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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Andrey Kurkov

Does Putin know why Ukraine fights on? Because we prize freedom above stability and wealth

A picture of the writer and poet Victoria Amelina, killed in a missile attack, is displayed at a memorial service in Kyiv, 4 Jul 2023.
A picture of the writer and poet Victoria Amelina, killed in a missile attack, is displayed at a memorial service in Kyiv, 4 Jul 2023. Photograph: Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/Sopa Images/Shutterstock

Last November, my wife Elizabeth planted a great many tulip and daffodil bulbs in the cold autumn soil, so that in the spring, even more flowers than usual would bloom around our village house, located an hour’s drive from Kyiv. Our neighbours have sown garlic and onions for the winter, planted flowers and scattered fertiliser over the ploughed land, thoughtful of another year’s harvest.

But between now and the spring, there is winter and there is war.

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