By Valerii Vovk, The hardest thing in war is when a mother sees off her son.
These lines were born after witnessing countless heartbreaking moments of separation.
As she says goodbye,
the mother falls into her son’s arms —
caressing, doting, stroking —
because her child is struggling to get to the service,
Her hands, filled with love,
stroke his light brown hair.
Her heart cries at this painful moment,
even as her eyes quietly beg: “Be safe, my child.”
Her lips firmly whisper: “Go… do your service, my son.”
And as if in a movie, memories flash before her:
how he walked as a child,
how he asked endless questions and riddles,
how she once held his hand
and walked him to school.
She remembers how she taught him to be kind,
to reject evil, to live with dignity.
“Serve Ukraine with honor.
I believe in you, my child.”
When soldiers hear these verses, they remember their loved ones — and they become ready to gnash Satan’s teeth for the sake of Ukraine.
