LETTER FROM WARSAW

When Ukrainian journalist Zoriana Varenia decided, on August 10, to share on social media the story of the three assaults she had endured, it had a snowball effect and many similar accounts emerged. For the first time, the Ukrainian community made its voice heard in Polish, serving as a wake-up call and prompting a wave of compassion and support from Polish intellectuals and liberal figures.

The stories recounted by this 27-year-old woman have become commonplace and follow a similar pattern. In one of the busiest areas in central Warsaw, Varenia was shoved and insulted while speaking Ukrainian on the phone as she checked in after bombings in Kyiv. A few months later, on a bus and while talking with a friend, the two women were confronted by a man: "In Poland, we speak Polish!" Each time, no one intervened.

"I hesitated for a long time before writing these words because I fear hateful reactions," Varenia said. "I have always considered Poland my second homeland. I have lived here for nine years. I have far more close friends here than in Ukraine. But what is happening now is simply catastrophic. The level of hatred, false information and manipulation... I am in shock. I am increasingly considering moving elsewhere or returning home, despite the war."

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