From the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Western leftists have invoked “peace” as a slogan — as if peace were not already at the heart of every Ukrainian’s daily prayer. They warn the world not to “provoke” the Kremlin, as if Ukraine’s restraint could halt Russian missiles. For Ukraine’s own leftists, though, the prospect of total annihilation has laid bare how hollow abstract pacifism sounds when survival itself is on the line.
When Russian forces tried to take Kyiv in 2022, Ukrainian writer Artem Chapeye — a well-known leftist and outspoken male feminist — made sure his family reached safety before he enlisted to defend his country. In his latest book “Ordinary People Don’t Carry Machine Guns,” translated into English by Zenia Tompkins and published by Seven Stories Press, Chapeye reflects on his path to military service, the ways in which the war has upended parts of Ukrainian society, and what it means to hold onto your humanity when forced to pick up a weapon.
“It’s easy to hide behind the abstract idea that ‘the more weapons there are, the more war there’ll be’ when you yourself are safe,” Chapeye writes.
[…]
Many people just think, that “it’s happening somewhere else” to soothe their anxiety, that it’s not going to get to them or whatever, or that it’s simply not their problem.
And I’ll be honest - I also was like that, even while our city officials were testing air raid sirens and doing alarm drills, I, while deeply unsettled by these preparations, hoped that it’ll pass and that’s all bluff. Until one morning.