Ukraine on Fire 2

"Ukraine on Fire 2" is not just a series about Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. It's a kind of war diary about the most tragic moments in Ukraine's recent history. Each episode is a separate story of a city, village, personality, subject which is, at times, presented under a metaphorical title. There are also blocks of episodes (united by a subject). For example, episodes about Chernihiv summarize the idea of the city with a profound historical heritage and legends. Leitmotifs here are images of a stork's nest, church, the "Ukraina Hotel", ruined Gagarain stadium, a ghost bandura player with a yellow-blue ribbon on his musical instrument. They present civilians and civilian targets killed and destroyed by Russia.

So, importantly, the series is a kind of collage composed of short videos made by eyewitnesses. Besides its factuality, there are also references to history, philosophy and character of Ukrainians. They are about steadfastness and courage, humanity and optimism, loyalty and mercy of people who suffer from the war. "Ukraine on Fire 2" is for the outside world instrumental in discovering Ukraine in a new way and, unfortunately, in such a dramatic way.

The series is presented with English subtitles, so for the world it is a first-hand source of information, reflections on what is happening in Mariupol, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Mykoayiv, Irpin, Kherson, Kramatorsk, Starobilisk, Trostianets, Chernihiv, Bucha, Volnovakha, Izium... Many of these places have been occupied, damaged or even destroyed by Russia while the west is having a peaceful life.

One-minute episodes are ultra-short but at times they consist of 10-20 eyewitness videos, conveying a sense of reality and emotional effect, with some episodes causing impressive visual and sound resonances long to be remembered.

One of the episodes is about the Lithuanian film director and scholar Mantas Kvedaravicius. He came to make a film in Mariupol and was captured by Russian soldiers in March and later shot dead. His fate is reminiscent of the city as presented in his film "Mariupolis" which is about the value of life in war... It is this episode about Mantas that seems to narrow the mind to one thought: you have to survive. The smell of bread and its crunch, these everyday things seemed to break all known pyramids of human needs and become a sign of life in the occupation.

As for the series title ("Ukraine on Fire 2"), it is not only allegorical and profound, but also historically determined. The allusion to Dovzhenko's "Ukraine on Fire" makes sense, as it is right to the point in time. The oft-repeated warning "never again" has unfortunately turned into a lonely "again". Ukrainians are dying in their land in the hands of new fascists, or, as it is now conventional to call Russians, Rushists. This is not a tag for them, this is their ideology supported by 80/90% of the population, as per sociology centers. The historical parallel is evidenced by Dovzhenko's diary (entry dated November 6, 1943), as if it is about the present situation: "Ukraine is destroyed like no other country in the world. All cities were destroyed and looted. We have no schools, no institutes, no museums, no libraries. Our historical archives perished, painting, sculpture, architecture destroyed. All bridges and roads were destroyed, the war destroyed the national economy, perished people, hit them, hanged them, and drove them into captivity...".

What do we learn from the killing of Oxford-educated European Mantas Kvedaravicius and thousands of Ukrainian civilians (by the way, most of them were Russian-speaking), tens of thousands deported Ukrainian children and civilians in new Russian concentration/filtration camps for Ukrainians in Europe? Does it ring a bell?

The series' value is undeniable. Based on eyewitnesses' videos, it represents the reality (which cannot be overcome by any Russian propaganda that so easily was able to corrupt Oscar-winning but as ever naïve university-uneducated Oliver Stone whose team was turned into what appears to be a Western escort-service for the new Hitler, in a typical propaganda fashion exploited the same - sacred for Ukrainians - title in previous films). After all, the demand for quality video content, reliable and artistic representation of the war in Ukraine has increased.

"Ukraine on Fire 2" is a living and pulsating art project that breathes in unison with time, the wartime of Ukraine, the new reality of this world.

I really liked this project. The events of the Russian-Ukrainian war since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 are presented in a very original and interesting way. The shelling of the city of Starobilsk, attempts by civilians to stop the movement of Russian military equipment, the actions of Russian saboteurs in the cities and other tragic and dramatic events of the war.

All this is presented in fragments of chronicles. The duration of the episode of each series is 1 minute, especially for the format of social networks.

While watching the fragments of the video, I have goosebumps on my body. It is very exciting and tragic.

Among the array of news, private reports, social media posts, comments, speeches by politicians and the military, diplomats and state leaders, ordinary soldiers on social media, the series is a kind of analysis of them all, and in 60 seconds provides a central true emotional component of each day of the war reflecting exactly what one felt this day in Ukraine.

I hope there won't be many new episodes of these wonderful series. I hope the war ends soon and we can go back to watching comedies. But until then, please watch every superb 1-minute episode, each of which uniquely frames the horror of war, and all of them, collectively, paint a poignant and terrifying story of the atrocities in Ukraine. This movie is a history in the making. An imaginative format allows to vividly relive key news events and watch the terrifying images, delivered in nearly real time. Watch every episode. And then go do something for Ukraine. Call your elected representative and tell them you want stronger sanctions on Russia. Donate to help refugees. This movie will inspire you to do that, and that is a true sign of how good this movie is.

For each of us, the word "War" has always been associated with history, the past, what we have heard but never seen, something distant and vague. It was a word that did not evoke any feelings in us only understanding the wrongness and inhumanity of the process itself. But unfortunately now it is not just something ephemeral and distant, it is our reality in which we must survive.

Not all the destruction, injuries and deaths we face everywhere are in our heads now. People who are forced to leave their homes, families for safety have lost not so much space and things they left, as a sense of security and comfort.

This film tells our story, we are all eyewitnesses of these events. I hope it will allow viewers from other countries to understand us Ukrainians at least a little. And we will remember it for a long time.