A reporter’s ‘full investment of head and heart’

Covering the war in Ukraine is more than an assignment for Martin Kuz. It’s a “full investment of head and heart,” says the Monitor special contributor. 

“I’d like to think I’ve approached a lot of my stories through the years with compassion, empathy, and trying to infuse stories with emotion,” he says. “But I think the difference for me with Ukraine is, the feeling carries with me when I’m not there.”

Although there wasn’t much talk about Ukraine when Martin was growing up, he remembers his Ukrainian father, who died in 2015, feeling a deeply rooted obligation to help the world understand that Ukraine was not Russia. 

Politically speaking, Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. “But independence is not just a political construct,” Martin says. “It’s what’s within the heart. And within the heart of the Ukrainian people is this deep desire to live free, same as my father. And so there’s a connection between the current struggle and what I understand about my father’s own journey – and then extending back to earlier history.”

Martin’s recent cover story explores the role of historical remembrance. The Ukrainian people have, in essence, been locked in battle with Russia since the 17th century. That history has shaped who Ukrainians are today. 

“This trauma is like a terrible national heirloom. But it also explains the strength of the Ukrainians,” Martin says. “They’re bound by this idea of collective memory.”

While soldiers hold the front lines, “so much about war occurs off the battlefield,” Martin says. 

Every Ukrainian citizen is fighting to shape how this war will be remembered, he says. Battles in this war over history are waged both publicly and privately as individuals and communities process the horrors that they are living through.

For this story, Martin spoke with a psychologist who advises residents who have endured loss to establish new routines that can liberate them from some of the triggers of their sorrow. While that advice offers an immediate coping strategy, it also “allows for a kind of a shard of sunlight to fall upon Ukraine and a recognition that there will be a brighter day,” Martin says.

In that sense, Martin sees potential for Ukraine to find a kind of positive transformation known as post-traumatic growth on the other side of this war. 

“That doesn’t mean trauma magically dissipates,” Martin says. “It means that you recognize that you can overcome things beyond what you ever imagined ... and that will allow you to have that brighter future.”