In my latest for POLITICO, I speak with some incredibly brave people who have joined the Ukrainian resistance. Their stories are here. Also, a few notes from me ... 1/7 politico.eu/article/ukrain…
Here's the thing about this group of people. They are from entirely different walks of life. Young, old, every level of education. There's an ethnic Russian, a Romanian national, two Russian-speaking Kyiv-born Ukrainians. What do they have in common? 2/7
For the first time, in 2014, as a result of Putin's first Ukrainian invasion, they stopped being a Russian who lives in Ukraine or a Romanian who lives in Ukraine, or a Jew who lives in Ukraine. They became: just Ukrainian. Oh the irony! 3/7
Putin denied Ukrainian nationality, and in that very existential denial, he has unified Ukrainians from every background. "I can’t be a nationalist Ukrainian because I don’t have a drop of Ukrainian blood. But I am a patriot of Ukraine," said Igor, who is ethnically Russian! 4/7
“I, as a Russian, am saying I don’t want Ukraine to be Russia,” Igor said. “Russia’s narrative is they need to save Russians like them. But we’re not Russians like them. We’re completely different ..." 5/7
..."The further we get from the Soviet days, the less we have in common with that Russia and those Russians," said Igor, who is 44 and a former teacher and currently working in IT. 6/7
Julia, who is a Romanian national, told me: "Everyone has had this conversion. Before 2014 I would say I’m Romanian. But after 2014 ... no one says they’re anything except Ukrainian. Everyone is Ukrainian. It’s never been like this before." Not quite what Putin had in mind. 7/7
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