiding those with opposing views, keeping away from fractious conversations.
Ideal reading for both those seeking knowledge on the political and sociological effects of a war fought not so much on a battle field but rather a residential and industrial area as well as those wishing to understand how war impacts not the soldier, not the politicians but rather the average person caught in the middle of warring factions.
Honing in on the personal and emotional toil of war as it does Everyday War was never going to be an easy read and yet I'm so glad that I did read it as amongst all of the horrors the author also focusing in on the individuals caring for others despite going through untold horrors of their own; people like Svetlana who, despite having friends fighting on both sides of the conflict, sought to create a sanctuary from violence in her home which saw men from opposing military forces sitting across from each other at her kitchen table; people like the members of the the 'Black Tulip', a group of volunteers, non-combatants tasked with crossing enemy lines to retrieve the remains of fallen soldiers left behind by its retreating army.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer ... Read and reviewed on behalf of Coriolis, Book Publicity, Marketing, Author Branding and Literary Services. Agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own. No financial compensation was asked for nor given. Threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.
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