Ukraine’s chemists persevere through a year of war
One year into the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian chemists face blackouts and missile strikes
It’s December 2021; I’m washing the final batch of glassware and tidying up my lab space before leaving for Christmas break, optimistic about the next year as the lab workflow is gradually returning to normal after Covid-19 lockdowns. One of my plans for 2022 is to spend more time on science outreach, including preparing materials in my native language, Ukrainian. I do indeed spend most of the next year on outreach, albeit of a very different kind: raising awareness about the full-scale Russian invasion of my home country.
On 24 February, 2022, the plans of chemists in Ukraine were disrupted much more drastically. Since then, Russian shellings regularly destroy educational and industrial facilities. Even New Year’s Eve didn’t pass without attacks that damaged multiple buildings on the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv campus, among other places. The death toll of Ukrainian scientists keeps rising too.