I Hope Your Family is Safe

Titled echoing a hopeful encouragement often expressed to me by foreigners, "I Hope Your Family is Safe" offers a nuanced perspective on today’s Ukraine — one that reflects my people's bravery, vulnerability, defiance, and desire for freedom.

'I hope your family is safe.'

I’ve heard these words so many times since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of my homeland, and I still don’t know how to reply. What is safety in a country at war?

I was born and raised in Ukraine and left my country nine years ago — first for Poland, and later for Germany. Since then, I have never felt the urge to return as strongly as I do today. To see how my homeland has changed. To challenge the oversimplified portrayal of Ukraine and its people as mere victims. What is my Ukraine today?

I can’t find words, and I am looking for visual hints. A car destroyed at the frontline, trenches where my dad underwent military training, a wedding suit and mourning scarves hanging side-by-side at the market. I hear that our neighbour’s brother was killed on the frontline and that my uncle joined the Military Forces. I see a black-and-white photograph of my childhood friend in the alley of fallen defenders, accompanied by a remembrance candle.

Here, death is at every corner, and yet, so is life. A full public beach on a Sunday afternoon; a friend’s newborn baby; my grandma's little chicks. Ukrainians fall in love, adopt dogs, volunteer, and celebrate Christmas. There is love, there is joy, and there is beauty that coexists with enormous pain and tragedy. I see my people in all their resilience, dignity, and desire to be free.

In my country, filled with trauma and torn by the war, I feel as alive as anywhere else. I am unsafe because of Russian rockets flying over my head. I am safe because it is my home.