My work day typically starts at 10am in the morning. All my friends are fully aware that I hate phone calls, especially in the morning, so they avoid calling me before 10am.
On Thursday, February 24th, my best friend called me at 7am and said "have you heard?" - and I started panicking immediately. I knew what she was referring too, but I wanted to believe it was just a thought at the time.
It wasn't. Russia decided to invade Ukraine three days before my departure date for St. Petersburg for what, in theory, should have been one of the most decisive periods of my life.
The decision, took by a single man for the benefit of an extremely small elite, completely changed my life and perspective on the future in the last few days. And, yes, I can really say I have no idea how we're going to get out of this.
Ukrainians are in our minds
Lots of my colleagues are from Ukraine and/or work from Kyiv and Lviv. Waking up to a Slack Channel in full terror mode was depressing to say the least.
However, I have to say the heartbreaking reality was temporarily substituted by the overwhelming support the entire team has shown to each other. Colleagues from Poland, Hungary and Moldova opened their doors to Ukrainians and offered to drive them through the border, effectively creating a human shield support to the horror they were facing and the insecurities arising in their family.
My Ukrainian colleagues are now fighting and fearing for their lives, and it's a situation I believed we, as humans, would have never seen again.
The fact our World still even has the concept of war is a defeat to us all. It's a concerning development, and an absurd way to manage geopolitical difficulties nowadays.
Russians didn't want this war
I know lots of Russians, since I'm currently in a relationship with a Russian citizen and my brother is too. None of them even remotely contemplated war, just as the vast majority of Russians. No one in their right state of mind, no matter where they're from, would aspire to war.
The war will make the average Russian poorer, unable to move to other countries, and effectively a discriminated entity from the other European Nations - all for the decision of oligarchs no one elected. This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, but a war between the freedom of democracy and the terror of regimes.
18yrs old are being sent to fight from 60yrs old in suits so they can drill and sell more oil, partnering with the "beautiful" Syria to conquer the profitable territory of Ukraine. I'm 100% sure this is not what Russians want, and that this will detriment their average quality of life way more than we can expect right now.
As the Prime Minister of the UK clearly stated, "I can't believe this is being done in your name".
The war no one wanted that can't be stopped
We're all fully aware the war can't be stopped. NATO can't get involved, as that would immediately trigger World War 3, and EU Countries can only assist remotely by sending weapons and colouring their cities with the colours of the Ukrainian Flag.
Russians are protesting and getting arrested in the thousands, and we're all trying to do our part in supporting freedom of choice from other countries across the free World.
I believe web3 social networks can really help in this regard, as Russia is already trying to block web2 platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
However, I have no idea how this can stop. The war will make us all go back decades in fortifying our armies, sending more troops to the Eastern EU flank, talk about militarising our borders, and so on so forth. In the age of internet, web3, NFTs, gaming and absurd prosperity when compared to the past, we are looking at a huge step back for humanity as a whole, for the actions of a few.
I'm genuinely terrified by what the future holds. Although I don't believe WW3 will start, I'm concerned about my safety, the future of the countries I travel to, and my own relationship, as who knows when we will meet again, where, and in what circumstances.
This is a very dark step that will be remembered in all history books. And we have to find a way out of this.
Why am I writing
Probably, to rant. The last few days have been the hardest of my recent life. Cancelling a flight to Russia, that would have been the first long period of time I could spend with my partner, has been the hardest thing I had to do in the past 3 years.
Going out of a pandemic to enter a war is really not what I expected my 20s to look like, but here we are.
I'm reading and emphatizing with Ukrainians losing their homes, Russians losing their freedoms, and countries chipping in how they can. This is not what 2022 should look like. This is hell, the opposite of what we should aim for.
Before Elon takes us to Mars, please, let's fix Earth. Because tanks pointing a city, 7,000 deaths and 200,000 people without a home anymore in 72 hours is NOT what future looks like, this is for sure.