“War Does Not Have a Woman’s Face”

“War does not have a woman’s face” – this phrase became very well known after the publication of the book by the Belarusian writer and Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich. And although the word “war” is feminine in Ukrainian, its content, full of drama and tragedy, cannot be.

Many events in our history prove this, the latest of which we are witnessing ourselves.

Millions of Ukrainian women have today become hostages of a treacherous war; many of them, saving themselves and their children, have been forced to leave, flee and abandon their homes, becoming refugees.

In Estonia alone there are more than 20,000 of them.

One of them, Inna Artemenko, came to us with her elder sister and daughter from the town of Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region.

In her town Inna worked as a teacher and specialist in ethnography, putting a lot of effort into nurturing patriotic feelings in our children.

Her husband stayed in Ukraine to defend it, joining a self-defence unit.

Inna now lives in constant anxiety for her husband and believes with all her heart that her Yurii will come home alive. Recently it was her husband’s birthday, and she decided to congratulate him in a special way by recording a musical video message in which she performed the moving song “Come Back Alive!” (“Povertaisia zhyvym!”), recently written by the Ukrainian band KOZAK SYSTEM. The song very subtly and precisely reflects the state of mind of every Ukrainian woman who has seen her husband off to war – her anxiety, her parting words and her prayer embedded in the lyrics.

Read the lyrics of the song (in Ukrainian), and you will understand what women feel today – wives, mothers, daughters and all those for whom the life of a loved one is above all earthly goods!!!

“Povertaisia zhyvym!” (“Come Back Alive!”)

Ти, головне, повертайся додому,
Врешті знімай запилюжені берці,
І вчися наново жити потому,
З перепрошитою вірою в серці.

Ти, головне, повертайся, здолавши
Чистого зла непрожований стогін,
І відпускай цю ненависть назавше
Посеред мирної тиші густої.

Ти повертайся,
Ти, головне, повертайся,
Ти, головне, повертайся живим!

Ти, головне, повертайся тим шляхом,
Що вбереже твої душу і тіло.
Чорна земля із розпеченим пахом
Тільки дощу, а не крові хотіла.

Ти повертайся,
Ти, головне, повертайся,
Ти, головне, повертайся живим!!

Ти, головне, повертайся до мами.
Десь там сивіючи за видноколом,
Матері тужать і дружать домами,
Що пахнуть ніжністю та корвалолом.

Ти, головне, повертайся назовсім
І народи-посади-споруди,
А вже у твоєму дітиську курносім
Виросте радість, нова і правдива.

Ні, ця війна не потрібна нікому!
Так, ми її не пробачимо, себто
Перемагай і вертайся додому.
Просто живим повертайся, і все тут.

Ти повертайся,
Ти, головне, повертайся,
Ти, головне, повертайся живим!