Why, after 4 years of volunteering for Ukraine's military, I finally decided to enlist (opens in new tab)

In January of this year, I — a Ukrainian writer and volunteer — voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Foreigners asked: "Why?" while Ukrainians asked: "Why only now?" These two questions reflect two different realities. For Europeans, war is something terrible but niche, confined to a certain territory and affecting only certain people. For Ukrainians, war is central, and we ourselves are at its epicenter — it affects everyone and changes every sphere of life. My European acquai