When asked what they meant by freedom, not a single person with whom I spoke specified freedom from the Russians. One Ukrainian told me, “When we say freedom, we do not mean ‘freedom from something.’ ” Another defined victory as being “for something, not against something.” The occupiers had gotten in the way of a sense that the world was opening up, that the next generation would have a better life, that decisions made now would matter in years to come. It was essential to remove repression, to gain what philosophers call “negative freedom.” But de-occupation, the removal of harm, was just a
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