June 3rd 2024

Yuriy recounts the harrowing daily bombings and assaults on his hometown of Kharkiv, sharing personal stories and reflections on the Russian invasion and its impact on his life and community. He has written a new substack on it, which subscribers can check out here: https://open.substack.com/pub/yuriymatsarsky/p/in-vain-expectation-of-betrayal-the?r=dzvo1&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)

It is 3rd of June. 

While you listen to this story of mine, the Russians are bombing Kharkiv and launching wave after wave of their suicide assault troops against Ukrainian positions near it. Kharkiv is a very special city. It is located just a few dozen miles from the Russian border, and the Russians have always called it a "Russian city". All my life, as someone who was born and spent my childhood in Kharkiv, I heard this from them, "Oh, Kharkiv, that's a Russian city." This always infuriated me. Why did they decide that Kharkiv was theirs? Why did they feel the need to constantly emphasize this? I never understood.  

But this foolishness of theirs, the confidence that Russians live in Kharkiv saved the city from occupation at the beginning of the full scale invasion. My new text on Substack starts with exactly this- the failure of the Russians to capture Kharkiv, as they were convinced that they did not even need to capture it, that the residents would run to the occupiers themselves. 

Please read it; this text is very important to me. It's about my native and beloved city, which is now suffering from daily bombings, which the Russians are trying to destroy, simply because they no longer understand how else to fight. Read, comment there, suggest new topics. I am almost recovered, though I was once again on the brink of despair, and I am gradually returning to normal and can write again.