Ukrainians are determined to persevere, but they worry that their allies aren’t

KYIV — The overnight train ride from Poland to Ukraine is a reminder of why this land has been so hotly contested over the last century: Ukraine’s soil is among the most fertile on the planet. We passed vast fields of wheat and other crops dotted with small farmhouses; in some places farmers were still using horses to plow the fields. As we approached Kyiv, the landscape quickly shifted to urban.

Despite the war, Ukraine’s railways continue to be clean, comfortable and efficient. My train rolled into Kyiv right on time. That says a lot about Ukraine. Despite the war, Kyiv feels almost normal. A year into the invasion, roughly half of Kyiv’s population had fled, but many people have since returned. The city had about 3.9 million residents in 2021, before the fighting started, and it’s back to around 3.6 million today (local sources tell me.)

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