An expert on the heroic struggle of Ukraine. “This should not surprise us”. Explains why

The world observes with admiration the heroic attitude of the President of Ukraine and its citizens who are fighting for freedom. “It should not really surprise us”, says Dr. Małgorzata Kuźbida from the State Higher School of Eastern Europe in Przemyśl. Why in Ukrainians so much strength and determination, what has changed in them in recent years and what is happening now, when the war is going on? She told Medonet.

1. Ukrainians already know what life is like in Western countries, because, for example, they went there to work. It has become clear to them in which country they want to live and what is unacceptable – explains Dr. Małgorzata Kuźbida
2. The specialist also notes that Ukraine is strong because it has a strong leader. It is President Volodymyr Zelensky
3. When I talk to my friends who sit in the bunkers, I hear that there is great solidarity between them, that they are starting to love Ukraine even more. They do not want to be a colony of Our Country – says Dr. Kuźbida
4. As she notes, love for Ukraine is also growing in people who are already in Poland. Some choose to go back to a war-torn country and fight
5. Dr. Małgorzata Kuźbida: it is a fight for their own territory, for the land where they will be at home, for the flag and the anthem with which they identify. If they lose Ukraine, what will be left for them?
6. You can follow up-to-date information from Ukraine in our LIVE REPORT
7. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Monika Mikołajska listened to it

Ukrainians know what they want and what is unacceptable

The generation that now defends their homeland also fought in the first Ukrainian revolution in 2004 (the Orange Revolution). Most of them are people between the ages of 40 and 50, who were educated after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but still remember its reality from their childhood. These are people who already know what life is like in Western countries, because, for example, they went there to work. When they compared the quality of life in the West and at home, it became clear to them which country they wanted to live in. They know what they want and what is unacceptable.

Ukrainians certainly do not want a country that does not allow them to live freely, does not allow them to make their own decisions, also in the simplest, everyday dimension. They want to live as it is in Spain, Germany, France and Poland. They want to pass the patterns that they saw there to Ukraine.

Further part below the video.

Ukraine is strong because it has a strong president

The issue of the political elite also plays an important role in the Ukrainians’ attitude towards the ongoing war. President Volodymyr Zelensky is not a typical oligarch, like the previous president (yes, he has ties with the oligarchs, because without their approval, his access to politics would be difficult), nor is he a seasoned (very experienced) politician, such as Viktor Yushchenko. It is now evident that President Zelensky is trying to be among people, to gather them around him. He himself belongs to the first free generation I talked about (he is 44 years old).

Previously, there were no decision-makers in Ukraine, not even elites, to hold a leadership role. Today the situation is different. Ukraine is strong because it has a strong leader. It is President Volodymyr Zelensky. Moreover, this president has surrounded himself with associates who belong to the same generation as him. Who have a clear vision of what Ukraine is supposed to be like.

Something else has changed in Ukraine in recent years. Before that, there was no strong army. Since the outbreak of the war in the Donbas, i.e. for eight years, Ukrainians have been paying an additional tax for the war, which is maintained by troops defending their borders. During this time, they really had to build the entire military structure, because it simply was not there. Added to this is identification with the flag and territory they have developed.

Photo Mykola Miakshykov/SIPA/SIPA/East News

All these changes have led to the fact that Ukrainians from all over Europe return to their country, and people wait two or three days in queues to conscription points – everything to fight for their homeland and their dreams.

They start to love Ukraine even more

When I talk to my friends who sit in the bunkers, I hear that there is great solidarity between them, that they are starting to love Ukraine even more. They don’t want to be a colony of Our Country. They want to keep speaking in their language, they want to continue to decide how they celebrate. They are afraid of the mere thought that they might lose it. They just know what they want to be, or at least they are in the process.

Love for Ukraine is also growing in people who are already in Poland. Many want to go back there and fight, they are not able to look passively at what is happening. I professionally help, among others Ukrainians in the legalization of stay and work in Poland. I have just been called by a man who had waited six months for a permanent residence card (he applied for it on the basis of his Polish origin). Tomorrow he was supposed to pick her up. He will not do it – he decided to return to Ukraine. My students also make the same decision. They come back home, because they want to do everything they can not to lose their homeland (there are already many of them – they leave their studies in the last year, just before defending their BA thesis).

In a word: these people feel Ukrainian, and the war makes this sense of identity and unity even stronger. It also gives them a lot of mental resistance to what the ongoing conflict brings. Because it is a struggle for their own territory, for the land where they will be at home, for the flag and the anthem with which they identify. If they lose Ukraine, what will be left for them?

1. Ivan stayed in Lviv to defend his homeland. His girlfriend has been waiting at the border for two days

Many families did not leave Ukraine – they did not want to separate

It is impossible not to mention the Ukrainian families, which are really close, multi-generational. One by one it just drags. The young do not leave the older ones. I know that many mothers with children have decided to stay in Ukraine for this very reason – because they are looking after their grandmother or grandfather. Many families did not leave because they did not want to separate. Women who have left the country, leaving their husbands and fathers behind, experience a tremendous tragedy.

Support for refugees from Ukraine:

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When I watch what is happening in Ukraine, I can see that at this moment the Columbus generation is rising there, a generation of people fighting for their values, for “to be or not to be”. We are witness to this. The people of Ukraine believe that they will win this fight. Therefore, civilian groups of defenders of each city are formed to fight the saboteurs. Everyone, including the elderly, is vigilant – when they notice something disturbing, they call the volunteers and inform them about it.

I believe that thanks to the attitude of Ukraine, Europe will remember what national identity is. We will see the value of the fact that we are different from each other and that we can enrich each other thanks to it.

Also read:

1. Poland will provide oncological assistance to children from Ukraine. They will be treated with us
2. Do you want to help refugees from Ukraine? Check the list of necessary products
3. Medicines for those fighting in Ukraine. The Ministry of Health, GIS and URPL urge not to collect them on your own