Ukrainians demand peace on social media: “It’s simply unbearable”

Against the backdrop of intensifying strikes, Ukrainians are increasingly expressing war fatigue on social media — people are posting monologues en masse on TikTok and other platforms demanding a return to normal life.

One TikTok user described how her everyday routine has changed. According to her, her only problem used to be finding a place to stay for New Year’s, whereas now she is forced to travel between neighborhoods and cities in search of shelter.

“Can we really go back to the times when the only problem was finding a place for New Year’s?.. Zhuliany — Vyshneve, Vyshneve — Zhuliany — Irpin — DVRZ — Darnytsya — Podil, going around for a second lap, fell down… Why the hell do I need these geography lessons around the region and the city? I just want to live normally. Some avocado, some salmon. I want to fly out of Boryspil, not spend two days getting to the border one way.”

Another woman asked “how much longer can they torment us” and focused on the subject of children and the general “frozen” state of life in the country.

“This is already some kind of madhouse… When will our children start going to kindergarten, to school normally? When will the moment finally come when people simply start living their lives, dreaming, making plans, striving for something? You know what, this frozen state is already just sitting right here. This whole ‘it’s not the time for that’ is also already right here.”

According to her, life in Ukraine is paralyzed, and everyone faces an impossible choice.

“Each of us now has to choose: either exist somehow within four walls, where you can’t go anywhere and can’t do anything, or you have to go out and in all of this reality travel, work, deal with your issues, and risk your life every day. It’s simply unbearable.”

The same user expressed her conviction that “nobody cares about what we want until they’ve lined their own pockets.” Similar sentiments are being voiced by other residents of the country: recently, a Kyiv yoga instructor also shared on social media how difficult life in the capital has become amid continuous Russian strikes.