War from the Rear: A Ukrainian aid volunteer's story

by Andriy Lyubka, Yulia Lyubka (Translator), Kate Tsurkan (Translator)

Overview

A gripping, unexpectedly humorous, and deeply human portrait of life in Ukraine reshaped by war. In this powerful collection of essays, writer Andriy Lyubka—thrust into the role of an unlikely volunteer—offers a firsthand account of delivering aid to the front lines.

With raw honesty and surprising wit, Lyubka captures both the absurdity and the heartbreak of war. He reflects on time lost, the emotional toll of conflict, and the everyday defiance that keeps hope alive. From the logistical nightmares of aid distribution to the rich aroma of coffee that briefly restores a soldier’s sense of normalcy, War from the Rear reveals a side of war rarely seen—the human side.

More than just a chronicle of conflict, this book is a tribute to the individuals who endure it, the bonds they build, and the acts of kindness that shine through even the darkest times. It’s an essential, unforgettable perspective on Ukraine’s ongoing fight that will stay with readers long after the final page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798887198408
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	11/04/2025
Series:	Ukrainian Studies
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andriy Lyubka is a Ukrainian poet, essayist, novelist, and translator known for his sharp wit and keen observations on contemporary life. Raised in Vynohradiv, Ukraine, he studied Ukrainian Philology at Uzhhorod National Universityand later earned a master’s degree in Balkan Studies from Warsaw University. Lyubka is the author of multiple poetry collections, short stories, and novels, including Carbide, a vivid exploration of smuggling culture in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region. He also translates literature from Polish, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, and English. His essays and commentary appear in leading Ukrainian and international publications such as New Eastern Europe, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Den’. Currently based in Uzhhorod, Lyubka continues to be a significant voice in Ukrainian literature, offering insightful and often humorous perspectives on identity, conflict, and everyday resilience.

Table of Contents

Roasted Uganda

Cars

Sausage

Roma

Sleeping in the Vienna Airport toilet 

Techyk

Hose

Khrestyshche

Baptists

Air raid in Bakhmut

On the road

The story I will never write

Hazelnut

Humor that heals us

The smirk of the beastn

A moment of truth

The stranger

Evacuation

Kill lists

Over Achilles’s grave

Orientalism

Bizarre deviations

Investments

Flowers of victory

Odesa

A wartime queen

The main thing is to survive until September

The cultural front

Degradation

War is not only about heroes

Draft

A country of young widows

Astamur Humba (“Abkhaz”)

Youth

Batia

An icon painter

Postscriptum

Acknowledgements

Editorial Reviews

Ukraine's remarkable resistance to Russia's invasion is a true people's war. This is a country that does not look to politicians to tell them what to do. The country survives because people take agency and work with each other to get weapons to the front, supply hospitals, organise partisan movements and help refugees. Lyubka tells the stories of soccer players and coffee roasters, priests and Roma who are all playing their role in this great community of resistance. In the thing once known as 'the West' we often lament the loss of community—in Ukraine it is thriving and winning against the invasion of a cruel Empire. Lyubka brings it alive in prose that is unsentimental yet totally inspiring.”

—Peter Pomerantsev, the author of This is Not Propaganda

 “An author and a war. Real-life autobiographical nonfiction road movie by and about a writer who supplied the army with 400 jeeps. Amazing story about amazing people.

How to deliver 400 jeeps to the front lines for the Ukrainian army and stay alive? In this book you will find answers to questions that you do not yet know exist.

This book is an eye-opener about the amazing interaction between the front and the rear in Ukraine from the cult writer Andriy Lyubka, who became one of the initiators of 'army crowdfunding.'”

—Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin

“Delicate, tender, sharply observed vignettes of the Russo-Ukrainian war told from the inside – unexpected and profoundly humane”

—Charlotte Higgins, editor-in-chief of The Guardian

From the Publisher