The occasion is sad enough, but today I would like to let my friend Yuri speak, who despite the siege and large-scale destruction of his hometown Kharkiv by the fascist invaders under the orders of Putin has not lost his courage. He has taken the time, despite all adverse circumstances and dangers, to address to you, as readers of this site and users of his software Project Hydra, DRAM Calculator for Ryzen and Clock Tuner for Ryzen, some very personal words and insights from his life.
I have, after much deliberation, deliberately omitted the extreme images of destruction and boundless suffering so as not to weaken the text. Because what is shown in the usual already heavily filtered media is many times more cruel to reality. The picture of Yuri with his dog is from 11.03.2022, exactly the time when I write these lines here. They show an optimistic young man who is also not too shy to fight for his idea. And I hope that he will survive this cruel and senseless war like all other people in Ukraine….
Dear friends,
On February 24th, at half past four in the morning, something woke me up. I got up and opened the window to make sure everything was okay and it was just a bad dream. It was dark and freezing outside. A couple of minutes later I heard a heavy thud somewhere very far away. The sound was not to be confused with anything else. People in neighboring houses began to turn on their lights. Crows also woke up, screaming. A few minutes later my girlfriend called me in tears and said “they attacked us”. She and her parents were panickedly packing their suitcases.
I sat on the couch and sat in silence for a while like I was paralyzed, there was a sense of doom inside. After a while I managed to bring myself to my senses, I pulled myself together and drove to the gas station. I called my father and told him to do the same. At 8 a.m. my girlfriend was already safely outside Kharkov, and I arrived at my parents’ house in the center of the city. My parents refused to leave, as the house is the only thing they have left. I made up my mind that I would not leave them. I would not abandon my hometown. So began our first day of the war.
Streams of information and pictures of dead residents kept me busy. Europe was silent. The United States was silent. We didn’t want to believe it, but it was to be expected. There was nowhere to run, and no desire to, since we had always been second-rate to Europe. The only allies we had were each other, ordinary people. Our community came together to help each other and the army. We know what war is. We remember how fascist Russia attacked Donbass.
I also decided to volunteer to help the army.
My girlfriend in telegram created a telegram channel in which Kharkov citizens could share medicine, food and important information with each other. Thanks to this war we became more united than ever. Everyone knew his role and did something about it. On the fourth day of the war, I decided to take supplies from my apartment, since it was unknown what would happen later. And the stores were all closed.
My parents decided to help me. And at that moment we came under rocket fire. I remember the bright flashes, the cracking of the glass and how the air outside roared. We were lying on the floor. When it was over I looked outside and saw a destroyed neighboring house, lots of debris, burning cars and chunks of people. There was no more fear. There were no more positive emotions. There was only heartache and an ocean of hatred for fascist Russia. To all those who watched in silence, to all those who had helped to create this bloody regime for decades and to those who had come to kill us.
I am sure many of you are wondering what about my relatives from Russia. Blood relatives. Nothing, not a word of sympathy or support. On the 13th day they called to ask with a sneer “are we dead or not yet”.
What now? I am still in Kharkiv. 400 destroyed apartment buildings, historic monuments, hospitals and schools. Thousands of missing people. Thousands of homes without heat or light. On the roadsides outside the city abandoned equipment of the occupants and many many corpses. Abandoned cars of civilians shot by Russian fascists. Dead children covered with sheets. And this is only a few hundreds of kilometers from the center of Europe.
I have learned how to sleep when our 150 mm artillery is firing and rockets are whistling, but I am still scared when Russian planes with “peaceful” 500 kg bombs are flying over the city. In order not to go crazy I am working on the HYDRA project, I am still helping people and feeding my neighbors’ animals (their owners abandoned them in flight). Even at this time we have not lost our humanity, I and many others continue to believe that the war will end soon, that there will be silence and peace will come.
I have translated the text to the best of my knowledge and have not omitted or added anything. It tears me up again and again when I have to read these lines, because I know this city and its inhabitants very well. That’s exactly why I’m sharing it with you. And, of course, there is the question of third-party complicity. But exactly this point I will deliberately not address here, because it is Yuri’s very personal message to you and not a statement from me. Please let it sink in and forget all the propaganda and social media. Here writes a friend who can only help himself and his family by simply selflessly helping others. If you want to help him and his family, you should definitely check out his Patreon project. So here you can also help directly.
We can mostly only watch from here. Just as we have done in good faith for unfortunately many years. I have not blocked the comment function in the forum and hope for the maturity of our readers. However, this time I will crack down on the slightest lapse. This then has nothing to do with censorship, but with respect for the life of my friend. But I trust you completely.
Yuri, I take my hat off to you, this page with your words belongs to you alone. May God be with you! And everyone else, please share this page and his message. Thank you!
Слава Україні!
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