While innumerable diaries – both journalistic and civilian – written during the current Russo-Ukrainian War have been published, very fewer manage to capture the fusion of individual life with the socio-political changes and upheaval that Russia’s full-scale invasion swiftly forced on Ukrainians. However, Andrey Kurkov’s Our regular War – the 3rd chronological log about the war that Kurkov has published since 2014 – is not like another war diaries. While Serhiy Zhadan’s Sky Above Kharkiv captures the sweeping patriotism and social media influence that gripped Ukraine during the war’s first days, Kurkov’s Our regular War provides the reader with an inside look at how the war’s continued presence has affected Ukrainians across the globe politically, socially and financially.
One of the central themes of Our regular War is the necessity of the arts during war time. Excerpts specified as “Poetry and another Forms of Torture” item Ukraine’s historical relation with its poets and writers. Kurkov writes, “‘Posthumous journeys’ are one more time a sad hallmark of Ukrainian burial culture.” He explains the various burials of Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko, who “was first buried in St. Petersburg” and then “exhumed and, in accordance with his wishes, taken to Kyiv”. Ukraine’s celebrations of its poets and writers frequently impress global audiences, and Kurkov’s entry reminds readers that the country’s spirit “is kept alive by the souls of dead writers and poets”. It besides shows that Ukrainians “still feel supported by the souls of Taras Shevchenko and Vasyl Stus”. Kurkov carefully ties Ukraine’s relation with poesy and another forms of literature to its culture. However, this relation besides impacts their relation with their land and landscapes.
Kurkov defines culture as “the most apparent connection between an individual and the land on which he or she lives”. He focuses on how the demolition of a culture results in people no longer having “anything to do with the country, or with the land”. More importantly – and most importantly for western readers – Kurkov reminds readers that Ukrainian culture “has always been an island” and “at times a amazingly tiny island”, 1 “so tiny it was in danger of disappearing”. Nonetheless, the preservation methods utilized by Ukrainians in order to defend and keep their language and traditions inform how they effort to defend and preserve fragile environmental spaces. 1 of Our regular War’s most hopeful – and inspiring – passages is Kurkov’s detailed explanation about DTEK’s (Ukraine’s largest energy provider) “Lelechenki” project. This aims to defend the nests of 1 of Ukraine’s most crucial ornithological symbols – the white stork. erstwhile villagers announcement an unstable stork nest, they can call a squad of electricians, who will decision the nest to a metallic platform so that it is safely placed above the advanced electrical cables. Kurkov’s focus on specified environmental practices shows that Ukrainians are invested in protecting all aspects of national life. erstwhile Kurkov writes, “Culture, music, movie and literature have peculiar responsibilities,” he means that these peculiar responsibilities extend to the natural planet as well.
Our regular War adeptly tackles the identity issues that emerged for Ukrainians not only during the most fresh invasion, but since 2014, erstwhile Russia first annexed parts of east Ukraine and Crimea. Kurkov notes that “The issue of self-identification has become 1 of the main themes of public discussion.” Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, more and more Ukrainians are taking an interest in their nation’s history, classical literature, and modern poetry. He adds, “The process of Ukrainisation is now unstoppable” and “Ukrainianness has become a powerful weapon” in the defence of the country. Kurkov, who frequently finds himself at the centre of these self-identification debates due to the fact that he is of Russian origin, speaking Russian as his native language, admits that if people overlook these characteristics, he comes “out as an perfect Ukrainian who could be enthusiastically welcomed into the fold of perfect Ukrainians”. In essence, Kurkov simplifies his and another Ukrainians’ quandary as best as he can:
“I live in a beautiful country with a complex character and complex history, where each citizen has his or her own image of the Ukrainian state in their head and everyone considers their image to be the correct one. In another words, we are a society of individualists.”
It is this inherent individualism that leads Ukraine to foster “freedom of expression and championing diversity”, which both have the possible to act as a “unifying force” for all Ukrainians as they embark on the way towards their “post-war future”.
The entries in this book act as well-framed snapshots into the regular life of civilians, politicians and defenders. Most of all, Kurkov shows readers who may be both acquainted and unfamiliar with Ukraine its literal and metaphorical beauty. Simultaneously, his writings show how the country’s labyrinthine relationships with Russia and the another nations surrounding it inform its existence today. More so, Kurkov effectively weaves Ukrainian past into the myriad of current events, which have brought a nation and its brave people into global headlines. The war will continue, and the necessity of publishing works like Our regular War will prove even more pressing. With Our regular War, Andrey Kurkov establishes himself as not only 1 of Ukraine’s top writers, but besides 1 of its top warriors.
Our regular War by Andrey Kurkov. Published by Open Borders Press in 2025.
Nicole Yurcaba is simply a Ukrainian American of Hutsul/Lemko origin. A poet and essayist, her poems and reviews have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Atlanta Review, Seneca Review, fresh east Europe, and Ukraine’s Euromaidan Press. Nicole holds an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University, teaches poesy workshops for confederate fresh Hampshire University, and is Humanities faculty at Blue Ridge Community and method College in the United States. She besides serves as a guest book reviewer for Sage Cigarettes, Tupelo Quarterly, Colorado Review, and confederate Review of Books.
New east Europe is simply a reader supported publication. delight support us and aid us scope our goal of $10,000! We are nearly there. Donate by clicking on the button below.
