- Written by James Waterhouse
- BBC News, Kryvyiyiv, Ukraine
image source, Getty Images
Blocking Western military aid is hampering front-line Ukrainian troops
Translated as “crooked corner,” President Zelenskiy calls Kryvi Rih “a big soul and heart.”
He credits this gritty industrial city with shaping his character. He grew up in a vast apartment complex known as the Anthill.
Standing in front of this towering structure, Volodymyr Zelenskiy's journey from this environment to wartime leadership is astonishing.
“I hope the war ends soon,” said Vita, who lived near Zelensky's parents. “He's just a normal good guy who fights for people. I just hope this war and the sirens end soon.”
However, progress in Ukraine has been minimal and there is no end in sight due to Russia's increasing dominance, fueled and abetted by some influential Western skeptics.
At the recent Munich Security Conference, President Zelenskiy told participants not to ask Ukraine when the war will end, but to “ask why President Putin is still able to continue the war.”
It was a scathing attack on those who are delaying supplies of the ammunition and weapons soldiers so desperately need, at a time when cut-offs of military aid are directly hurting troops on the front lines.
“I'm not a politician,” confesses Valerie, an 80-something man standing outside a grocery store. “We cannot ask when wars will stop again.
“We have to fight. We won't tolerate anything else. People are very angry right now.”
That defensive motivation has remained largely intact since the morning of February 24, 2022. Thousands of people volunteered to join the fight in Ukraine against a terrifying and unknown enemy.
The eyes of the world turned to Kiev, where I was reporting.
President Zelenskiy's profile and popularity soared after he declined an offer to evacuate and remained in Kiev.
“I don't need a vehicle, I need ammunition,” he said in his now iconic words.
His needs have not changed, but his pleas have lost their shocking impact.
The failure of the 2023 counterattack raised uncomfortable questions about whether Ukraine would be able to liberate territory.
Republican skeptics in the United States are hampering Ukraine's fighting capabilities by blocking billions of dollars worth of military aid. Kiev said more front-line soldiers were dying due to a lack of weapons and dwindling ammunition.
Meanwhile, Russia remains in constant combat readiness, with allies North Korea and Iran supplying more missiles to rain down on Ukrainian cities.
image source, BBC/Scarlet Barter
Ukrainian volunteers make smoke grenades and sew camouflage nets to support war efforts
Krivi Ri is not immune to the fatigue that most people are feeling. Although some are tired of the war and many men fear being drafted into the military, they say the conflict remains a fight for survival.
Any idea of compromise or concessions to Russia is seen as a defeat. It's existential.
As a symptom of the world in which Ukrainians live, I now associate playgrounds with death.
The last time I saw children playing in this facility was before the invasion, at a school next to my apartment in Kiev. Today they are the sites of devastating missile attacks, abandoned front lines, or, in Vrovary, near Kiev, the site of a helicopter crash.
Youthful innocence has been replaced by body bags and destruction.
In Kryvi Rih, we meet Yuri crying as he watches his apartment building being demolished in last year's missile attack. Exposed wallpaper patterns reveal different lives that have been destroyed.
“Nobody needs this war, what on earth is it for?” he asks. “So many people are being killed.”
So does he think Ukraine should trade territory for peace?
“Absolutely not,” he answered frankly. “Many people died for those territories. There is no point in giving up the territories.”
The lack of progress on the battlefield has caused a corrosive rift between President Zelenskiy and the head of the military, Valery Zarzhiny. Now sacked General Zarzini is seen as a potential political rival to his former boss.
Around Kyvy Riv, Ukrainians are trying to help where their own allies are increasingly failing to help. In an unassuming building, a growing army of volunteers sews camouflage nets for troops on the front lines.
Organizers say men and women are kept separate because “the jokes are different.”
In another industrial area of the city, a former bicycle club has turned cycling into smoke. The team mixes the chemicals into a container and uses it as a smoke bomb. A useful military tool when attacking or evacuating wounded.
“It's impossible to think at home when your husband is fighting,” explains Ines, one of the volunteers. “We feel like we can do something here to make it easier for them.”
Russia's decade-long invasion of Ukraine began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, then spilled over into a debilitating war in the country's east. On the 731st day of the all-out invasion, a different kind of war has begun.
The successes in defending Ukraine and undermining the Russian navy were extraordinary but did not turn the tide in their favor.
The novelty of this war has worn off. Ukraine's Kryvy Ryv and his famous son will need to find new forces and smart strategies to continue captivating the world.
Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous, Scarlett Barter and Svitlana Libet.
