In this essay for TIME, Elliot Ackerman reports from wartime Ukraine and examines why many Ukrainians blame not only Vladimir Putin, but Russian society itself, for the invasion.
Through conversations in Lviv with Ukrainian entrepreneurs, historians, activists, and journalists, Ackerman explores questions of complicity, identity, resistance, and historical memory.
Ukraine, Russia, and Responsibility
The essay challenges Western assumptions that the war can be separated cleanly from Russian culture, public opinion, and national identity.
Lviv, Air Raids, and Wartime Conversations
Ackerman captures the atmosphere of life under air raid alarms while speaking with Ukrainians who view the invasion as part of a longer history stretching through Crimea, Donbas, and Maidan.
Identity, Memory, and Resistance
At its center, the piece asks whether Russian society can be separated from the state acting in its name, and what that means for Ukraine’s survival.