I arrived in Lviv, a Ukrainian city of very beautiful Western architecture, founded by the Ukrainian King Danylo in 1256 and named after his son Lev.
I like to irritate my Polish friends by reminding them that Lviv is one year older than the pearl of Poland, the city of Krakow. Lviv is marked not only by its old architecture but by the strong will of its people. I call it Ukrainian doggedness.
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I was reminded of that strong will on day one when I visited a bank and a store where I purchased light bulbs. At the bank, I asked the teller to yell because I was hard of hearing. She refused, reminding me that in Lviv, they do not yell at their customers. Because I am as dogged as she, I went to the next teller. At the store, the young man selling light bulbs offered a variety of regular and economic bulbs. I asked him what the difference was, and he replied that the economic ones last much longer. I simply said, “I don’t know about that.” He replied, “But I do,”
I love these people even though they often annoy me. I probably annoy them. It’s this type of attitude and mutually annoying congruence among Ukrainians that has allowed the Ukrainians to overcome centuries of great difficulties, which persist to date.
There is a tale about God and the creation of various nations and the distribution of lands. God conferred with the angel and suggested that he would create a people and a land. The women would be remarkably beautiful, and the men very strong. The land would consist of great fertility so that if one were to spit, a tree would grow. The angel pointed out that this creation would be unfair to other people. God replied, “Wait till you see their neighbors.” And so, like it or not, Russia is Ukraine’s neighbor.
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Lviv is considered the piedmont of Ukraine, the source of its outspokenness and strong will. I am hardly objective when it comes to the Ukrainian people, but it ought to be pointed out that I do find fault occasionally.
My bank in Ukraine is a state bank. There is no reason for service to be amiable. Rarely have I seen a teller smile. The worst are the managers. They are incompetent and unfriendly, but mostly women. The difference in America is that bank personnel are incompetent but friendly. There is an exception: those who somehow have stepped up the ladder to compliance. They are both incompetent and unfriendly.
Banking in Ukraine is problematic. President Zelensky is making good on his promise to fight corruption, but with the war and Ukraine’s need for money, there are great conflicts between money transfers for legitimate purposes and money laundering. Legitimate customers have to be very patient.
The description of Lviv and its people should not detract from other parts of Ukraine. Simply put, eastern Ukraine had been under Russian domination for more than three hundred years. Russia has always been authoritarian and brutal. Western Ukraine was under Polish, then Austrian, then Polish, and finally Soviet Russian rule since World War II. Polish rule was semi-benign by comparison with the Russian. Austria was significantly more benign than Poland.
In Lviv, I met with my Kharkiv liaison, a volunteer who was in the west visiting his ailing mother. We discussed the most urgent needs, in particular, drones and their interceptors, including most expedient procurement and delivery. I was to travel to Kharkiv, but our meeting saved me that trouble.
As I walked out of my apartment at 9 a.m. on Friday, I was met with an announcement, apparently throughout Lviv, encouraging the people of Lviv to honor the memory of those heroes who had given up their lives on behalf of Ukraine. I was struck by the discipline as both vehicles and pedestrians stopped in their tracks to remember and honor the heroes.
It was a brief moment, but most inspirational. I noted consciously that this nation will persevere just as it has over the last 375 years. It will persevere because, despite turmoil, tragedy, and attempts to destroy it, as the Russians say, “To wipe Ukrainians off the face of the Earth,” Ukrainians remain undaunted and seemingly invincible. I am sure that God is on our side, even though He keeps testing us.
We are traditionally a deeply religious nation, sometimes to the point of accepting the teaching of our various churches as opiates. We manifest our faith by kneeling and kissing the ground. For me, that is just too much. But this form of religious adoration persists.
It is interesting to recall that under Soviet atheism, the only nationality that remained insubordinate were the Ukrainians. The Soviets gave up and set up their own version of churches in Ukraine. Ukrainians picked up the mantle to a ridiculous extent so that the imposed Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate reaped the benefits well into Ukraine’s independence.
Eh, Ukrainians needed to pray. They always distinguish, but they are doggedly Ukrainians and believers in God and Ukraine. Russia has no shot.
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.
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