These VOGUE photos of the Zelenskys created such an uproar amongst the westerners. They tell us our suffering is fake because what - they had time to take a few pictures? They are not covered in soot, tears, and blood?
Every time we dress nice, put on makeup, put flowers in vases, go to cafes we get these comments like "AHAAA! We've got you now! Your war is not so bad after all!" And it's like... Two days ago I bought myself some coffee and cupcakes in a nearby cafe and I barely paid for them before I had to sprint for cover to the sound of air raid alarms and explosions all around me. One does not exclude the other. I both dress nice, have my nails done, drink coffee, order pizza on Friday nights - AND I can die at any moment. But we carry on with our lives because we need to have a life for our warriors to return to. Our soldiers defend our peaceful life for us, and we preserve this gift of a peaceful life for our soldiers and each other. Why do you say that something that's a normal Tuesday for you is luxary for me? Yes, my soldiers are badass enough to allow me to go buy that coffee in between air raids - why does that bother you so much?
I'll tell you why - because you're fetishizing our suffering. You need to see us in pain so that you can find it in yourself to emphasize with us. But here is a question for you: there's been A LOT of magazine covers with death and destruction and suffering the russian terrorists cause us - was that not enough for you to "relate" to us? Why do photos of two people in their everyday clothes trigger you so much? I'll tell you why: because you have a fetish for victimhood and you want us to suffer more.
So this is the message to those who were made uncomfortable by these photos:
Yes, we are victims of russian genocide, and yes, we need help to stop the terrorists, but what we need is your help, not your pity or your guilt trips for keeping our shit together despite these horrible conditions. We are a strong, proud, independent modern culture fighting a terrorist state ten times our size. We are not your sick gore fetish. We are people - complicated multidimensional people with more to offer than just being cartoonish representations of russian crimes. Our life was fine before the terrorists came. We are trying to preserve it, we refuse to drop all we've built in favor of wallowing in tears for your entertainment. We've fought for this way of life, we keep fighting for it with every breath we take. And if you call for stopping the support for us, because we do not look miserable enough for you, I recommend you think hard about your moral compass.
PS. I know this does not represent the opinion of the majority of people, but as I mentioned earlier, the Internet space Ukrainians have to live in is pretty toxic, I am calling out people like that, I refuse to "just ignore" them because I hate seeing such opinions being spread around unopposed. This is my way of standing up for myself. I still appreciate the support I've been getting from many of western people online, and I know you've been doing even more behind the scenes. I don't want you to think that I'm only focusing on the negative, and I don't want you to worry about me. It's just been a very difficult couple of weeks.