The dilemma of Ukrainian mobilisation
Ukrainian reluctant generation: patriotism or pacifism?
At the moment, the Ukrainian government ushers young people to mobilise. They use all kinds of persuasive instruments to achieve this goal. There is the propagandistic promotion of specific divisions highlighting their courage and inclining the observer to enlist in their ranks. Ideological pressure ensues, as it is highly implausible how anybody wouldn’t want to defend their motherland and all the people they love.
At the same time, legislation to reduce the draft age to 25 (and also cancel the exemption of people with mild disabilities) has been proposed. This is a fair and square move — there are not enough troops in the reserve to give the frontline soldiers so needed rest.
However, as you can see from my perspective, not all Ukrainians support this idea. It’s 30 years now that we’ve not been living under the communist self-sacrificing-for-the-good-of-all ideology. Even the concept of the army as a must-have experience for all men is gone.
Although Ukrainian youngsters and children are surrounded by the narratives of people who have these indelible memories of the Soviet system, they don’t seem to be convinced that military service is the only way out of the situation we are in now.
I am conscious enough to admit the fear of war and killing. For war is indeed a horror of human deeds. However, not only being on the battlefield is scary. Most of the Ukrainians living in the cities far from the frontline are afraid every day. Some cannot leave their homes in fear of being mobilised. Every time moving from city to city, entering a railway station or even a subway is a game of luck for those who are older than 27.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Ukraine and I can see the difference between civilised society and people, who were far too long under the brainwashing influence of the “evil” propaganda. But defending something I love by force is just not in my DNA. It hasn’t been taught to me, I haven’t been brought up with the idea that one day enemies will come and I will have to cause violence to protect.
In my mindset, violence is one of the lowest means of achieving wanted, maybe gaining power. But how can you survive or even win a war when avoiding violence? It is nearly possible, as shown by Gandhi. His philosophy of Ahimsa (non-violence) proved that social and political changes can be achieved by causing no harm whatsoever. I don’t mean, however, that we should lay down arms and surrender our cities and people…
Not at all.
Still, I see how fury and anger set the roots of violence in our warriors. It naturally happens as an answer to the war crimes we endure. Fueling the cycle of violence and bloodshed has never helped anyone though.
The problem is that this concept is highly unlikely to be accepted in the Ukrainian society. The innocuousness is perceived as a weakness. People who avoid the mobilization in Ukraine are being accused of cowardice and treason to the nation, which, in turn, is an utterly ambiguous term.
The concept of nation, being unclear for the whole of its existence, is yet again turning into the main tenet of nationalists’ narratives:
“Nation must be preserved!”
“One nation, one people!”
“Nation over all!”
— these slogans echo from every corner without the slightest idea of how to determine the nation people shout about. Is it about the language? Is it about the territory or the cultural heritage? Is it about the habits or tea preferences?
Of course, all of that together. We should understand that political narratives take bites on different sides of this pie, choosing which is more convenient for them. In the context of the Ukrainian war, the focus is on values such as freedom, resilience and human dignity. That forms a concept of the Ukrainians as a nation today.
And the biggest fear of the Ukrainians is the idea of tomorrow. The future is mostly undecided now. We cannot plan, and cannot arrange things for the distant future. The narratives give us purpose in the moment, but cannot protect us from the uncertainty that threatens just over the horizon.
So that is what we do. In the most Buddhist manner, we turned our hopes from the future to live our lives right now. Who cares what tomorrow brings if today is bright and sunny?
