War does not only destroy buildings.
WAR
Viktor Karpenko
9/17/20261 min read
I was born in Ukraine.
I do not live there now, but a part of me has never left.
My thoughts are still in Kyiv. My heart is still there.
Every time I read about another bombardment, something inside me contracts. And my first thought is always the same:
What about the people I love who are still there?
Are they alive?
Are they safe?
Of course, I do not call everyone I know in Kyiv after every attack. Life continues, even during war. But every time I read the news, my heart still tightens. Somewhere in the back of my mind there is always the same question: Are they all right? Is everyone still there? Even from far away, a part of me remains with them.
The war follows me even into sleep.
Every second dream seems to bring me back to my Kyiv — but not the Kyiv I remember.
I see destroyed buildings. Bombardments. Sirens. Shelters. Familiar streets transformed into places I barely recognize.
Then I wake up.
I look around and understand that I am far away and safe.
But in Ukraine, people close to my heart — my friends — are living through what I only see in my dreams.
For them, it is not a dream.
And this is where a very difficult question begins for me.
What does war do to us inside?
Because war does not only destroy buildings.
It does something to the human mind.