(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kyiv as I saw it in 2017-18: A Photo Diary On the Anniversary Of When So Much Was Taken Away [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-24 My Favorite Photo I took of Kyiv. This is Pechersk Lavra with my drone. One of the many stunning Orthodox Churches in the city. On the anniversary of Russia's unwarranted and illegal invasion of Ukraine I want to share some photos I took while I was there during better times in 2017 and 2018 and some thoughts. I posted many of these last year but I thought to post them again as a reminder of sort of “This is what it was like” because I know that it’s not like this now ….. The building where my first AirBNB was in the neighborhood call Podil If you would like to see this as a full photo gallery without my commentary click here — It’s on Google Photos! In 2017 I was invited to Kyiv by a fellow computer programmer who is Ukrainian. I’m a digital nomad and he thought I would really enjoy it there and he was spot on correct! My first AirBNB in the trendy neighborhood of Podil was gorgeous inside and out. Not all of Kyiv looks like this but there are several similar beautiful neighborhoods. The permanent Ferris Wheel in the Kontraktova Square at Podil A block away from my AirBNB was Kontraktova Square. Trendy restaurants and bars, a ferris wheel, museums. You can see St. Andrews Golden dome on the hilltop behind. St. Andrews Church isn’t the most famous of the Kiev Orthodox Churches but it may be my favorite. I took A night Drone Shot of St. Andrews. Now I imagine it’s all dark at night. In the first few weeks of the war I found pictures of part of this neighborhood on fire from a missile strike. A shopping mall less than 2 miles away was completely blown up as well. Hearing these news stories I was overcome with a surreal feeling that is hard to describe. It was hard for me to get my head around the idea that air raid sirens, missiles and air defense systems were now a part of life in this place I had lived for a bit. All of these elements which are now a part of daily life weren’t part of my conceptual framework but more importantly, neither had they ever been for Ukrainians. Even though yes, there was the proxy war going on in Donbas, the rest of Ukraine just felt like a normal, safe country. I absolutely loved the double decker coffee bus! You may as well imagine Soho, San Fran or London being under attack — and in my mind that is still something from the movies — but it became real for them. Cafe culture in another central area of the city near the second apartment I rented Back to 2017 — I moved to a second AirBnB after a month of staying because I was hooked on the vibe of the city … and I had met someone special. Here are a couple of pics from that neighborhood near the University. Trolley Cafe in the park near my AirBNB St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral Was also close by Kyiv University at night. This is the Red Building and even though it’s lit up in this pic, it’s actually Red! Fast Forward: October 10, 2022 — Russia targeted Schevchenko Park (pictured above) with Missile strikes. When I looked on Twitter I saw a picture that seemed eerily close in angle to a picture I had taken while walking in the park which I frequently did. I pulled up my Google photos. Here is what I found. The inset is the picture I saw of the missile attack in Oct 2022 which hit more or less where I had stood to take the picture on the right in 2017. I’m not really sure how to describe the feeling of seeing a photo of a missile strike in a war that landed in a place where I stood when life was completely normal, but, my friends from Ukraine who are still there told me that a way they talk about it is “Imagine 9/11 but every day for months”…….. And also they tell the message — “Even if people say that life is getting ‘back to normal’ in Ukraine, it absolutely isn’t. “ . There is more of a pure Photo diary at the end if you want to skip but I want to give a bit of context and thought — My Friends’ townhome in Brovary. The family hasn’t seen this house in a year. They are now refugees. Safe, moving on with life but this “American Dream” got stolen. Skipping out of Kyiv center with it’s European feel I want to tell you about people I love from the growing middle class in Ukraine. The picture on the right is from the townhome of the Sister of the woman I met in Kyiv. Olga was moving to Spain in 2018 so I hung in Kyiv for a few more months then moved with her. Her sister, brother in-law and their 5 year old daughter were happy Ukrainians — no plan to ever do anything but live life there. He had a great IT job. She was a stay at home mom. They saved and bought a condo in a suburb 20 minutes from Kyiv. Veranichka and her dad built this meticulous play house (she really helped!) that they finished 2 weeks before the war and it was robbed from her for nothing. Life was like the “American Dream” but in Brovary, Ukraine. It’s fortunate that they believed the advance warnings in January. They fled before Veronichka (the 5 yo) ever heard an air raid siren, God forbid lived through a missile strike. But she almost did. Had they stayed, Russian tanks came within a couple of miles of the townhome in the first month of the war. Brovary was the city where one Russian advance was pushed back. Brovary also was the city where a helicopter crashed into a kindergarten a few months ago. Becoming refugees was the best choice but it shouldn’t have ever been a choice to be made. And they are displaced. They don’t speak the language in Spain. Life isn’t what it was supposed to be. Of course war is horrible anywhere but why these memories shock me the most is that my window into Ukraine was a place that was just like regular life. It was unique and different but it was just so — well — it just wasn’t a place to I can get my head around being a war zone. I will close with some pics to make you maybe think that when this war ends, maybe Kyiv and Ukraine would be a good place to spend tourist dollars. It’s really an amazing place to see. If you want to see all of the photos and in larger sizes here is the link to the Google photos Album This is the Ultra-Modern Guliver Shopping center in Kyiv in 2018. I am pretty sure now with curfew it doesn’t look lit up like this. I loved this building. I have no idea what it actually was but I just thought it was so cool! Many of the Soviet Era buildings are identical but this one clearly wasn’t! My favorite supermarket always felt like a Whole Foods to me (without the prices!) Winter in the park whose name I can’t remember but it looks over the Dnipro The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Building is one of the really Grandiose government buildings in Kyiv. I am not a student of architecture so I really can’t intelligently discuss the style — but -— wowza St. Michael’s Golden Domed Cathedral (where many of the pictures of President Biden Were taken) Maidan Square — location of the Maidan Revolution which led to the downfall of Paul Manafort’s client and Putin Connection Victor Yanukovych (ex-President of Ukraine) I’m only adding one picture outside of Kyiv but I did get to see a decent amount of the western part of Ukraine. As it currently stands and hopefully forever, this beautiful temple is far beyond the reach of Russia somewhere around Lviv. And I’m adding a bit of street art. Like any big city you will find a decent amount of it. I particularly liked this one — both the statue and the mural. It had a whimsical feel and maybe some day a whimsical feel might come back — but unfortunately I also know it will be a long journey. I have so many more that I love but I will leave with one of the few pics of me I have — and I’m happy that it was taken at Maidan Square. I hope on this horribly sad and tragic anniversary I threw in some food for thought. Just a few slices of life in a place that was wildly interrupted and should have never been interrupted. I told Olga on day one of the war that Putin couldn’t “win” in Ukraine. I projected that it would be his Vietnam or another Afghanistan. I had met enough Ukrainians to simply know that they weren’t going to simply acquiesce. It’s been such a shocking and horrible waste. I guess all that I can say on this day is I hope it ends by Russia being pushed back. Thanks to everyone here for being so supportive and thanks to the Dkos staff for some of the best reporting out there. And thanks for reading. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/24/2154715/-Kyiv-as-I-saw-it-in-2017-18-A-Photo-Diary-On-the-Anniversary-Of-When-So-Much-Was-Taken-Away Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/