The war in Ukraine and the crisis on the border with Belarus are slowly becoming our everyday reality. We are taming our fears in many ways by trying not to think about events beyond our eastern border, by rationalising or by throwing ourselves into relief efforts. However, we are constantly accompanied by multiple anxieties, many of which have a reasonable basis, but many of which also intensify when the strings of our subconscious fears are ‘struck’. On the one hand, a wave of panic swept through Poland when Russian troops appeared at the Chernobyl power station, stirring up old emotions. On the other, the complicated situation on the border with Belarus became fodder for the election campaign. In the course of the meeting, we will consider what non-obvious effects these events have unleashed, whether we are able to deal with them and what long-term consequences they may have.