Volhynia is a region of northwestern Ukraine. Most Americans aren’t familiar with it, but it’s been around in various forms since the 10th century or so. Some cities in Volhynia have celebrated 1,000-year anniversaries. It’s an out-of-the-way place in more ways than one; the people in Volhynia are genuine, hard-working, and free.
Over the past year I’ve come to know several people in Volhynia, mostly living in the area surrounding the ancient city of Ostrog. This is a little-known area, and it doesn’t play into modern politics much. It’s not rich in resources like the Donbas, it’s not consequential in the way Kyiv or Odessa are. But this is the heart of Ukraine like few other places in the country. People here still wear the Vyshyvanka (just Google it), they worship God in traditional wooden churches with onion domes, they appreciate the sunrise.
The culture in Ostrog, and Volhynia, and Ukraine, owes not a jot to Russia. It may be true that modern-day Ukraine’s borders were to an extent drawn by the Soviets, but Ukraine has its own distinctive language, cuisine, literature, architecture, and folklore, all of which pre-dates Russia. If Moscow is first mentioned in the 12th century, Kyiv can be traced back to the 5th century. Ostrog itself pre-dates Moscow and is home to one of the oldest academies of higher learning in the Slavic world – much older than any university in Russia. It was also here that the first Bible was printed in a Slavic language. If you’re trying to claim that Ukraine or Volhynia owe anything of their culture to Russia or Moscow, you’re straight up wrong and you can just go jump in a lake.
Today, Ostrog is not an important center in Ukraine in any way (except, arguably, culturally). The invading Russian army is probably not too interested in the place except for the presence of the nearby nuclear power plant, which is one of four such power plants in Ukraine. Although it lacks importance, the Russians will still need to consolidate their presence in the country by securing places like Ostrog and so Russian soldiers are beginning to make appearances. A small battle has been fought already at nearby Slavuta and the occasional Russian helicopter flies overhead.
Yuri is one of my best friends in the area. He’s a schoolteacher at the lyceum a dozen miles south of Ostrog in the large village of Pluzhne and be likes to hunt mushrooms and hike in the woods in his spare time. He lives with his wife and their Siberian Husky in a small, simple house. Just he and his wife – the first one home from work gets to light the wood stove to heat the house for the evening. Even in this out-of-the-way village, Yuri has several times already visited a local bomb shelter when the sirens in Pluzhne sounded. Yuri’s two grown children live in Kyiv, 4 hours to the east by car. Yuri’s son is an active-duty soldier in the capital and will fight to the death to protect his homeland. He is right now active in the battle for Kyiv. His daughter may be a little less robust. On Thursday, Yuri drove to Kyiv to fetch her back to Pluzhne. She was frazzled after the last few days in the city – she hadn’t slept and was extremely anxious if any loud noise sounded. Hopefully she’s safe now in the village.
Sergey is another friend, also living in Pluzhne. He’s a lecturer at the ancient academy in Ostrog specializing in criminal law. Sergey is a scholar and an intellectual and has a great interest in the history of the local area. He has also visited bomb shelters in the past days and is now active spreading information using tools such as Facebook. Sergey warns of saboteurs in the area who leave marks indicating rendezvous locations for Russian military. He has also pointed out that clerics in churches of the Moscow Patriarchate may not be totally on the level right now. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is currently split, one patriarchate based in Moscow and one in Kyiv. Be wary of those from Moscow. Sergey can also tell you exactly how to make a Molotov Cocktail and precisely where to aim it to inflict the most damage as you hurl it towards a Russian tank.
Alexander is a very interesting man living on a farm just outside Ostrog. His day job is farming but he spends an inordinate amount of time promoting tourism in Ostrog. The town is the Youth Capital of Ukraine for the year 2022 and it was Alexander’s dream to establish several different programs locally which would spur tourism and help grow the economy. Since mid-day on Thursday the 25th, Alexander has been helping to patrol the local roads near Ostrog. He served in active-duty military for many years and experienced combat during the 2014 Russian incursion which saw the annexation of Crimea. Alexander is happy to help patrol Ostrog but bemoans the lack of effective weaponry. He is currently patrolling with a hunting rifle, stopping suspicious vehicles on the roads outside Ostrog; one of many local men keeping the town safe.
Alexander took this photo this morning. It depicts a beautiful sunrise in Ostrog, but just beyond that horizon, lies battle and destruction in the form of the Russian military. It’s coming.
The lives of these three friends are hanging from threads right now. They may not be involved in heavy battle, like Yuri’s son is in Kyiv. But they hear the rumbling and they can feel it coming. It won’t be long now.
These are real people who just a week ago were living their simple, small-town lives. Now their worlds have been turned upside down and they honestly don’t know if they’ll survive another week. They are all fiercely proud of their country – they have every right to be – and they will fight tooth and nail to save it. We in the West might have a hard time envisioning what’s going on in Ukraine right now but the fact is that ordinary people, just like us, are suffering and that’s only going to get worse. Our government leaders are not doing enough yet to stop this evil invasion. Please contact your congressional leaders right now and demand action.
