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«When I was travelling to Odesa, I saw eh green hills and fields, and I thought, ah, I see it now,» – said one of our team members, Ethan, on a supply-delivery trip. «Ukraine really is the shire.»

From the early days of the war, many Ukrainians have called the Russian invaders «orcs,» a reference to the army of soulless monsters from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

Read also: «All the people necessary for happiness.» Lviv stories

And if you had been to Ukraine before the war, you too might see the analogy: a free and serene country, with a gentle culture, with great festivity, with safe cities, with, as a Ukrainian philosopher said, «people who like to be left alone.»

I hear increasing rhetoric from some Americans that somehow Ukraine is corrupt.

No. Ukraine’s «sin» was the decision of its people in the aptly named Revolution of Dignity in 2014 to refuse to be governed by Putin’s puppets.

Now, eight years later, the evil tries to slither back.

By Joe Lindsley

Follow us on and Instagram. Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.