On February 24, 2022 the lives of Ukrainians were drastically and devastatingly altered. Since that day, many Ukrainian writers have written as an attempt to fathom and explain what is happening to them and to their country. Prominent Ukrainian on-line journals have acted as forums where Ukrainian intellectuals are able to consistently share their reactions to the war with their fellow Ukrainians.

In this anthology, many of Ukraine's most prominent writers and intellectuals ponder the role of culture and cultural diplomacy in a time of war. They revisit their relations with the world, including with their closest geographical neighbors. They delve deeply into the structure of Russian colonial systems and its empirical paradigms, explaining how they have worked in the past and continue to work in the present. Much of the focus of these writings is on Europe, its guiding principles, its relationship with Russia, its relationship with Ukraine. These texts reflect the horrors of war that Ukraine is experiencing, and its writers attempting to comprehend how this is possible in 21st century Europe.