Ukraine’s Unyielding Spirit: A Global Reckoning for Freedom
PAHARI BARUAH

“Unfortunately, Pahari, this morning is not good,” my friend in Kyiv wrote on July 4, 2025, her words etched with exhaustion and despair.
“All night, deadly drones, ballistic missiles, Kinzhal missiles, and cruise missiles were flying toward Kyiv. The air raid alert has lasted for 14 hours non-stop. The entire city is covered in smog from fires and destruction. The world is just watching-like in a movie theater-as we are being killed.”
This message is a raw, piercing cry from the very heart of a city under siege, where the dawn brings not the promise of a new day but the suffocating weight of survival.
For over 1,200 days, Ukraine has endured Russia’s relentless aggression, and my friend’s voice, trembling yet resolute, echoes the plight of millions who navigate this man-made hell every single day.
Just days earlier, on July 2, she shared another urgent plea: “Ukrainian soldiers and pilots are not only protecting their homeland-they are holding the line for the entire democratic world!”
Her words resonated with the urgent calls from U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who demanded an emergency briefing on the suspension of military aid to Ukraine, declaring, “This is a defining moment: Ukraine’s courage must continue to be met with action, and the United States must continue to lead with clarity and purpose. There can be no half-measures in the defence of liberty.”
Congressman Michael McCaul joined this critical chorus, urging the delivery of approved weapons to “force Putin to the negotiating table.” Yet, as my friend observed with biting clarity, “The decision to halt the supply of anti-missile weapons to Ukraine is being applauded right now-in Moscow, Pyongyang, Tehran, and Beijing.” The geopolitical implications of such decisions are profound, emboldening authoritarian regimes and undermining the collective security architecture.
On July 3, her messages grew even heavier: “Another sunrise counted not by hours, but by lives lost. This is not a natural disaster. It is man-made. A deliberate, ongoing strategy of destruction-from Putin and the Russian state.

Under the rubble today: a child. The son of two parents who survived—only to witness the hell.” Taken together, her communications paint a vivid, gut-wrenching picture of a nation under siege, where every day is a desperate battle for survival, and the world’s hesitation feels like a profound betrayal.
A War Measured in Shattered Lives and Futures: The Unbearable Civilian Toll

For more than three and a half years, Ukraine has faced Russia’s unrelenting assault-a war not of chance but of deliberate destruction orchestrated by Vladimir Putin. The human toll is staggering: official UN figures, often conservative due to difficulties in verification, report nearly 12,000 civilians killed, including over 600 children, and countless more injured.

“Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick sent a letter to Donald Trump, demanding an emergency briefing for Congress regarding the suspension of military aid to Ukraine and called for the resumption of supplies. “Ukrainian soldiers and pilots are not only protecting their homeland- they are holding the line for the entire democratic world. This is defining moment: Ukraine’s courage must continue to be met with action, and the the United States must continue to lead with clarity and purpose. There can be no half- measures in the defence of liberty. We must, as we always have, stand for peace through strength”.”
However, Ukrainian government and independent estimates suggest the true numbers are significantly higher, particularly in heavily occupied or contested areas like Mariupol. The targeting of civilian infrastructure—homes, schools, hospitals—has been systematic and documented by numerous human rights organizations.

The initial shock of the invasion in February 2022 quickly gave way to a campaign of terror. The fierce Siege of Mariupol from early March 2022 became an emblem of relentless destruction and human suffering. Russian forces encircled and bombarded the city, trapping hundreds of thousands of civilians without food, water, electricity, or gas.
The March 9, 2022 airstrike on the Mariupol Maternity Hospital devastated a children’s and maternity facility, killing at least four people, including a pregnant woman and her baby, and injuring many more, despite Russia’s false claims that it was a military target. Just a week later, on March 16, 2022, Russian forces bombed the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol, where hundreds of civilians, including many children, were sheltering.
The word “CHILDREN” was reportedly written in large letters on the ground outside the building, clearly visible from the air, yet the bombs fell. Estimates of the dead range from hundreds to over a thousand, though the exact number remains unknown due to the ongoing occupation.
Following the Russian withdrawal from areas around Kyiv in April 2022, the town of Bucha became synonymous with unspeakable Russian atrocities. Graphic images emerged of hundreds of civilians found dead in the streets, many with their hands tied behind their backs, showing signs of torture and summary execution. Mass graves were discovered, sparking widespread international condemnation and urgent calls for war crimes investigations.
The chilling account from the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv Oblast, also from March 2022, details how Russian forces crammed nearly 400 civilians, including 74 children, into the cramped, unventilated basement of a local school for almost a month.
Used as human shields, they were deprived of proper food, water, and sanitation, with ten people, mostly elderly, dying due to suffocation and lack of medical care. Survivors describe horrific conditions, with people sleeping sitting up and bodies remaining in the basement for days.
The most vulnerable populations bear an unbearable burden. The elderly, often unable to flee or lacking the resources to relocate, account for nearly half of civilian deaths near the front lines. Many are trapped in occupied territories or care homes, vulnerable to attack and neglect, like the 71 disabled patients attacked in the Stara Krasnianka care home in March 2022.
Hospitals across Mariupol, systematically reduced to rubble during the 2022 siege, further reveal the unparalleled cruelty of targeting the most fragile. Over 1,700 attacks on healthcare facilities have been verified since the start of the full-scale invasion, forcing doctors to operate under constant threat and often by flashlight during power outages. The healthcare workforce has shrunk by a critical 20%, and those who remain face immense stress and burnout.

The educational landscape lies in ruins, with verified attacks on education facilities doubling in 2024 alone, and nearly a third (at least 30%) of the country’s educational facilities damaged, with over 365 schools completely destroyed. Millions of children are forced into remote learning, or even underground classrooms, leading to significant learning losses and long-term psychological impacts.
Many children in frontline areas have not had in-person schooling for up to five years. The economic devastation is equally catastrophic, with 70% of Ukraine’s thermal energy capacity destroyed, plunging millions into darkness and economic hardship, especially during harsh winters. Child poverty has skyrocketed from 43% before the full-scale invasion to an alarming 82%, reflecting the widespread economic dislocation and destruction of livelihoods.
Furthermore, over 10 million people have been displaced from their homes, both internally and as refugees across Europe, their lives irrevocably upended by Putin’s abhorrent campaign to erase Ukraine’s existence and subjugate its people.
Perhaps most chillingly, Russia has systematically abducted and forcibly deported nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children—Ukrainian verified figures, though the actual number is likely much higher, potentially hundreds of thousands—to Russia. These children are often placed in “re-education camps” or illegally adopted into Russian families, a clear war crime aimed at erasing their Ukrainian identity.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Putin and his Children’s Rights Commissioner for this heinous crime. This continuous barrage of attacks on civilian infrastructure, coupled with documented atrocities and a systematic campaign against Ukrainian identity, underscores the horrific reality endured by the Ukrainian people every single day of this war.
Holding the Line: A Testament to Global Resolve
Yet, Ukraine endures. “After all, in 2022, we were also told we wouldn’t last a week. And yet we fight—nearly three and a half years on,” my friend wrote. This resilience is a beacon of hope against overwhelming odds. Ukrainian soldiers and pilots, as she so rightly said, are not just defending their homeland but “holding the line for the entire democratic world.”
Their immense courage is matched by the unwavering spirit of civilians who tirelessly lead aid efforts, rebuild shattered communities, and defiantly resist despair. The surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region in August 2024 and the tenacious defense of Avdiivka, despite overwhelming numerical and material disadvantages, showcase their tenacity, even as they face dwindling supplies and, at times, a disheartening global hesitation.
My friend’s warning is stark and urgent: “While Brussels, Paris, and Berlin hesitate—whether to express yet another concern or to finally listen to their instinct for self-preservation and take concrete, decisive steps to help Ukraine-here in Ukraine, we’ll be sleeping even less. And not all of us will live.”
The suspension of U.S. anti-missile aid, as she noted with grim accuracy, is not only celebrated in Moscow but also emboldens its allied capitals like Pyongyang, Tehran, and Beijing, sending a dangerous signal that undermines collective security. The world’s indecision, its hesitancy to provide decisive and sustained support, costs lives-lives like the child under the rubble, lives of parents who survive only to witness unimaginable, soul-crushing loss.
A Resounding Call to Stand Together
Ukraine’s fight is not theirs alone; it is a crucible for the future of global democracy and international law. As Congressman Fitzpatrick powerfully articulated, “There can be no half-measures in the defence of liberty.” The world must act decisively, not merely observe. This demands the immediate delivery of weapons Congress has already approved.
It necessitates strengthening sanctions on Russia and its enablers, dismantling their war economy and holding accountable those who facilitate these atrocities. Furthermore, it requires unwavering humanitarian support for organizations like UNICEF, which seeks $1.1 billion to aid 9.4 million Ukrainians, including 4 million children, providing critical assistance in education, health, and protection.
Crucially, we must amplify the voices of those like my friend, who refuse to be silenced despite the pervasive smog, the piercing sirens, and the profound sorrow that defines their daily existence.
To my friend in Kyiv, and to all Ukrainians: your endurance is a profound testament to the indomitable human spirit. “And yet we fight,” you said, and we hear you, clear as day, even here in Guwahati, Assam, India. Your soldiers, your pilots, your people are holding the line not just for Ukraine but for the universal values of freedom, justice, and human dignity that we all cherish.
We will not applaud from the sidelines like mere spectators in a theater. We will stand with you—through concrete action, through unwavering advocacy, through unyielding support—until the sunrises in Ukraine are counted not by lives lost, but by lives defiantly reclaimed, and true peace finally dawns.
SPECIAL NOTE:
My friend in Kyiv sent me an emotional note about what they’re going through. She titled it “Surviving Hell,” and it really paints a picture of the reality there.
She said there are no demons in the photo they sent, because “they were too busy licking each other over the phone.” My friend’s heart is breaking for Kyiv, her beloved city, and for all the other cities enduring this.
She told me how they’ve all become strong and stubborn, learning to recognize “all the shades of apocalypse.” But what truly mourns them is that “no simple storylines are written for us.” It hurts them deeply that the world is still just watching “the movie called ‘The Genocide of Ukrainians‘ — with sympathy, but from a distance.”
They sent their heartfelt condolences to everyone who suffered through that horrific night, and careful hugs to all the other Ukrainians—sleepless, drained, angry, but still beautiful and unbreakable.

The image they mentioned shows Vadym Blonsky portraying Prince Volodymyr the Great, the Baptizer of Kyivan Rus’. My friend pointed out that even he hasn’t seen anything like this in the past ten centuries.
Mahabahu.com is an Online Magazine with collection of premium Assamese and English articles and posts with cultural base and modern thinking. You can send your articles to editor@mahabahu.com / editor@mahabahoo.com (For Assamese article, Unicode font is necessary) Images from different sources.