(vox-pop interviews)

Khmelnytsky has always been a quiet place where nothing happens and has remained so even during the Russian invasion. Only checkpoints, people in uniform, and sirens, which are heard less and less, remind us about war. And talking, endless talking…You could hear words like “Brought clothes for refugees,” or “Our boys kick the shit out of orcs.”

The city recovered fairly quickly after the shock, so now, walking down the main street, you will not see any closed cafes or shops. The summer playgrounds are full of visitors, and you can’t get into shopping malls on the weekends.

Andrii, co-owner of the cafe “Contento”

We had to open a cafe because we had to live for something. Parents are engaged in tights and stockings, and this is not a necessity, so now we provide for the whole family. Frankly, after the war, there were more customers. Our cafe is located in an area where a large number of refugees live and now make up a large percentage of our visitors. People said they were grateful that we started working. When they came to our place, they could be distracted from the constant stress over a cup of coffee and Italian pasta.

Thanks to the market, a lot of textile factories appeared in Khmelnytsky. It is the basis of the local industry. Most of them have already restarted their work, and some have not even stopped, retraining for the needs of the army.

Andrii, owner of “Friendly Socks”

On February 24, I paid the salaries to my workers for March and let them go home. But socks are the thing that is always needed, so after a while, we resumed work. In the first week of the war, most of the goods were transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defense Forces, so now it needs to be refilled. In addition, we already have orders; new models of patriotic socks are especially popular.

But not only did businesses have to recover during the war, but also studying. Pupils went to distance studying again, and for students, it rarely ended.

Victoriia, a student of Khmelnytsky National University

We studied remotely during the coronavirus quarantine, so it was no big stress. We don’t have any online meetings; they just drop tasks that almost no one does. It is quite difficult to focus on the peculiarities of accounting when you are in constant anticipation that a rocket will fly at you.

The war makes us all go through a lot of stress, but we have to take matters into our own hands and start living. Not like before, because it will never be like before, but we have to work. Everyone who works in the rear is important because it brings our country closer to victory.