Zaporizhzhia is an industrial city in Ukraine’s south-east. It has suffered terribly since the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The area is largely under occupation, with active hostilities a constant.

Immediately following the invasion, Nadia quit her job as a pharmacist, wondering what to do while rockets destroyed huge swaths of her city. As life stabilized – inasmuch as is possible in a war zone – Nadia returned to work. One way to try to normalize an unnormal situation.

She recalls “the beginning of the war was a shock for me and all my relatives. At first it was confusion, fear, despair. One relative voluntarily went to defend Ukraine from the first days of the war. He almost never comes home to his family. All this time he protects Ukraine. We met him only twice in those two years. And I miss him very much. But every day we exchange messages and call each other.”

Nadia finds solace in the supportive postcards that she receives from all over the world. After she joined Postcrossing in late 2022, she “was pleasantly surprised by how many people support Ukraine. Before that, it seemed to me that we Ukrainians were alone with the enemy. And this war is only our burden. But the cards with words of support changed my mind. I realized that the world is not indifferent to what is happening in Ukraine. And this support gave me strength and courage not to give up and move on.”

She recalled that I was one of the first people to reach out to her about postcards. “Your support had a very positive effect on me,” she told me. “I was also supported by Yuki from Japan and Plathy from the United Kingdom. Their postcards always cheer me up. I also received many words of support from Germany, America, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Romania.”

And then, Nadia shared, “the Postcards to the Front project made an incredible impression on me. Because it unites so many people in different parts of the world. This is a great project that helps Ukrainian Defenders. They need not only weapons to overcome the enemy, but also a word of support. Because the Ukrainian military is in difficult conditions. And I think that the postcards help them to hold on and continue to defend Ukraine.”

As tens of thousands of cards, written by Ukrainians and by individuals from around the world, have been delivered to Defenders since March 2022, Nadia feels that “such an incredible number of postcards to the frontline shows incredible support from the world. And it is pleasantly impressive. Such support helps defenders of Ukraine to know that they are not alone in their struggle. That the Ukrainian military is supported.”

When Russia’s full-scale invasion was launched against Ukraine, most of us didn’t know, or forgot, that Russian aggression has been ongoing for centuries; more particularly, in earnest in the past decade with the 2014 Russian seizure of Crimea, as well as part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Nadia reflects that, at the time, “no one stopped this aggressor country.”

She believes that “now is a turning point not only in the history of Ukraine, but also in the history of the world.”

As the war lingers on, “there are more victims,” she reminds us. “Many innocent people die, entire cities are destroyed.”

When this article was first published in our July newsletter, we received daily news of homes, schools, shopping centres, infrastructure, maternity hospitals and a children’s cancer care and dialysis hospital destroyed by Russian rockets. Lives lost and damaged then, and still today the rain of terror from Russia has worsened.

And so, Nadia asks of us, to “be strong and united in order to continue supporting Ukraine. Because your help is very important to us. This brings victory and peace in Ukraine and the world closer.”

Then, she imagines, once Ukraine achieves victory, “my country has a long road to reconstruction and recovery. Demining the territory of Ukraine will also be important. Long after the victory, this war will take the lives of Ukrainians. After all, even now in the liberated territories, people are at risk of being blown up by a mine or losing a limb.”

And yet, Nadia does not lose hope.

“I believe in the bright future of my country. After all, I, like most Ukrainians, want to live in a free, independent and prosperous country.”

She also has “a dream to visit Kharkiv after the victory. I lived in this city for a while and I love it very much. And, of course, get the whole family together and have a good time.”

Kharkiv has been heavily targeted, suffering significant destruction. Hard to imagine what Nadia and her family might find when they return to celebrate victory and freedom.

Nadia also considers how the invasion of Ukraine has global implications. She believes that “the most important support from other countries, is to do everything possible so that this terrible war does not happen again. This should not happen again in Ukraine or in any other country in the world. Right now is the moment that determines not only our future, but also the future of our children and grandchildren. Because if we give victory to the enemy, then this evil will spread further, destroying everything we love and value. All people deserve a peaceful and happy life.”

And you, dear reader, … please continue to send postcard messages carrying joy, and offering a moment of calm, to Ukraine’s Defenders.

As Nadia said, “this support [gives] strength and courage not to give up.”

Need cards? Write to us at postcardstothefront.canada@gmail.com, and we’ll send you postcards to write to Defenders. FREE!

Need ideas about what to write? Check our Tips page, and our Ukrainian phrases page.

Maybe you want to organize a group of family, friends or others to write postcards? Check our website for tips, How to Run a Postcard-Writing Workshop. Consider a group effort over the holidays or in the New Year, so we can send a lot of messages of love and support in time for February, when the 3^rd anniversary of the full-scale invasion rolls around.

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Postcards to the Front * P. O. Box 184, Millbrook, ON L0A 1G0 Canada