The soundtrack of terror in Kyiv

Over three years of war, the sound of Russian drones attacking Ukraine has evolved. It used to be a motorcycle-like sound, which led to them being dubbed ‘mopeds’. Now, it is more like a high-pitched, monotonous howl.

It is a sound more frightening than gunshots or explosions. In the darkness, it’s impossible to determine how close a drone is, or where it is headed. The unknown is terrifying. In fact, it is the main source of fear for those of us living in Ukraine, including where I live in Kyiv. This fear returned on the night of 1 June. My wife and I hurried from our bedroom into the hallway, trying to shield ourselves with as many walls as possible.

We knew an attack was coming this time. It was retaliation for Operation Spiderweb, a series of precise, audacious and strategically significant strikes against Russia on Sunday. Forty-one aircraft, roughly a third of Russia’s cruise missile fleet, were impacted, with 13 said to have been completely destroyed. Airfields, bridges and even a nuclear-submarine base were also hit in the operation, which resulted in $7 billion worth of damage to the Russian side. Ukraine claims it took 18 months of planning.

Predictably, Russia responded almost immediately. Russia had struck a Ukrainian military base in the Dnipro region, killing at least 12 soldiers.

Whenever an air raid occurs nowadays, there are three thoughts that I return to in order to help get me through the worst of it. The first thing I remind myself is that the responsibility for unleashing this war lies squarely with Russia. Ukraine has the moral high ground, without question. However, the world is sadly starting to forget the true culprit of the tragedy that has spilled rivers of blood and left entire Ukrainian cities in ruins.

This amnesia has been fostered by US president Donald Trump. His argument – ‘Millions dead because of three people’ – has been repeated so often, like the incessant hum of a Russian drone, that it has distorted the truth about who launched this war. It was not Joe Biden or Volodymyr Zelensky who launched a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. That moment, and the sounds of explosions at dawn on 24 February 2022, when the first Russian missiles hit a nearby airfield, are forever imprinted on my memory.

We must never forget that Putin started the war. Or that his troops have committed, and continue to commit, war crimes – from massacring civilians to executing prisoners of war.

The second thing that gives me hope amid the terror is Ukraine’s courage. Despite insufficient weapons, resources and financial backing, Ukraine has repelled the invasion and continues to do so. Kyiv didn’t fall within two weeks in 2022, as many outsiders predicted. Russia – ‘20 times the size’ of Ukraine, as Trump likes to say – has often spent months trying to take a single village. Ukraine will not surrender, no matter how beautifully such a surrender might be presented in a ‘peace agreement’ in Istanbul.

For the entire nation, this war has become a test of endurance. It has cost more than 50,000 lives, and demanded every last reserve of national strength. It cannot, and will not, end with surrendered ground and raised hands.

My third and final consoling thought concerns the West, which has been like a beacon on a stormy night. That beacon may flicker, but it has not gone out. It certainly flickered back in March, when Trump paused US aid to Ukraine. Yet in May, following a minerals deal with Kyiv, he approved a $50million military package – his first since taking office.

Meanwhile, Europe has also stepped up. Last year, the UK pledged a record £2.5 billion in aid. Germany continues to deliver tanks and air defences. The EU, which has already committed over €150 billion, plans an additional €20 billion this year.

Each night I fear that Kyiv will shake again with a series of thundering explosions. I expect that today, or tomorrow, and for many days and nights ahead, new drones and missiles will fly into Ukraine, bringing destruction. People will be killed, houses destroyed and cars burned.

These attacks will continue – for days, nights, perhaps years. But not forever. And when the war does finally end, let us hope we can look back on it remembering three things: that Putin started it, Ukraine withstood it, and the West, despite its doubts, stood firm.

Sergey Maidukov is a Ukrainian writer. He is the author of Life on the Run: One Family’s Search for Peace in War-torn Ukraine.