Two days after Christmas, 59 year-old Natalie Kaschenko went to Kyiv to take care of some financial transactions. As she drove in, she saw buses heading toward her, leaving the city. But these were not the usual municipal buses on their normal routes; these buses were carrying the dead -- Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers who had been killed in battle on the frontlines of the war with Russia.

Overcome with grief, Natalie had to pull over and get herself together before she went on into the city. And she still hasn’t been able to bring herself to tell her son, Oleg, about what she had seen because she found out shortly afterwards that one of the dead was a soldier in her son’s volunteer Territorial Guard group.

Sept 26 Update on Oleg in Ukraine

A profile of Oleg, subject of my series of articles entitled “Upheaval in Ukraine.”

The year 2023 started with fireworks for Ukrainian citizens, only not of the celebratory variety. Russia launched over 80 suicide drones over the two day period between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Ukrainian sources report that their air defense was able to shoot them all down.

“I never was a soldier”

One year in, we can’t stop our conversations. Even if we don’t know all the answers, we need to share our questions and insecurities. Otherwise, we will become numb to these horrible atrocities and lose a piece of our humanity.