Even If Moscow Remains Unburned - September 7th 2026

September 7th 2026

Yuriy says a long-suppressed fear now haunts him daily: what happens if Ukraine loses. As a soldier, he believes Ukraine’s disappearance would mean his death on the battlefield or execution for what he has written and said. He remembers being invited to work in London years ago but realizing he could not leave; Ukraine is his home, and he will stay, hoping the country endures.

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TRANSCRIPT

  It is September 7. I pushed this thought away for years, but it never really went anywhere. It has become something that troubles me every single day: I can no longer force myself not to think about what will happen if we lose. At the beginning of the war, I was certain that we would win, even if I personally ended up dying. I knew, literally knew, that we would win, that we would not simply liberate all the occupied territories, but would make it all the way to Moscow to burn that ugly dump to the ground once and for all. I even talked about it on this podcast. More than once. But over time, that confidence in our success began to disappear. I don't believe we will suddenly lose. I don't believe in that. There won't be some massive new Russian offensive that destroys us. There won't be some super weapon that wipes us all out. We have enough strength to hold on for another three to five years, maybe 10. But what happens after that is impossible to say. For the Russians, the destruction of Ukraine is the main goal of their lives, at least for those Russians who make political decisions. They have been preparing for our destruction for decades. For them, waiting for another 10 or even 20 years is nothing. I understand that if Ukraine disappears, I will have no chance of surviving. I'm in the military, so either I will die on the battlefield or the enemy will execute me for everything I have written and said about them, including what I've said on this podcast. And frankly, I don't even understand how I would live in a world that allowed Ukraine to disappear. You know, about seven years ago, I was invited to work for a large international newsroom in London. It was my first time in the city. I walked the streets where the Rolling Stones played some of their first concerts, where Jimi Hendrix used to walk, recognizing bridges and buildings I had read about in books when I was a child. And yet, I simply couldn't imagine moving there and living there. I actually got sick, so of course I never went. It feels almost funny to remember that now, but I wouldn't leave even today. This is my home, so this is where I will stay. And I really hope we manage to hold on, even if Moscow remains unburned for now.