A Ukrainian aid worker has said his people now “know the price” of freedom after visiting Ukraine’s worst-hit “ghost cities” and reflecting on six months of war with Russia.
Dimko Zhluktenko has raised more than 250,000 US dollars (around £213,000) worth of military equipment for the Ukrainian army and organised the delivery of thousands of toys to refugee children arriving in Lviv, western Ukraine.
Mr Zhluktenko, 23, has not yet been drafted into the military but recently visited Kharkiv and the contested Donbas region in eastern Ukraine to see friends fighting on the front line ahead of his country’s Independence Day on Wednesday.
“It’s devastating seeing all of the places either destroyed, bombed, or just empty,” he said.
“It’s empty for good reason because people are afraid. But it’s devastating (to see) ghost cities… It kind of reminded me of Chernobyl.
“Like Kramatorsk, which used to (have) a population of 150,000… I went there a week and a half ago and it’s literally empty.”
While he said it was “great” to reunite with friends, Mr Zhluktenko admitted it was hard to see them put their lives at risk.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 5,587 civilians, according to a Ukrainian military chief and statistics from the UN.
“It’s f***** up to know that your friends, your classmates, are fighting on the front lines and they’re at a deadly risk of being killed by artillery rounds or whatever else,” he said.
“I know they are doing the right thing, and I absolutely support them doing so.
“Our life depends on it… What is at stake right now in this war is our nation, our existence, our independence.”
He also described the usual “parades, singing, and concerts” that take place in major Ukrainian cities for their Independence Day on 24 August.
Though there might not be the same mass celebration on Wednesday, Mr Zhluktenko said Ukrainians now understand “the price” of that freedom.
“People are (normally) having fun and celebrating that we are free,” he explained.
“And we know the price of that.
People see with their own eyes that independence or freedom isn't something you take for granted, it's something that Ukrainians are fighting for— Dimko Zhluktenko
“It’s the war for our independence so you are going to value that.
“It’s being highlighted every day – people see with their own eyes that independence or freedom isn’t something you take for granted, it’s something that Ukrainians are fighting for.”
Mr Zhluktenko contrasted life on the front lines with the every day in Lviv, where he is currently based.
“It’s so lovely here, people are drinking their coffee and iced matcha lattes – real civilised life,” he said.
“It’s great to see because that is exactly what Ukraine is fighting for, for a peaceful life.
“To be able to be here and sit in my car peacefully… without the risk of being killed by a shell.”
