Endless Marathon: How Ukrainians Turn Survival into Purpose

Source: Author’s Facebook page

Wars, if they must happen, should be swift — ask Israel, which fights like it means to win. Even giants like the U.S. grow weary of endless battles, especially the kind waged without a clear goal or a real plan. Wars like that demand more than courage — they demand clarity, and the strength to match it.

Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with the Russian-Ukrainian war. Here, the goal is to survive — or rather, not to lose oneself. Not to dissolve into someone else’s identity. Not to become part of the bloody and filthy “Russian sea.”

But the stakes are just as high for Russia. If Ukraine holds its ground and remains sovereign and self-determined — even after losing part of its territory — it will shake the very foundations of the Putin regime. Because it’s only source of legitimacy is brute force.

A failure to achieve the core objective of the invasion — forcibly dragging Ukraine back into the orbit of the “Russian world” — would expose the illusion. Akela has missed his kill. “The Tsar is not real.” And in Russia, such revelations usually spark major upheaval.

That’s why Putin cannot afford to stop “somewhere in the middle,” just as Hitler once couldn’t.

In this marathon of exhaustion, Ukraine must find a raison d’être — a higher, even sacred, meaning to this war. Without it, we lose faith. And that loss is already visible in the changing dynamics of public opinion. In the short term — seven or eight months after the full-scale invasion — 88% of Ukrainians believed the country would flourish within the next ten years. Now, after nearly three and a half years of relentless struggle, that number has dropped to 43%. Cut in half.

To endure, we need to understand what this war is for. What is being asked of us, even what the Lord may be asking by sending such a tremendous trial? And “just surviving” cannot be the answer. Because the meaning of life always lies beyond life itself. It is absurd to go and die merely to survive.

War is traditionally associated with fire, with the crucible that transforms the very structure of the metal forged within it. I am convinced that this war will last until we change radically. Until the very matrix of Ukrainian society is remade. Until we become that unified, resilient community we discovered in ourselves in the autumn of 2022. We saw it — and we admired it. But then came the counteroffensive of our shared “Soviet DNA” — that familiar reflex we still have in common with our enemy. And from that moment, Ukraine of the future began to lose, step by step, to the Little Russia of the past.

A Russian chronicle, whose author seems to have asked himself questions not unlike those we are asking today, offered this answer: “For our sins, God has sent evil people upon us.” In that short phrase lies the entire biblical logic of suffering. War and other ordeals are not just punishment — they are a call: change, or perish. It is no coincidence that “repentance” is a misleading translation of the Greek word μετάνοια, which means a change of mind, a rethinking.

And without that rethinking, there will be no victory.

Until we experience our μετάνοια, the war will not end. Until we become not only an anti-Russian front but also a meaningful alternative to Russia, blood will continue to be shed on Ukrainian soil. Only through profound transformation will true victory come within reach — until then, it will remain distant and unattainable.

It is not enough to rename streets, tear down monuments, or disown responsibility for our painful past — we must become different. We must clearly understand what kind of Ukrainian identity we are defending. And we must ensure that Ukraine is not simply anti-Russia, but a world of its own. A Ukrainian world. One that is better, more humane, more just, more effective, more dignified.

And the moment we begin to find that world within ourselves — the moment it becomes mainstream on Ukrainian soil — when love for what is ours grows stronger than hatred for what is foreign, then we will finally glimpse the light at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel of war.

Because the crucible is not just about surviving the fire — it is meant to change the very structure of the metal.

Also, follow “Pryamyi” on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, and Instagram.

• Materials published in the “OPINIONS” section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.
• The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author’s material.
• The owner of the webpage in the “OPINIONS” section is the author of the publication.