By Rajan Menon
In wartime what happens at the front matters immensely. But what happens in the rear—in society at large—matters too, even if it lacks the battlefield’s drama and urgency. I was reminded of this during a recent trip to Ukraine. What also became clear as I traveled through Ukraine was that as the war continues with no end in sight, the country’s ability to prevail at the front will depend on how badly the war damages a critical part of the rear: the economy.
Thanks to a street-smart friend who has spent considerable time in the country and come to know it well, I was able to venture far afield from Kyiv: to Kryvyi Rih (President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown), Nikopol, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Cherkasy, and the outskirts of Donetsk.
Since the war began, Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to nonmilitary planes, so flying into Kyiv isn’t an option; it’s train, bus, or car—I chose car. Still, once I’d crossed the border from Poland into Ukraine, it was hard to comprehend that I’d entered a country that has been at war for nearly seven months against the world’s second most powerful military machine.
This piece was originally published in The Boston Review on September 21, 2022. Read more HERE.