On 24 February 2022, we all understood for ourselves what Russia really is, what its essence is and what it wants. Could you go back in time a bit and describe for us where you were that day? How events were unfolding for you?
I was ready for war. Or rather not. You cannot be prepared for terror and genocide, you cannot be prepared to be killed. I knew there was going to be a war, so I woke up calmly on the 24th of February, with a body temperature of 40. First, I washed my hair, packed my things in one place and put my Ukrainian books, because I was going to teach my students. Then, for some reason, I travelled for 6 days from Kyiv to the occupied Chernihiv region. I stayed with my relatives’ relatives, crossed mined roads, drove on collective farm roads that had no longer existed by that time, and crossed a railway bridge. The Russians had just retreated from my town, but it was actually still under siege. But I was on the way home. For some reason. Because it was home.
What did you do in the first days and weeks of the war? Please describe your activities. What events did you take part in?
I started posting relevant information on Instagram from the very first days of the invasion. At that time, the culture of reading news was not very developed. People did not know where to look for the truth. I had a small loyal audience on Instagram, so I decided to collect and analyse the information and post it in Stories (short video stories on social networks like Facebook or Instagram – ed.) People wrote that they came out of their basements and read my stories first because everything was structured and clear. Then came the first fundraiser for the military. Then came a lot of online help for people in Chernihiv and the region (telling people where to get medicine, food, etc.). And I continue to do so to this day. I ask my subscribers for some money, a donation which then goes into providing help for the military.
With all the events changing at a rapid pace every day, how did your friends and colleagues react? What did you talk about most?
Everyone was shocked. They vacillated between “the boys were sent to war, they didn’t know” and “scum came to our country” and waited for reassuring news. In my social circle, everyone was worried about Chernihiv. It was being destroyed at a breakneck pace. We knew that the fall of Chernihiv is a direct road to Kyiv. And our small and strong city stood up.
Were there any volunteer movements organised in your city or university from the beginning of the invasion? Do you remember any?
In my city, Chernihiv, where I was at the time, there were and still are the “Volunteers of Menshchyna”, a powerful small team that does quite unreal things. At the university, the former director of the institute, Svitlana Kuzmina, was the organiser of a humanitarian aid centre. It seems to me that everyone in my social circle was doing as much as they could to help. I can’t remember anyone sitting around waiting for the good days to come.
What work are you most involved in today? What positive changes do you try to make every day through your work, do you also volunteer, participate in various events and fundraisers to support Ukraine?
I can’t say that there is a single area of work that I put the most effort into. I have several areas related to Ukraine, so I invest as much as possible in each of them. Firstly, I raise money for the military in various interesting ways (raffles, literary evenings, apartment parties, Instagram posts). I focus most on buying and repairing cars, as they are the most popular requests. I’m finishing my Master’s degree and teaching Ukrainian to 4 students. I’m de-Russifying them and showing them the amazing Ukrainian language and culture. I also work at the Centre for Strategic Communication. There we process Russian fakes and spread the truth to Ukrainians. In another project, we are developing the community life of conscious young people in the Free network of coworking spaces. And soon we will launch a cool project funded by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation – My Motorcycle Country. We will be researching cultural monuments destroyed by Russia. It’s a lot of work. As I like to say: “Every step I take is for the sake of Ukraine, and who I am is secondary”.
How has your work and life in general changed since the start of the full-scale war? Comparing before and after 24 February, do you think you have changed for the better during this time? Have you helped others in need in any way?
During this time, what do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
I don’t like the phrase “has your life changed for the better”. My life can’t be separated from the context of the country. How can it be for the better when I have lost many friends in the war, and every day my relatives, strangers to me, lose their loved ones, when every day someone’s house is burned down. Yes, my job has changed, yes, the number of acquaintances and interesting projects has increased. But all this would have happened without the war. It would have been in a different context, in a different reality, but it would have happened. Time has changed everything, time has added something. And the war only took away, destroyed and ruined things. I am surprised when someone says: “Take opportunities from the war” or something like that. It’s interesting, like someone takes the opportunity to die for me, and I define war as a catalyst for the better? That is not the right way. These are our people.
The only thing I’ve come to realise is that it’s unbearably hard to live without your people and to know that your heroes are dying. And Russia still exists, it just hides murderers and rapists. Working on these issues is the main focus of my life right now.
What role do you think young people in Ukraine should play today, and what can each of us, young Ukrainians, do to help in this long fight against the aggressor?
Either go to the front, or donate, or volunteer, or make a significant contribution to important areas for the country’s progress. You name it. But first of all, we must help the army. Without them, everything we do can be in shambles in a matter of minutes.
Do you have people, maybe friends, who that you look up to, and who are role models for you?
Always look up to yourself. Ask not who has done what for Ukraine, but how much I will do for Ukraine today.
What do you want to contribute? What do you want to do in the near future?
I need a lot of money. For cars, drones, night vision cameras, repairs, equipment. I will earn and save a lot.
How do you see our victory and the future after the war?
Ruins, blood, thousands of Ukrainian flags in cemeteries, children without families, wounded people we have to learn to treat properly. We’re going to have to deal with an “invasion” of people who will absorb Russian culture with more force in public because “the rockets are no longer flying”, as well as a million political races. And in all this we will once again flounder, trying to keep our heads above water, preserve and increase our wealth, and build, build, build the new country we want to live in.
What is your biggest dream, what would you like to see come true during your time on this earth?
I would like to see the Ukrainian flag raised over the last of the de-occupied territories, and also for Russia to demilitarise and pay reparations.
Translator: Ivan Chepaykin
