Kyiv psychologist suggests angry Ukrainians take out their frustration by building fire bombs

Rebecca Cohen
Updated ·2 min read
Ukraine war russia protest London
Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked protests around the world and huge volatility in financial markets.Henry Nicholls/Reuters

  • A Ukrainian psychologist told The New York Times that Ukrainians should channel their anger for the Russian invasion into "something useful" like making "incendiary bombs."

  • "Anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate," Olha Koba told The Times.

  • Thousands of people have been protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine since the first attack on February 24.

A Ukrainian psychologist suggested fellow Ukrainians should channel their anger over the Russian invasion into making firebombs.

Olha Koba told The New York Times — in a piece about hate for Russia and its president — that anger and frustration are normal emotions among Ukrainians right now, and they should try to use that anger toward something productive.

"Anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate," Koba, a psychologist from Kyiv, told the Times.

Video: Children hide in basement in Ukraine

"But it is important to channel it into something useful," she said, according to the Times, "such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles."

"When people are happy about the death of Russian soldiers, it is explicable," she continued. "There is a subconscious understanding that this soldier will no longer be able to kill their loved ones."

Thousands have taken to the streets in both Russia and Ukraine to protest the Russian invasion that started on February 24. Since, more than a thousand civilians have been killed in the attacks, according to the United Nations, with the actual death toll expected to be much higher.

On Sunday, a Russian strike hit an ostensible evacuation checkpoint for civilians outside Kyiv, killing a mother, father, and their two children, CNN reported.

As of March 2, the Russian government said 498 of its soldiers had been killed and more than 1,500 wounded. Ukrainian authorities have claimed that more than 11,000 Russian troops have either been killed or injured.

Read the original article on Business Insider