This time, nothing reached Poland again. No missile violated NATO airspace, no stray drone fell on a meadow near a border village. For Western public opinion, this is reason enough to breathe a sigh of relief, roll over and continue sleeping. The only discomfort felt that night by the inhabitants of the safe part of Europe was the roar of the engines of the F-16s taking off. For some, it was a reason to complain about a “sleepless night.” For millions of Ukrainians, the same sound would be the most wonderful lullaby, a harbinger of the protection they still lack.
What happened last night is a mirror in which the West should see itself, but it is very afraid of what it might see. When people in Poland, Germany, and France sat down to breakfast with their families in the morning, the topic of war was already just a distant buzz. Trolls and “useful idiots” were once again active on the internet, whispering easy lies to a weary public: “it’s not our war,” “no Ukraine in NATO,” “enough of these Ukrainians in our pubs.”
Politics over beer and coffins
From the perspective of Warsaw, but also Berlin or Paris, one can see a terrifying trivialization of evil. In Poland, the topic of the day can be who a given politician went for a beer with, who “outmaneuvered” whom in party politics, and whose social media campaign is more brilliant. Over their morning coffee, Europeans marvel at politicians like Sławomir Mentzen or Grzegorz Braun. They admire their rhetorical skills, how “beautifully” they speak, how they score points against EU bureaucracy.
Few want to see that behind this attractive form, behind the suits and TikTok virals, lies pure xenophobia filled with lies. That under the guise of “realism” and “care for the national interest” there is adoration for the bloody dictator in the Kremlin and, worse, contempt for his victims. This is a disease that is not only affecting Poland. Across Europe, a political movement is gaining strength, building its capital on the Ukrainian tragedy and promising voters a return to the “good old world” – a world of cheap gas and no moral dilemmas. These politicians are selling the illusion that if we look away from burning Kharkiv, the fire will go out on its own and not burn our hands.
A map of pain that the West does not want to read
While we are preoccupied with nonsense, Ukraine is not so lucky. Ukraine has once again been drenched in blood. The Russians attacked all night, using their full arsenal of terror: ballistic missiles, Shahed drones, heavy artillery. The air raid alert was not local – it even covered the farthest western parts of the country, those that seem “safe” from Brussels’ perspective.
The dry reports coming from the Ukrainian regions are not statistics, they are an indictment of our inaction and slowness.
In the Zhytomyr region, a region that is historically and geographically so close to Poland, the Russian attack killed three children. They were 8, 12, and 17 years old. These are not “collateral damage.” This is the destruction of the future. These are empty seats at the table that no one will ever fill again. Twelve other people were injured, carrying physical and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.
Death also took its toll in the Khmelnytskyi region, where four people were killed and five were injured. This is a blow to the very heart of Ukraine, proof that there is no place to hide from Moscow’s barbarism.
In Kyiv, a city that symbolizes resilience, eleven people were hospitalized as a result of a massive attack. The capital, protected as best as possible, continues to pay a high price for being the decision-making center of a free nation.
In Mykolaiv, a Russian drone struck a five-story residential building. One person was killed. Why attack a residential building? Only to sow fear. To break the will.
In Ternopil, a city that has become a second home for many refugees from the east, industrial infrastructure has been damaged.
Even in Kharkiv, a city that is constantly bleeding, hits have been reported again. Three people were injured, including another child.
Our comfort and your lives
I write these words with shame. Shame that at a time when Russian rockets were tearing apart homes in Zhytomyr and Kharkiv, the biggest problem in “old Europe” is inflation and political games. We are building a wall of indifference, convincing ourselves that it protects us.
This is not true. Your struggle, every sleepless night in a shelter in Kyiv, every tragedy in Mykolaiv, is a shield that still separates us from the same fate. Internet trolls and cynical politicians in Warsaw or Budapest can conjure up reality, they can incite hatred against Ukrainian refugees seeking a moment of normality in Polish cafes, but they cannot change the facts.
The fact is: tonight in Poland, we were awakened only by the noise of engines. Ukrainians were awakened by death. And until Europe understands that those three children killed in Zhytomyr were “our” children – the children of Europe – this nightmare will not end. We cannot allow the lies about “not our war” to drown out the cries of the victims. Because if Ukraine falls, the silence that will follow will be much more terrifying to us than the roar of all the fighter jets in the world.
PB
