"This book explores what noncombatant civilians go through in a country at war. The first half takes place in the parts of Ukraine still controlled by central authorities, exploring friend, family, and romantic partner relationships to demonstrate how war can reconfigure intimacy. The second half is focused on life in and around the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, where residents in close proximity to the military conflict were left, for the most part, to fend for themselves. A place with mercenary gunmen, criminal gangs, and political chaos was paradoxically also a place where ethics thrived"-- Provided by publisher.

Preface --Acknowledgments -- List of abbreviations-- Note on transliteration -- Introduction -- 1. "Now we have funeral after funeral" : the conflict over the conflict in Donbas -- 2. Welcome to Café Patriot! : militarization and a themed café -- 3. Interpersonal peace : the micropolitics of friendship -- 4. Home fronts : romantic partnerships and families during war -- 5. Boots, gloves, and tactical kinship : everyday war -- Intertext : "I need a peaceful sky" -- 6. Praying to be killed at once : ways of coping with military violence -- 7. Everyday sci-fi and practical orientalism -- 8. The volunteer body collectors : outsourcing undertaking and smuggling pediatric insulin -- 9. Concluding thoughts -- Intertext : "I realize that nothing will be the same again" -- Appendix: Pseudonyms of interviewees -- Notes -- References -- Index.