Few places are safe in Kherson as the Russian attack drones fly over it daily, dropping explosives on anyone they can. The Russians literally call it “the human safari” on their own social media channels. This means that the closer you get to the river that stands between free and occupied Kherson, the fewer cars you see and the quieter it gets.

If war dehumanizes people, if it makes the bad even worse, I have also seen it make the good better, the once fearful resolute in their duty, and I have seen Ukrainians fight in and through terrible circumstances for their families, their cities, and their identity as a distinct people.

“Defending is very hard now. We lose every day a part of our land. Our soldiers morale is not as high as it was two years ago. They have strong characters, but when the fight is between steel and bodies, or ‘meat,’ every time steel will win.”

As a woman, she could have left when the Russian tanks rolled over the border, as it was the adult males who were told to stay to defend against the invasion. But she did stay. She stayed to defend her country, protect the future of her five year old son, and fight for the very idea of living as Ukrainians. The fight continues today because of people like her who stayed.

Lieutenant Bohdan died in a last man stand in Mariupol after the civilians around him barely escaped the Russian attack. His parents described the brutal siege of the city and the moments right up to his death.

In America, the Soviet Union may just be a memory of a former opponent, but in countries all across Europe it represents torture, famine, ethnic deportation, death, and ideological oppression on a titanic scale.

Less than a year has now passed since Hendrickson and I sat in the bar. In that brief span of time, Ukraine has become recognized as the most landmine infested country in the world, surpassing even Afghanistan and Syria.