How to keep morale up as Ukraine war drags on? | DW News

For the first time Ukraine is officially celebrating Christmas together with Western countries most of its Orthodox Believers traditionally marked it in January according to the Julian calendar also used in Russia President Vladimir zalinski has published a video message to the Ukrainian people he asked the soldiers fighting Russians on the front lines to

Remain steadfast in their mission with conscription plans behind schedule those soldiers often don’t know when they’ll see their fam next time or how many more years they’ll be at War DW’s Nick Connelly has been to the dunet region in eastern Ukraine to meet musicians in uniform trying to keep spirits Up this is about as big as con can get here in eastern Ukraine with an earshot of the front lines any bigger the crowd of soldiers could easily attract a Russian strike on the bill tonight an Eclectic group of musicians playing guitar folk instruments as well as classical violin all of them in

Uniform among them tonight is a ’90s pop Star oh baby baby m don’t underestimate what music can do have a sing when you’re out there don’t worry about looking silly the music’s going to make you feel much better when you’re at War where else can you let it all out an hour or two of distraction for

Soldiers who have no idea how many years they’ll be asked to fight that at least is the idea behind these concerts they asked mirav about his call sign jich or son of John Ukrainian it sparked conversation about growing up in Ukraine as the son of a Nigerian father and a Russian Mother these men have just spent the best part of two weeks facing off against Russian troops at as close quarters as it gets theirs is an infantry regiment now they’re getting some much needed downtime to sleep recover and listen to some instruments they might not have come across before this

War these guys aren’t going to open up to a psychologist especially someone who hasn’t been through what they have soldiers are a tough audience they’re demanding they’re closed off emotionally trying to create a connection with them is really tough but if they do up to you then it’s for

Real civilian musicians mirus tells us often have a hard time with these audiences especially the men give me your guitar I’ll give you my gun they’re told the military draft and making sure its Fair has become a hot button issue here in Ukraine cues of volunteers outside

Recruitment offices are a thing of the past now replaced by raids on gyms and restaurants to track down Recruits sometimes these soldiers get tired and frustrated but for the most part they’re focused on doing the job I think most people here have realized that they need to Pace themselves we’ve got a marathon ahead not a Sprint one thing these soldiers do know for certain is that they’ll be spending this Christmas away from their families most likely in the Field and for more on the situation in Ukraine and those soldiers we can now talk to DW correspondent Matias Berlinger in Keef Matias we’re coming up on two years of fighting for Ukraine’s troops who stopped the Takeover of their country many thought was Unstoppable at at first but what is morale like

Now it’s a little bit of a mixed picture of course people are tired here uh Paul show that everybody uh almost everybody in Ukraine either has friends or relatives who have been killed in this War soldiers who have been killed so people are really um experiencing this

Very closely and uh they are tired many ask like how long is this going to go on the other hand the vast majority here uh does not think there is an alternative to continuing fighting there is no uh uh peace achievable no peace that would guarantee a longtime peace at the moment

Uh there is no offer from Russia really and uh most people here are not ready to leave these um territories behind to uh make a deal so there’s only one alternative and that is to continue and in that way morale is high people are convinced that they need to continue

Fighting and in terms of keeping up that morale I think we can all remember many of our viewers as well at the beginning of the conflict people around the world were calling President Vladimir zalinski this unlikely comedian come president a Ukrainian Churchill an incredible leader

In the first months of the war is he still a popular leader now I think his ratings are more down to human levels like in the beginning of the war he had the support of fantastic like 90% of the people were in his favor and um he really won the

Support of the People by how he acted especially in the first days of the war he stayed in Kev he addressed the people directly star contrast to Putin who was in these big rooms at a very big distance of everybody um but of course people do ask questions about this or

That decision and his ratings are lower now there’s something in the 60% um that’s still a majority of people he still has the support of people uh but um he people also uh do not go with everything he does and his support is much lower than that of the military

Leadership uh which still enjoy some 80 something per of support um so overall people have a more or less stable trust in uh the leadership of the country at War um but not everybody um supports them at the same level and there are questions to many of the decisions that this leadership has

Made okay DW’s Matias buringer in Keef thank you so much for that [Applause] insight

For the first time, Ukraine is officialy celebrating Christmas together with western countries. Most of its orthodox believers traditionally marked it in January, according to the Julian calender – also used in Russia.
President Volodymir Zelenskyy has published a video message to the Ukrainians. He asked the soldiers fighting the Russians on the front lines to remain steadfast in their mission.
With conscription plans behind schedule, those soldiers often don’t know when they’ll see their families next time – or how many more years they’ll be at war. DW’s Nick Connolly has been to the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to meet musicians in uniform trying to keep spirits up.

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50 comments

  1. Ukraine should've surrender in the first two months. The could have avoided all this deaths and had a better deal.
    Now russia took all they wanted anyways and will desarm Ukraine.
    They should surrender and stop sending their men to die.

    You should know when to stop fighting.

  4. 25 DEC 2023

    It seems like the war will never end. But there is a lot of good news! Now that I am retired I can watch lots of videos on YouTube and read news articles. From all these videos and news articles I understand that Ukraine is slowly winning the war. An article tells me Ukraine is getting 18 F-16 fighter planes. Just a few days ago the Ukrainian army shot down 3 Russian bombers! Now they have shot down another one! Wow! The Ukrainian army is destroying as much Russian equipment as it can. They fly their drones around and discover where the military equipment is and then they destroy it. As well lots of Russian soldiers are killed too. Slowly the Russian army is shrinking in size and they are losing lots of military equipment they can not replace. But the Ukrainian army is getting a lot more new military equipment from Western countries. There is more financial aid coming to Ukraine. As well Ukraine has designed some excellent military equipment like their flying drones and the sea drones. Recently they have a new sea drone that can go 110 km/hr across the water.
    In Russia the economy is terrible. Russia has lost about 73% of its revenue. The ruble has lost in value again and inflation in Russia is getting worse. There is even a shortage of eggs. There are more sanctions being put on Russia. Russia is very deep in debt. It can not sustain this war much longer.
    There are some signs that Russia is reaching its breaking point. Putin mentioned he wants peace but on his terms. For me it means he knows Russia is deep trouble and hopes he can achieve peace while keeping the land he conquered. That way it will look like a victory for Russia. After watching the channel REPORTING FROM UKRAINE it says Russian troops keep attacking and losing soldiers and equipment but not gaining anything. For me it means they are ordered to attack constantly in the hopes of achieving some victory. Putin needs a victory to brag about so he can get elected again. Intelligence reports state that Russia has no plans for the war in 2025. It means that they hope to achieve a victory this year because they can not afford to fight another year. According to the channel Joe Blogs Russia is very deep in debt and its revenues are declining as well. So for how long can Russia keep fighting and spending so much money on the war while its revenues are declining?
    As far as I know now Ukraine will be moving ahead – slowly at first. Soon it will have the 18 F-16 fighter jets and that will make a big difference. As well Ukraine is getting financial help and lots of new military equipment. But the Russian army is losing equipment and soldiers every day. I believe that 2024 will be the last year of this terrible war.
    The Ukraine army has been absolutely amazing! Despite not having a navy it pushed the Russian navy out of Crimea! Despite how massive the Russian army is the Ukrainians have inflicted colossal damages on the army. The Russian army can not conquer Ukraine no matter what it does or how many soldiers it has or how many times it bombs the infrastructure. This must be frustrating to the Russian army. I absolutely believe Ukraine will cleanse itself of these Russian gangsters next year.

  7. The question of a deal is moot.
    1. Russia’s war aims have been curtailed by devastating resistance, but still include ensuring demilitarisation and neutrality of Ukraine.
    2. Russia has a history of fighting stalemate-like wars, only to come back and attack with overwhelming force some years later.
    3. Ukraine also doesn’t want to give up its land, and its leaders have announced maximalist aims.

  13. A musician who has never been on a battlefield telling soldiers at the front-line how to behave and think at the front-line is quite puzzling

  22. As a former fighter against Stalinism in formerly occupied Hungary, prime minister Orban knows the Russians well. … What many people don't know: Stalin was not a Russian, but a Georgian.

  24. I never thought it, but I actually start to sympathize with Robert Heinlein's view, that citizenship, and voting rights should only be given to people, who served in the military. Otherwise what does this 60% approval rating of the war means? 60% of the people, who dont want to go to the meatgrinder? I dont think they should have a word on this matter at all.

  30. Wonderful report until you goated your reporter into disparaging the war effort by undermining President Zelensky and the Administration that will be in power until the war ends per the constitution and law!

  33. Business is certainly business, even to the last ukrainian

    "This is a smart investment that will pay dividends for American security for generations." Joe Biden

    Biden "Putin will not stop if he wins in Ukraine, he will move on and attack one of the NATO countries"

    Zelensky “Putin will go further and attack NATO countries” Zelensky “we are defending Poland”

  34. Western hypocrisy over Gaza war is exposed…west biggest sponsor of terrorism…Glad countries like Russia finally taking a stand

  38. Maybe it's time to negotiate with the anti-christ, if he agrees to never ask for more Ukrainian land. It seems that certain borders have been settled on, and neither side is will to really sacrifice more lives for land they absolutely hold essential to their respective goals. it would be another iron curtain but it seems like we're at a standstill. Maybe both sides would agree to a deal.

  47. Люди узнают новости из своих СМИ и думают что только в России пропаганда, а у них правда 😂 наивные и глупые

  48. If the russia interest rate sticks around 15-16precent like it has. Another year or so they are going to be so screwed. Also, I see putin is running again? Is anyone running against? Ans how many deaths/disappearances are we thinking lol

  49. People keep getting thrown into a meat grinder with a disproportionately high losses for illusionary ideas and unattainable goals. No freedom. Corruption. Authoritarism is thriving. No wonder the morale is low.

  50. I am not Ukranian and I am not Russian. So, I have no emotional attachment to this conflict. So, the answer is obvious to me. If you can defeat Russia, keep fighting. If there isn't a chance. Negotiate. Continue fighting is not patriotism but causing more miseries to both parties. If Russia does not observe the terms of the agreement later, I will agree that you have to keep fighting then as it proves negotiation is meaningless. But for now, give negotiation a chance.

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