A brief confession from an ordinary Ukrainian. Dear friends, believe me—as someone who has lost their home and native place, who lives in another city (within Ukraine), and who struggles with health issues and job instability—no one wants the war to end sooner than I do, and Ukrainians like me! We simply want peace of mind at last: the ability to plan more than a few days ahead, the freedom to travel within Ukraine and abroad without worry, and many other SIMPLE and ORDINARY things. Despite the horror of our loss, we are even prepared to make painful concessions and compromises with the aggressor, Russia. For all our intense desire to return to our liberated hometown of Mariupol and our sea, we understand that, right now, it is not worth the lives of our soldiers, and there is currently no military capability to liberate our home cities. So, there is no need to tell us that we don't want peace or that we want the war to drag on endlessly. We are ready for major compromises, but... BUT, despite our desire to end the Russian war in Ukraine as soon as possible, we realize that if we simply give Russia everything it wants right now—allowing it to recover from sanctions and resume hydrocarbon sales to the EU—then within six months to a year, there will be a new offensive launched from the currently occupied territories, followed by new demands. And this will continue until Russia either seizes or destroys Ukraine as a sovereign state entirely. That is why it is not just President Zelenskyy and his team who want to continue the fight against Russian aggression; the majority of Ukrainians do not want to become a Russian colony, and he is simply carrying out our will. Don't believe it? Just come to Ukraine and talk to people on the streets. Yes, there is a small group of people willing to give Russia the entire Donbas—and even more—just "to end the war", but they simply do not understand the Russians, for whom any concession is an invitation to further aggression and the seizure of more territory. Just remember this whenever someone tells you that our president, or we Ukrainians, want an endless war and refuse to make concessions. P.s. This is our last photo from our favourite Forest park in Donetsk region from 2021.