One War Volunteer's Story

War from the Rear: A Ukrainian Aid Volunteer’s Story

By Andriy Lyubka
Translated by Yulia Lyubka and Kate Tsurkan
Cherry Orchard Books; 186 pp.; $25.99

The Ukrainian poet and novelist Andriy Lyubka began volunteering after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In this volume, he presents the three dozen short reflective essays (which he wrote for a wide audience from the war’s beginning through the fall of 2024) thematically rather than chronologically; yet they serve as a diary of his activities and of Ukraine’s setbacks and sturdy resistance. One theme that ties the various pieces together is his advocacy for the soldiers of Ukraine’s armed forces. “Culture,” he writes, “is the foundation of the values we are fighting for.”

He left behind his wife and toddler in his hometown in southern Transcarpathia while he ventured between the front lines and central Europe. His role was raising money for and negotiating the purchase of vehicles for the soldiers at the front. He didn’t know much about motor vehicles at first, but he became an expert. He describes his self-imposed responsibilities: “Over the course of a day, I arrived from Donbas, painted a bus for the military with children, crossed the border, bought three cars for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, had tea with the Roma [second-hand car dealers], inspected an ambulance, flew to Vienna, slept in secret in an airport bathroom, flew to Tirana, went on live TV, performed at the [literary] festival, and spoke with half of the Albanian government [about supporting Ukraine’s defense].”

Lyubka is energetic, inspirational, generous, philosophical, humble, amusing, bright and proud: “Thirty years of independence gave us the opportunity to raise a new generation of Ukrainians who were born in a free country and cannot imagine any other fate.” He points out a fundamental difference between Russia’s and Ukraine’s soldiers:

“the Ukrainian army is predominantly made up of civilians. … In essence, these are people fighting with two skill sets. … the upside is their initiative, a quality that offers a decisive advantage as they frequently take responsibility at critical moments. This is a systemic strength over the Russian military, which mirrors its totalitarian society by suppressing initiative and relying on excessive centralization in all areas.”

Beyond describing his own fascinating work, he continually eulogizes soldiers and citizens. He curses Putin and the madness infecting Russian soldiers. He moralizes and weeps; before 2022, he says,

“Ukrainians didn’t believe in the war because of their sense of normalcy. For a mentally sound, rational person, it’s almost impossible to fathom that in the twenty-first century — in the age of electric cars and Instagram — a full-scale war, civilian killings, massive tank battles, and the terror of occupation could actually happen. It’s normal to believe that no one could simply wish for the death of millions.”

On this fourth anniversary of Russia’s unconscionable war on Ukraine, we normals have to weep too.

Born in 1987, well known in his country for his novels, poetry and translations (his only previous book published in English is the novel Carbide), Lyubka notes that while volunteering he could not focus his attention enough to continue composing fiction, but he discovered with amazement and delight that some soldiers can write poems even on the front lines. “Among all forms of art, poetry has become the mass tool for emotional self-care.” According to the Kyiv Independent, Lybkov, after almost four years of dedicated volunteering, during which time he raised more than a million dollars and delivered hundreds of the vehicles to the front, enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in January 2026.

– Bob Blaisdell