The setting is the tail end of WWII but this short first impression already connects to current events in Ukraine. Indeed, history is full of patterns and the historical note was helpful to understand the background. There's a YA feel to the story - not only the ages of the main characters, but some of the descriptions (melodramatic scenes, somewhat simplistic/flat characters) but it's possible that more nuance will come as the story continues to develop and unfold. Intriguing start for sure and since it covers a part of WWII that I'm not familiar with, I think I'd learn a lot.