Diaries from Kyiv: War brings out the best

Kyiv (Dagbladet): Another Friday, 23 days since the Russians went to war with Ukraine. I start every morning with an overview of the areas that have been bombed here in the capital. Then check what happened in my hometown. In Kyiv, we are increasingly seeing the sirens, a number of people have lost their lives in recent days, while dozens have been infected and are now homeless.

Kherson is still occupied. The Russians provide so-called “humanitarian assistance”, while stealing food from several villages. So – if the Russians already have food – why are they stealing civilians?

What we Ukrainians laugh the most now is why the Russians frequently pick up equipment and put it at the airport located a little on the outskirts of Kherson. They have done this at least three times now, and each time the Ukrainians destroyed helicopters, tanks and other military equipment. On Thursday we were told that the Russians brought new equipment – to the same place. Now we are just waiting for the good news from the Ukrainian army from there.

The biggest pain for all of us now is the ongoing tragedy that is taking place in Mariupol. The whole country is watching the Russians almost wipe the city to the ground. The residents were taken hostage. At least 200,000 Ukrainian civilians are still there. They live without electricity, heating, water and food. In addition, up to 80 percent of the buildings will be destroyed, according to Ukrainian media reports. And the Russian propaganda apparatus puts the responsibility on Ukraine…

Every day I have contacts with my friends in Spain, in the Costa Blanca region. On Saturday, they will hold an hour-long solidarity party in a village there. Some of my friends are involved in organizing, and we agreed that I would share a video link and say a few words.

The money goes to help Ukraine. My friends asked me where they should give the money, and the NGO suggested Vostok-SOSthat helps Ukrainians fleeing internally in Ukraine. The day before the start of the war, I met one of those who started the organization. At the time, she lived in Lugansk, but in 2014, had to flee from there, because of the Russians. She moved to Kyiv and ran SOS-Vostok from there. Now she has moved again – western Ukraine – where she continues her work helping Ukrainians escape.

Thursday night my friend DJ called me. He also moved from Kyiv to the Lviv region in the west. He asked me for help. His reservation manager, a young mother of two young children, has left Ukraine on her way to Spain. He wondered if I could help them find a place there. Around midnight I wrote on the wall of a small village on the coast on Facebook. Already Friday morning they had an apartment ready for them.

The world is full of wonderful people. Show us the best war. And worse – from our enemy.

• The diary was translated by Laine Franson.