In Kyiv, signs of the ongoing war are evident – but daily life continues uninterrupted as well

• I spent time talking with a wide range of people – including soldiers, civilians and priests.
• People in Kyiv live in a near-constant state of alert, with regular air raid sirens, but life in other ways goes on.

Daily life in Ukraine

• At first, I relied on the people around me to help determine a course of action when an air siren sounded.
• But after a few days I started to turn to the same Telegram channels to better gauge the potential severity of the situation.
• I even saw a crowded bungee-jumping event one weekend as people jumped from a pedestrian bridge over the Dnieper River in Kyiv.
• The flags of other countries that have supported Ukraine are there as well.

What Ukrainians want

• About 84% of Ukrainians said in May 2023 that they were not ready to give Russia territorial concessions, according to the Ukrainian independent research group Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
• Meanwhile, Ukrainians are also still looking to outside Western support, and looking for countries including the U.S. to join in a mutual-defense pact that would obligate them to send in their own troops.
• About 89% of Ukrainians wanted Ukraine to become a NATO member in May 2023, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
• In 2021, only 48% of Ukrainians supported Ukraine’s NATO membership.
• And in 2022, a record high 83% of Ukrainians said they wanted to join.

Do Ukrainians have a breaking point?

• In May 2023, 78% of Ukrainians said close family members or friends had been wounded or killed since February 2022, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
• I’m not afraid that Ukrainians will tire of being attacked by Russians,” she explained.
• “Of course, every person has a breaking point, but there is no way back now.
• I know many soldiers who are prepared to fight if the war drags on, even if for years,” the volunteer said.