Kyiv is a city of contrasts, and nothing illustrates this more than living on the right bank of the Dnipro river, (west side), versus the left bank, (east side).

Ukrainians know that Putin’s terrible war is an attempt to extinguish their cultural heritage so the only way they can preserve it is to fight.

Kyiv has been the cultural capital of Ukraine for over a thousand years and you can see the evidence everywhere.

On the surface, Kyivans seem to be living a normal life, but scratch a little below and you’ll find wartime guilt weighing heavily on everyone. 

Life is about living, and to me, that means meeting other people and sharing your life with them. Maybe that’s why I’ve found it easy to stay in Kyiv for over a year during wartime.

Wartime weddings are yet another reason why the Ukrainians are fighting for their right to party anywhere, anytime in a free and independent Ukraine.