These essays are a gift: they open a window to understanding the unimaginable things currently happening in Ukraine. Grippingly and with razor-sharp analysis, Tanja Maljartschuk shows what Russia’s bellicose expansionism has been doing to a country and its people – and not just since 2022, but for over a decade already.
What does it mean to come from a country whose right to exist is being aggressively challenged? Under these circumstances, how can a nation find itself? How can we cope with the pain and anger and speechlessness that war elicits day after day? Tanja Maljartschuk explores all these questions in her essays, which are sometimes analytical and cool, sometimes despairing, but also frequently mocking and full of humor.
The oldest texts date from 2014 – the period of the Maidan protests, which represented hope and new beginnings for Ukraine, but also of the criminal annexation of Crimea. The most recent are a reaction to what is currently happening in Ukraine every day: the struggle for survival, for one’s own dignity, history, and integrity.
