The Conversation - Defiance in Kyiv has historic roots

Since the beginning of the war, journalist Oz Katerji has tweeted a daily message that opens: “Good morning, this is Kyiv calling.” After a brief update, he signs off, “We are still here. We will remain here.” Although he’s a foreign correspondent, it serves as a reminder of the resilience of residents in the Ukrainian capital – those who have dug in as a superior Russian army advances.

Kyiv has been here before. Between 1918 and 1920, bands of young defenders tried to hold off a Russian army intent on occupying the city. They succumbed to the much larger Soviet force within in a matter of days. But as Michigan State University historian Matthew Pauly notes, out of that adversity came a stronger Ukrainian identity. “The Ukrainian national idea did not evaporate under Soviet rule,” he writes. Indeed, it has only grown in the century since.

When Russia launched its assault on Feb. 24, many predicted Kyiv would fall quickly. Yet more than three weeks on, I’m still reading those tweets that say: “We are still here. We will remain here.”

This week we also liked articles about why some Crimean Tatars may join efforts to defend Ukraine against Russia, the relatively short history of the bat mitzvah ritual in Judaism and awe-inspiring flocks of thousands of starlings, called murmurations.

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