A day after Russia attacked Kharkiv with drones that damaged residential buildings in mid-October, several dozen local residents gathered at an undisclosed venue to attend a concert.
Like many events in wartime Ukraine, everyone in the audience had to register beforehand to learn the location of the venue so that there was no risk of it being targeted in a Russian attack.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is located close to the Russian border and has frequently suffered from missile and drone strikes since the start of Russia’s full-scale war. But that hasn’t deterred locals from carrying on with their lives to the best of their ability.
“It’s okay to experience joy in tough times, especially when you realize that each moment could be your last,” Maryna Hrachova, who works at the Kharkiv Literary Museum, told the Kyiv Independent.
The concert, featuring Serhiy Zhadan and other prominent Ukrainian artists, was to promote Skovorodance, a new musical project produced by the Kharkiv Literary Museum dedicated to influential 18th-century Ukrainian philosopher Hryhorii Skovoroda.
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Ukraine is a large country, and the reality of war can differ greatly from region to region. With the war entering its third year, Ukrainians across the country are trying to find their own balance between normalcy – or at least something resembling it – and the harsh reality that has come to define their lives since February 2022.
Unfortunately they have to do large gatherings discretely and indoors, so the orcs can’t massacre them with missiles.
