Kyiv, Ukraine – At the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced support for Israel, while First Lady Olena Zelenska said Ukrainians understand and “share the pain” of the Israeli people.
Billboards across Kyiv lit up the capital with Israeli flags.
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The response reflected a position held by much of Ukrainian society and many Western leaders at the time.
For some people straddling both identities, the early reactions were difficult to watch.
‘Travelling as a Palestinian closes’ doors
Hashem, a Gaza-born medical professional who obtained Ukrainian citizenship after nearly a decade living in the country, said the contrast in how Palestinians and Ukrainians are treated internationally has long been apparent.
“Travelling as a Ukrainian opens doors; travelling as a Palestinian closes them,” he said, describing the stark difference in freedom of movement, visa access and public sympathy attached to each of his identities.
“This is not a competition of suffering, but a question of principle. If human rights are truly universal, they cannot depend on nationality or passport,” said Hashem, who requested Al Jazeera withholds his surname.
A shifting view of Israel
However, as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continued and developed into a genocide against Palestinians, some Ukrainians said public opinion gradually shifted.
Yuliia Kishchuk, a Ukrainian researcher who, along with 300 Ukrainian scholars, activists and artists, signed an open letter expressing solidarity with Palestinians, said the engineered starvation of Palestinians in Gaza triggered many to reconsider their view of the conflict.
She said some Ukrainians drew parallels with the Soviet-era famine known as the Holodomor, which is regarded by Kyiv as a deliberate act of genocide by Stalin’s regime.
Kishchuk added that attacks on other countries, such as Syria, challenged the Israeli narrative that it had been simply defending itself against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Pro-Palestinian protests have sprung up in Kyiv while prominent mainstream media journalists and podcasters have begun covering the plight of the Palestinians, she explained.
But Kishchuk said the bombardment of Ukraine’s infrastructure over recent weeks, which has left millions without heating, electricity and water as the country endures a freezing winter, has temporarily halted the burgeoning protest movement.
A shifting view of the US
United States President Donald Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war has left many Ukrainians jaded.
Washington is seen by many as less of a steadfast ally and more as a power willing to treat Ukraine as a resource base, while maintaining a conciliatory posture towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kishchuk said this has meant many now see the US “as an imperial pow