In Lviv, Ukraine, just across from the Polish border, one would barely know there was a war on. People stroll in the streets with smiles, dine outside, and buy luxury cosmetics in malls. Patriotic songs are joyously sung in candle-lit piano bars. I attended the ballet La Bayadere performed by the Lviv National Opera.
However, everybody knows someone who has been killed. The cemetery on the outskirts of town is overflowing. A whole new area called the “Field of Mars” is home to thousands of carefully tended military graves, each with a colour photograph and large Ukrainian flag. In one of the most moving scenes of my life, the wind picked up while I was there and all the flags flew in formation.
Locals Anton and Luba with James Baillieu (centre) and Ukrainian-Australian journalist Julian Krysh in Kupiansk on the front line.
Meanwhile, Kyiv, seven hours away by train, has a similar population to Melbourne and also has beautiful parks and fine dining. What sets Kyiv apart is its energy and intensity. It has people, ideas, aid, and love pouring in from all over, making the atmosphere heady.
What is happening in Ukraine is more than a war; it is a battle for our shared humanity. When I first went there in July 2022, I was shocked by the enormity of the horror. I also felt at one with Ukraine’s spirited, heroic and courageous people.
I felt compelled to contribute meaningfully. I funded military vehicles for drone use as well as prosthetics for soldiers and direct aid to other individuals. On my recent two-week visit, my third to Ukraine, I went all the way to war-torn Kharkiv and to Kupiansk on the front.
The war, now in its third year with more than 500,000 casualties across both sides, has complete moral clarity: defence against unprovoked aggression and the fight for freedom from tyranny.
Australian flags fly in Independence Square in Kyiv.
In Independence Square in central Kyiv, there are nine small Australian flags planted in a sea of Ukrainian flags for the Australians known to have died fighting for Ukraine in the International Legion. They were placed in September last year by representatives from the Ukrainian World Congress. Each flag has a name and was placed there with the words, “We will not forget you.”
There is appreciation in Kyiv for Australian aid to date, as well as the regular question, “Can the Australian government do more?” Australian aid has become a trickle, and on a per GDP basis, it is only 0.04 per cent, far behind most other Western countries. I was embarrassed by my answer: “The current government doesn’t seem to care.”