After the morning Mass, I asked the Missionaries of Charity Sisters how they look at the future. “I was thinking about that a couple of times,” said Sister Immaculata. “But the only response that comes to mind is to trust God every day and do what we can. Love Him and love our neighbor. And live. He knows best what is awaiting us and what is good for us.”

We’ve reached the second anniversary of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, although perhaps it would be more correct for me to write that it is the tenth year of war. Everything started in 2014 with the Russian occupation of Crimea and the fighting in the Donbas. A couple of months earlier, the Revolution of Dignity had begun, which saw President Viktor Yanukovych removed from office. Millions of Ukrainians had gathered for demonstrations to show that they wanted to bind their future with the free and democratic Europe.

When I wrote my previous letter from Ukraine at the beginning of August, no one expected that the world would soon be watching with surprise and pain the events of another war. This time, war in the territory of the state of Israel in the Gaza Strip. The media bore the information about thousands of dead and wounded civilians, including women and children, along with the drama of kidnapped hostages. The horror of the military conflict is repeating itself before our eyes in such a short amount of time. The war in Ukraine that’s been dragging on month after month is no longer an interesting subject for many around the world, and news from the Dnipro River rarely appears on the front pages of the world’s media. Even in Ukraine you can pick up on a certain level of exhaustion, sometimes accompanied by irritation and anger. But despite 627 long days of war drama, I still cannot detect any attitude of resignation, apathy, or surrender — maybe because we’re all aware that the stakes in this war are very high, and its conclusion will shape the future of the Ukrainian nation.