Kathrine Frich
Daily life in Kyiv carries on under the shadow of war.
Air raid sirens and damaged buildings are part of the landscape, but so too are quieter expressions of defiance.
In the Ukrainian capital, anger toward Moscow is not only voiced in speeches or on the battlefield.
It is stitched into coats, printed on T-shirts and laid out on market stalls.
Messages on display
On a grey afternoon last month, crowds gathered in central Kyiv for a traditional New Year stroll despite freezing temperatures and slick pavements.
Among them, one woman’s winter jacket carried a blunt slogan across the back.
“Russia is a terrorist state,” it read, a phrase that mirrors a 2022 resolution passed by Ukraine’s parliament after the invasion began.
At the time, lawmakers declared:
“The goal of the political regime of the Russian Federation is the genocide of the Ukrainian people, physical destruction, mass murders of Ukrainians, and the commission of international crimes against the civilian population.”
With tens of thousands of civilians reported killed or injured since then, many Ukrainians see those words as vindicated.
Printing defiance
In the city of Dnipro, a publishing and printing company called Kavun produces customised clothing, including garments bearing anti-Russian slogans.
Its director, Konstantin, said:
“I support this message 100%. The Russians are beasts who unleashed a savage war against Ukraine as well as against Georgia and other countries.”
He acknowledged that such explicitly anti-Russia designs are less in demand than earlier in the war, though orders still arrive, particularly from customers in the United States and Georgia.
“People here in Ukraine are tired of the war. Some are even afraid to say what they really think,” he said.
Patriotism over protest
According to Konstantin, apparel featuring Ukrainian national symbols and flags now outsells more confrontational slogans.
He said he has received hostile online comments from pro-Russian sympathisers because of his products.
“One guy wrote ‘F off’ under our advert on eBay, but I was not bothered.”
In a Kyiv clothing shop specialising in domestically made items, a sales assistant said anti-Russian prints still have buyers, even if they are no longer the top sellers.
She produced a T-shirt reading “Butcher Russia” but asked not to show her face.
Elsewhere in the capital, an elderly street vendor said her most popular item is a doormat bearing the Russian president’s name.
“It sells better than anything else,” she said.
Sources: Daily Express.
