As part of the “War Diary” project, we ask the youth of Ukraine how they perceive and experience the terrible, but in many ways decisive for our future, war events. These are students from different universities, from different parts of Ukraine, who, despite all the difficulties of the war, continue to study, create, and work. Since the beginning of the war, many of them have been involved in various public organizations, volunteer movements, help our military, volunteers, civilians, etc. These are young people who have an active public position. This time I had the opportunity to talk with Mariana Bahlai. Mariana is a student of the Faculty of Journalism at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. She is fond of music, reading, learning foreign languages. She writes for online publications.
Mariana Bahlai, student, journalist, studies at the Ivan Franko University of Lviv
We all understand how the life of every Ukrainian who works, studies, and raises children has deteriorated sharply since the beginning of massive shelling of our infrastructure. What is the situation in your city today, can you describe it, please?
I am from Lviv, compared to Kharkiv, Kherson or Kyiv, which have suffered and continue to suffer enormous destruction, the situation here is still ok, my city withstands. If we are talking about some kind of general atmosphere, one immediately gets the impression that everyone in Lviv is aiming for victory: there are a lot of patriotic posters, flags, etc., which is very inspiring.
Lviv, photo from personal archive
Do you think the blackout, which is being written about so much today, is real in the near future, that we can stay without light and communication for a very long time? And what should we do in this case, in your opinion?
I am far from an expert in this field. But as has been said many times, we hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Our utility workers are working at a frantic pace, restoring electricity and water supply very quickly, working in extreme conditions after massive shelling. Therefore, I hope that even in the case of a total blackout, the outages will not last very long. But if that terrible blackout happens, what to do in such a case? To understand who is doing it, why it is happening, to be ready, and in the future, if possible, to try to support the army, volunteers, etc. This shouldn’t weaken us, but make our morale even stronger.
Despite all the problems of today, we try to live on. What motivates you personally to wake up every morning and study, work, live? Where do you get that motivation from?
I was always focused on the result and always had certain goals. The war may be affecting you in a way that you want to talk about it more. Especially when you meet foreigners, you want to somehow remind them that the war is still going on. There are also moments when you think: “oh, how difficult it is for me”. But then you remember those who are currently at the front, who are in a much more difficult condition, and this motivates you not to give up, not to fold your hands and continue to work. We, the youth, are the future of our country, we have to make it the best, and we need to work hard to achieve this.
During the war, in addition to our victories at the front and the very difficult struggle that still continues in the occupied part of Ukraine, we had a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the creations of Ukrainian culture and art: paintings, songs on the theme of war. Do you have examples of art, film, songs, books about the war that made a great impression and to which you want to return in the future?
I would like to single out a photo of our soldiers and volunteers at the front. I saved them. In my opinion, such photos show how we wage this struggle every day, they inspire, evoke sincere feelings. If we take musical compositions, I am very inspired by the song “We were born in a great hour”, it perfectly describes our Ukrainian spirit and, in general, our struggle today.
Now, on account of the war and the humanitarian crisis, many Ukrainians have become volunteers, helping refugees, Ukrainians are organizing funds to support the army, raising funds for the necessary ammunition and medicine. There is a feeling that we are all helping each other in this very difficult time. Can you describe, please, what you consider your personal mission to be today? What would you like to do to help Ukraine win this war?
For now, all I can do is donate to the army, talk about the war as a young journalist, convey Ukrainian ideas while communicating, especially with foreigners. To talk about my experience, not to let people abroad forget about the war. This is my main task.
Where are you most involved today? Can you tell us about your recent trip abroad, what did you do there?
I am deeply involved in education, I’m really interested in it, and on occasion I try myself in programs abroad. So, in October I was in Georgia together with other Ukrainian students. We had daily lectures at a Georgian university, it was a kind of school about the war in Ukraine and Georgia (Georgia also experienced horrors, a war caused by the same aggressor, not so long ago). We, Ukrainian students, were engaged in the promotion of our ideas and our experience, and I consider this extremely important today. We also had the opportunity to visit the Parliament of Georgia and listen to a speech by the member of the Parliament Khatia Dekanoidze.
Visit to the Georgian Parliament, photo from personal archive
Kherson region, Kharkiv region, Bucha and many other cities and towns immediately come to mind when you talk about Russian atrocities against our people. Do you agree with the statement that today’s events are a purposeful genocide of our people?
I agree that this is a true genocide, and the conditional famine is no different from what is happening today in the front-line zones. The methods just changed, yes, but the goal remained the same.This genocide of the Ukrainian people is a very good reason why we should renounce everything Russian, and why Russia should suffer due punishment for its crimes.
Do you think that twenty years from now we will be talking about the genocide of the Ukrainian people today (about the Bucha massacre as one of the most well-known examples) in the same way as we talk about the Holodomor or the Holocaust? These were periods in history when the only goal was to destroy a social group as such.
I try to be realistic. Undoubtedly, there are those among us who remember the Holocaust, the Holodomor, and the “Executed Renaissance”, but there are also those who don’t remember this and who don’t currently consider Russia an enemy. Therefore, their children will not consider today’s events to be genocide. We must work to eradicate such Russian ideas from the minds of our people in order to prevent this from happening again. Then we will remember and talk about this genocide for a very, very long time.
If there was an opportunity to make a film about this war already after our victory, what would it be called, and who would be the main characters?
Regarding the main characters: these are definitely our military, volunteers, people of Ukraine. If we consider the title… It should be a quote that often comes out of our mouths now, which symbolizes our struggle for victory. For some reason, two come to mind: “Fire doesn’t burn the fierce” (from Shevchenko’s poem “Gamaliya”, also set to music – ed.), “Whoever is a fighter, he conquers the world” (song “March of Ukrainian Nationalists” – ed.).
Translator: Bohdana-Nikolietta Terekhina
