The image has become common in Lviv. Before eleven in the morning, a military band is organized in front of the central church of San Pedro and San Pablo. As the bells ring, the trumpets begin to sound and the priests go out to meet the funeral march with which a new funeral begins.
“The local authorities notify us every morning if we will have a ceremony that day and how many there are,” explains Father Vsevolod, one of the priests who preside over this cloister that was originally built by the Jesuits in 1590 and that in recent times of its long history of the city was used as a military church. Inside, hundreds of photos, especially of men in uniform, are displayed on extensive panels. White doves made of paper hang from part of the ceiling and in one corner there are remains of missiles and bullets.
“This emerged as a popular initiative in 2014, people were wondering how to honor them and they began to informally post their photos,” explains the priest, who points out that the number has increased considerably since the beginning of the large-scale invasion. and has become even greater since the beginning of the counteroffensive last June. If between 2014 and 2021 the gallery had 70 portraits, now there are around 700. “These photos constantly remind us that there is a war. That it's not over. That there are family members who also need our support,” explains Father Vsevolod. The number of funerals is increasing.
The images seen at funerals contrast with the daily events of the main cities where life has returned to normal. “It is unfair to think that people have forgotten the war. Many have a lot of pain and fear, but we have to continue living. It is part of survival,” explains Irina Krasnoshtan, a member of the International Center for the Victory of Ukraine, which works to explain the consequences of the invasion around the world.
Last weekend, a conference called Global Crimea was held in Kyiv in which multiple speakers from the so-called Global South participated to discuss the impact of the war from different angles. “We knew it, but this confirms how the world is interconnected, that the threat of dictatorships is a reality. That our struggle is that of many,” Irina explained.
A few meters from the conference headquarters stands another mythical church for the military, San Miguel de las Cúpuladas Doradas. Here too, but outside, thousands of photos of deceased men and women are displayed, and as in Lviv, the number has also increased in recent months. The Government does not publish the number of deaths.
“It has been a tough few months. Nobody said that the counteroffensive was going to be easy, and now I think we are more aware that this war will last over time,” says Dimitro, a medical student who was walking through this central part of Kyiv on Sunday. For Ukrainians there are two ways of looking at the situation, explains this 23-year-old: “Moscow was going to arrive in Kyiv in three days, and it is clear that it never happened. It is our victory, no one thought we were capable. Then we thought that we could end the war quickly, especially after the capture of regions like Kharkiv or Kherson, but today we know that it will last a while longer.”
The president, Volodymyr Zelensky, assured days ago that a third of the country is strewn with mines. And in his speech on Sunday, on the eve of the 600th day of the war, which was yesterday, he thanked the soldiers who were doing their best in the hottest areas. This includes the Kupiansk and Liman front, in the Donbass, where Russian forces are trying to regain control of territories that were liberated by the Ukrainians a year ago. But especially in Avdíyivka, in Donetsk province.
As the world's eyes focused on the Hamas massacre and Israel's response in Gaza, Moscow stepped up an offensive to take control of Avdiyivka. According to the Institute of War Studies, based in Washington, three Russian battalions are involved in the operation that seeks to siege it. But despite the harshness of the attacks, and the fact that Moscow's forces managed to advance on some flanks, the Ukrainian troops not only managed to stop them, but also caused great human and material damage.
The euphoria with which Moscow spoke in the first days of this attack has disappeared, and currently the statements are marked by caution. On Sunday, President Vladimir Putin referred to these types of operations as “active defense.” Still, many analysts believe that Russia will continue to seek to take control of this city, which many believe may have the same future as Bakhmut. That is, ending up completely destroyed. This Russian push would seek to take pressure off the military on other fronts where Ukraine causes damage, including Zaporizhzhia. All this happens at a time when the country is preparing for a new winter that many think will be harsher than the previous one.
