Ukrainian society did not choose resilience – the latter was forced on Ukrainian by circumstances. Constant upheavals have formed a new culture of survival, action and solidarity.

Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director-General, Mystetskyi Arsenal, voiced this ideaat the 17th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

“When I listened to Yevhen Hlibovytsky’s speech, I thought: we simply have no other choice.We could not give up just because it was difficult or tough. Historically, giving up has always had fatal consequences - for our families, for elites, for those who tried to collaborate with occupation regimes,” she said.

According to Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, her generation matured in the constant crises landscape: perestroika, the Chernobyl disaster, the USSR collapse, economic upheavals, revolutions, pandemics - all thess have become the usual background of life. 

“I am 46 now, and there have not been five continuous years without an impressive crisis. We simply do not know what it is like to reside in a stable country. Life in conditions of change has become our new normal,” she added.

Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta also emphasized that Ukrainian civil society often takes on functions that the state cannot promptly perform because of bureaucratic impediments. This applies to both humanitarian and cultural spheres.

“We do not want to feel victimized on end. People close existing loopholes, as the state system is overly regulated. Even if someone wants to do something useful, they can be accused of violating some norms. There is much more flexibility in civil society, and it is this flexibility that is our realistic answer to new political and cultural reality,” she emphasized.

According to the Mystetskyi Arsenal Director General, it is this mentioned flexibility that assisted Ukrainians to adapt to war and other disasters, while preserving their abilities to self-defense.

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” foundation, is the main platform in Ukraine to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.