The first siren typically sounds at about 2:00 a.m. It’s just a general alert, the Russian MiG-31Ks have taken off, and their hypersonic missiles could strike the whole country, but probably won’t be aimed at us, so I go back to bed. At about 3, the siren rings out once more. My phone app lets me know the Russians have sent some of their Orion attack drones. It’s a five-minute walk to the shelter, and who knows when the drones will arrive, so I set up a bed in my kitchen. Two walls, that’s what they say, put two walls between yourself and the outside, and maybe you’ll survive the blast. The app goes off another 18 times that night, shrieking out its alarm and command that I take shelter. Reports of more drones follow, and the explosions as they are shot down or hit their targets. At 4 am, the first cruise missiles are launched. I consider the shelter one more time, but walking outside in an air raid seems like the height of folly, so I hide under the staircase, alone in the dark, waiting for the dawn. Alone with 30 million Ukrainians.
The war is barbaric, an old-style imperialist war. The first of its kind Europe has seen in perhaps 80 years. Yes, I’ve been to Sarajevo and seen the heavy wooden hammer that Serbian nationals used to smash the heads of prisoners in their genocide, and yes, it was horrific. Still, it was the last gasp of an empire, not the territorial grasping of imperial power. That’s what the war in Ukraine is, despite what some of Putin’s online apologists might have you believe. Putin himself has written a book (On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians) in which he spells out how he sees Ukraine as an integral part of Russia. He has confirmed in interviews, including with Tucker Carlson, that he wasn’t motivated by a fear of a NATO invasion but a belief that Ukraine is part of Russia and should be returned. That’s why he’s invading. He wants the Ukrainian land and will take it if he can. In his invasion, Putin has targeted civilians again and again. Schools, hospitals, and apartments have been struck night after night. With the corpses of children, Putin hopes to terrorize the people of Ukraine into submission. It’s the Blitz brought back from the grave, and there’s no reason to think it will stop at Ukraine. There’s evidence suggesting Putin has plans to invade Moldova, and then where? Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Poland? The reconquest of the old Soviet Empire certainly seems on the table.
This is why the Western allies must do everything to stop Putin. The inhuma
nity, yes, but also just self-interest. A strong and assertive Russia is a weakened and threatened Europe. It’s why America’s pausing of air defences and intelligence sharing is such a betrayal. America appears to have paused its supplies of Patriot missiles, and Germany has suffered delays in its provision of IRIS-T air-to-air missiles. With Russia’s onslaught of 5,000 drones, 5,000 gliding bombs and 330 missiles in June alone, these delays will inevitably lead to the deaths of more civilians and the loss of land. Weapons may not be enough. It might be time for European peacekeeping forces to enter Western Ukraine and create a defended region. Channelling the spirit of the Berlin and Cuba missile crises, Putin may have to be forced into retreat.
I experienced the terror of a large-scale air raid twice in my time in Ukraine, but for Ukrainians, it’s just part of their daily routine. So much so that when I burst out of my apartment, heart pounding, wondering what to do about the incoming missiles, I met a sanguine Ukrainian who had popped out for a late-night smoke. ‘Don’t worry about it, the chances of it actually hitting us are pretty low,’ he said. No one should have to get so used to a cruise missile strike that they don’t even skip the smoke break.
Feature Photo: “Screenshot of the Ukraine Alert App” – Matthew Palmer, 2025
Inset Photo: “Matthew Under the Stairs” – Matthew Palmer, 2025
Inset Photos: “Screenshows of Lviv Alerts, Ukraine Alert App” – Matthew Palmer, 2025