557 day of war

In the photo, there is an installation in the city center made of shell casings and used javelins, set against portraits of fallen heroes. It seems that similar installations are being created all over the country right now.

Greetings, friends!

Summer has ended, and immediately from September 1st, rains and cold weather have come to us. Also, the number of rocket attacks has significantly decreased lately, it seems that the Russians are collecting rockets again to target the energy infrastructure when it gets colder. I think this time we will be more prepared for such developments, so we are preparing for it for now.

September 1st in schools took place in bomb shelters, and it's truly sad to witness. I understand that most of people's internal issues start with childhood trauma, and constant stays in bomb shelters will probably leave their mark on people's psyche as well. It seems that we will feel the consequences of this war throughout our lives.

Overall, I now understand that I have become much more emotionally vulnerable, and any stress takes a long time to recover from. I heavily rely on daily rituals; it somehow helps fill the day with events and makes me feel calmer. One of these rituals is that every morning at 7 o'clock, we go out to feed the cats. Because we live near the building of the country's intelligence agency, we probably attract attention, and when we were feeding the cat, we were stopped, had our documents checked, and when they saw that we came from Mariupol, they made copies of our documents with the words 'so that when rockets come here, we know who to go to.' I understand that there is a war going on, and there are people who launch rockets and engage in sabotage, but it was quite offensive. I don't know, maybe it's their idea of a joke, but the attitude towards displaced people is gradually getting worse. Now it's somehow uncomfortable to pass by that building, and we feed the cat that lives nearby a little further away from that place and try to avoid it. Maybe I'm too emotional about everything, but such situations feel traumatic and keep replaying in my head for several days.

Also, this week the movie "Yurik" was released, which tells the story of a boy who tried to escape from Mariupol after the start of hostilities. And with this film, there have been many controversies because the creators claimed that it was based on real events, but in fact, what they show distorts reality and substitutes facts. Yes, the film came out quite emotional, but in my opinion, it doesn't really reflect reality. And most importantly, years will pass, and people will watch it and think that's how everything really was. But the reality was so harsh that such things probably cannot be shown in movies. The film is worth watching only if you perceive it as a fictional film that has little to do with what actually happened. The film shows that there was light, communication, OSCE vehicles with loudspeakers, and green corridors... It was not like that at all. There were dark, dirty basements where it was cold and there was no food. There were basements where people hid, and in the corner, there were corpses. There was a lot of blood, so much that over time, started to forget how to step over those dreadful puddles. People were buried in the courtyards of multi-story buildings in boxes, and every day was endless because there was no connection with the outside world.

The film itself has English subtitles, and you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YNo71cLDtc

But if you're curious about what really happened in the city, one of the residents had solar panels and the ability to charge a phone and record videos of what was happening. He also managed to hide all the recordings and take them out of the occupation (when leaving the city, the Russians tried to destroy all videos of those events so that the truth couldn't be proven). This is not a feature film; it has only automatic subtitles, but this is the reality of those events as they really were. You can watch this material here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezZD7cOqsBs

I believe that the truth should be conveyed, not emotional movies. Hundreds of thousands of Mariupol residents saw everything that was happening with their own eyes, and I think that making such films in this way is somehow wrong. There is an active discussion going on right now, but I think we can prove that the film in its current form should not exist.

I also wanted to thank everyone for their support! All the birthday wishes to Nastya were passed on
Thank you also for the help on buymeacoffee; it really helps us survive now. Thank you!