Russia-Ukraine war: How a divided country found unity in war

Dysfunction and division has been a hallmark of Ukrainian politics since its independence in 1991 but its invasion by Russia has seen the birth of a new nation.

For much of her 27-year police career, Natalya has worked in filing in the back room of a nondescript station in the document and records management division.

Now the mother of four is in uniform, hunting Russian saboteurs in western Ukraine’s Lviv city and is heading to the central train station as a suspected bomb is found near a platform used by refugees fleeing the war in the east.

“I had a peaceful calm life before and now it is difficult situation but my family is proud, I am proud and we all feel big responsibility to help our country anyway we can,” said the 47-year-old, who asked not to be named but uses the pseudonym Natalya, as she makes her way to the station for what would later be a false alarm.

“We all feel we are now a united nation and we have a duty, we all must do something at this time for one nation, this is what it means, we are one Ukraine, and we all do anything to fight this.”

Natalya’s view is not unique but a variation of what has evolved as a mantra in this country, now having endured one month of war.

Civilians train to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Picture: Reuters

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it was a very different nation from when he did it the first time almost eight years earlier to the day on February 22, 2014.

In that year when his troops stormed Crimea, it was almost unopposed with the befuddled government in Kyiv wracked with dysfunction, corruption and division and still trying to work out how to rule a country whose allegiances were divided between Russian-speaking people in the east and Ukrainian speakers looking to be part of the European Union and the West.

It had been that way since independence in 1991.

Veteran cop Natalya has spent most of her career in file management but is now on the beat hunting Russian saboteurs. Picture: Charles Miranda

Bloody civil protests flagged the divisions in late 2013 in the capital of Kyiv that saw yet another Ukraine government toppled by frustration and divisions.

By the time of Crimea was annexed, then Moscow-backed eastern cities Donetsk and Luhansk became contested territory, Ukraine was a hot mess.

It was this in mind Mr Putin and his military and intelligence believed they would again be able to roll into Ukraine unopposed but eight years of conflict (and a better equipped Ukraine army) had reshaped attitudes.

A country divided had been reinvented and this new-found identity has only been emboldened by the civilian blood now spilt on Ukraine soil.

“You’re witnessing the birth of a new Ukraine,” Lviv’s mayor Andriy Sadovy surmised as he ordered his city’s treasures be removed in the face of war and advancing Russian troops.

“I can’t imagine any other European country that would demonstrate such resistance.”

Servicemen carry a baby during the evacuation. Thousands of residents of Irpin have to abandon their homes and evacuate as Russian troops are bombing a peaceful city. Picture: Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Ukraine’s collective sense of duty is seeing, according to an internal poll, 80 per cent of the Ukrainians helping defend the nation in some way.

They are inspired in no small degree by their President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – once viewed with cynicism – but also their own ability to rally and pitch in.

And then there is unity in hatred for Russia and what its people are allowing to happen.

Mr Putin will destroy Ukraine’s cities but he will not destroy the new-found Ukrainian.

Kyiv Mayor and former WBO heavyweight champion of the world Vitali Klitschko said everyone knew what was at stake.

Damage at the Retroville shopping mall, a day after it was shelled by Russian forces in a residential district in the northwest of the Ukranian capital Kyiv. Picture: AFP

As his city gets pounded by Russian missiles and artillery he said patrioticism had been rediscovered in the face of aggression because unlike Russians, Ukrainians wanted freedoms of democracy.

“Right now they are proud to pick up weapons and fight for their homes, for their city to defend families,” he said.

“There is a reason for this … our future is a democratic modern Ukraine.”

Lviv Regional Children’s Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Dr Zlata. Picture: Charles Miranda

At the hectic Lviv’s Regional Children’s hospital, orthopaedic surgeon Doctor Zlata is now treating children with wounds from bullets and mines.

Like other medicos, she works around the clock as children from war torn areas are delivered to her theatre every day.

She said as a professional it is her duty and as the now daily air raid sirens blaze, she holds the line and refuses to leave her post or her patients.

She said Ukraine was more united now than ever before, not because of politics but because all are suffering from Russia’s bombs.

“Suffering has united us all,” she said.

“Missiles and bombs are now falling everywhere and we support without any difference if you are from the east or here in west in Lviv, is no difference all Ukrainians are in this and we are all helping.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking in the capital Kyiv. Picture: AFP/Ukrainian Presidency Press Office

After his election it was Mr Zelenskyy, a former comedian and actor, that recognised the need to foment an ideology in the face of Mr Putin’s threats and so created a national resilience strategy and when war came, all were ready to do their part.

Nationhood he says is bound by resilience, unity in adversity and defiance and ironically it was Russia that showed them all of that.

At a refugee gathering point, Yaroslava Zaytceva arrives by bus from her home on the outskirts of the city.

In another life she was a fashion stylist and designer, now she volunteers to help strangers arriving from the east and crotchets hats and gloves to keep them warm.

“I leave my husband and children to come here because I feel proud of my nation now and I should do something to help I think,” she said.

“I have waited all my life for this I think, I cannot explain but the Russian’s have always been hurting us, all out history since Katharina the Second and now we are united finally. We are the biggest country in Europe, people don’t realise this, but it has taken what happens with Russia for us to understand what it means to be a country united.”