One world event that has been bringing me a lot of sadness is the war between Russia and Ukraine. I know many don’t want to hear about it, but this is just something that is stuck in my throat.

Of course, we understand that wars are a feature of the age we live, in and are to a certain extent inevitable, as long as most people don’t become devotees, but this particular war is different from others in the sense of that it has been affecting large groups of devotees.

The war brought a great shock to thousands of Ukrainian devotees who had to abandon their homes on very short notice and go on dangerous journeys through occupied territories in the Kherson region, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, and so on, sometimes under fire, to eventually reach neutral countries like Georgia or Armenia through Russian territory, from where they could eventually go to countries in Europe. These were quite long and difficult journeys, but they were in a sense the lucky ones because they could at least travel with their families. Ukraine decreed martial law right at the start of the war and prevented all able-bodied men from leaving the country. This led many families to have to separate, with the women and children going to Europe to escape the war, and the men staying in Ukraine to face an uncertain future. This affected, literally, thousands of families of devotees, and many of these families are still separated. Apart from that, many devotees were conscripted into the army, and many of them already died. Months ago a partial list was published with 19 names, and unfortunately, this list is already outdated.

On the Russian side, there was no immediate effect at the start of the war, but its start revealed the nefarious effects of the Russian state propaganda in the minds of many. Unfortunately, years of brainwashing from television and other media tightly controlled by the state lead to the appearance of a parallel philosophy, where the president of the country is considered a saintly leader who is fighting for the maintenance of moral values. The extent of it is difficult to explain for someone who doesn’t have direct experience of the situation.

At the beginning of the war, I faced a lot of struggle to understand the declarations of a number of devotees (some of them whom I personally knew), but after some time I understood that it is just like a mental disease, that is not easy to cure, even when one is faced with the harsh reality. This will be something difficult to solve, even after the war is over.

Apart from the informational sphere, devotees were also affected by the mobilization that was announced last September. Just like at the start of the war, thousands of devotees had to leave their homes on very short notice, this time to escape conscription. Official numbers speak about 300,000 men being forcefully mobilized into the army, but other sources give even larger numbers. Some of these devotees are still outside of the country, taking shelter in countries like India, Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and so on, but many had to return to Russia due to financial constraints and other factors. These are still at risk of being forcefully conscripted if a new mobilization is announced. We have thus a situation where thousands of devotees on both sides are living under constant fear of being forcefully conscripted into the army, understanding well what it entails.

Unfortunately, there is no end in sight for this war. The Russian government appears to be determined to hold the territories they occupied at the beginning of the war (if not gain more), while the Ukrainian government is determined to get all their territories back. Because so many international treaties were violated, there is a deep mistrust that makes any peace agreement extremely difficult. The Ukrainian government fear stopping the war now because they fear that it would just give time for Russia to rearm itself and prepare a newer, bigger invasion in the future, while the Russian leadership is even more determined to continue the war, understanding that a loss would probably lead to a change in the government and prison and death for many of the current leaders. In the current situation, it’s probable that the war will become a very long conflict, that will end only when one of the sides is completely exhausted. Considering that Russia is a country with large natural resources, and Ukraine is being supported by the United States and Europe, this can take a very long time. In the meantime, devotees on both sides will remain under fire. Probably there are lessons we are supposed to learn from this whole ordeal, but the process has been extraordinarily difficult.