In Uzhhorod, at the very edge of the Ukrainian Carpathians, residents can witness a scene found nowhere else in the country. Near the border crossing with Slovakia, right next to the city, the European Union feels within reach, and the battlefields so distant that, instead of drones and missiles in the sky, one can see civilian planes from international airlines. It has become the only place in Ukraine where peace can be observed.
Here, among the mountains and fir trees, a 12-hour drive from Kyiv, the illusion of being somewhat shielded from the Russian invasion had persisted for a long time: no curfew, few soldiers in the streets and only two strikes in four years. But now, "the war has entered every family," said Nataliya Kabatsiy, 46, director of the Transcarpathian Medical Aid Committee (CAMZ) in Uzhhorod.
In the emergency centers supported by the NGO, soldiers described how the few meters of mud and snow ahead of them has become their entire world. How could they avoid surrendering those positions to Russian troops? How could they hold on? The same exhaustion was everywhere. At CAMZ, during an internal meeting, staff spent hours weighing the prospects for 2026. The conclusion: at least another year of endurance lies ahead.
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