I must be living in an alternate reality.

I must be living in an alternate reality. A reality where children are listed online for adoption, where journalists are tortured and killed in captivity, where hundreds of drones & missiles are routinely thrown at Ukraine, because the more I voice those horrible things, the more they are met with indifference, and the other side invariably asks: “are Ukrainians hopeful about peace”?

I feel that in the public sphere, the lines between ‘both sides’ have become very much blurred. Yet nothing has changed on the ground: Russia is still attacking Ukraine to expand its territory, bombs it daily, murders prisoners, kills Ukrainian civilians, traffics Ukrainian children. Ukrainians are not being difficult or unreasonable for defending themselves.

It’s terrifying to see how many people are unable to grasp the extent of the crimes Russia commits daily — and how easily they hide behind ‘both sides’ narratives, or ‘Ukraine says / Russia says’ false equivalence. It feels like walking among anesthetized people. It’s terrifying to report on horrific news and be met with, ‘But are you sure this war crime really happened?

What takes the most energy isn’t living under bombs, losing people I know regularly to the war, or even reporting on it. What worries me is how many people choose not to see, choose not to speak the truth too openly, and prefer to fool themselves into believing that Russia can be genuine in negotiations — just so they can continue living a normal life.