y name is Artem and I’m a Ukrainian translator and media/communication specialist living in Kaunas, Lithuania. When I left, I never imagined that I would never be able to again see places from my childhood in blossom and unbroken as they used to be – but now I’m afraid I will only find ruins if I return home. Because of this fear, I spoke with Ukrainians on the ground in three cities and bring their stories to the rest of the world.
“I covered up all the windows with my fiberboard paintings”
I spoke with Oleksandr, a journalist and activist living in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv – which has been a stronghold in the defense against the Russian military and is also my hometown.
Please, tell me what has was happening in Chernihiv during the first days of the invasion?
I did not sleep the night before the invasion… I took my phone and started watching the speech by Putin. I realized it was the declaration of war. Later, people started writing and posting videos of explosions in various cities. My friends didn’t believe that a war had started, but they were woken up by gunfire and explosions from missile strikes. Everyone was shocked. People began to leave the city. On my way to work I heard a siren sound, and now I can hear it all the time. The sound just stuck in my mind and other people have the same problem. Our editor-in-chief left the city with children; we were asked to leave the office due to explosions nearby. I remained with one colleague to start collecting information for our citizens. I did not eat anything the first 2 days from stress. But it was also hard to buy anything in shops, where the lines of hundreds of people are standing to get some products.
I heard from our common friend that the house of your parents was hit. How are they?
Yes, a building materials hypermarket “Epitsentr” together with the entire private district (without any military objects in the nearest area) was shelled. First, a missile hit the house of our neighbors. Then another one hit my parents’ house and destroyed part of the walls. After some pause the shelling continued, and I barely managed to pick up my parents from there and take them to my apartment in the center. Currently, no stone remains unturned in that district. The entire northern part of the city is smashed by the Russian “Grad” missile systems. You know, earlier I was interested in painting and have some of my pictures on fiberboards. So, I hammered up all windows with my paintings and, thus, use them as a protection, because I’m afraid not to be in time to the bomb-shelter.
Our region borders both Russia and the Republic of Belarus at the same time. Do you know about any attacks from the Belorussian side?
Ballistic missiles sent from Belarus hit the center of our city. At the same time, the Russian missile system “Iskander”, also from the territory of Belarus, was working. As a result, the cinema, kindergarten, school, psychiatric hospital, children’s policlinic, dentistry, library, boiler house, regional hospital, municipal hospital, and some residential houses were either damaged, or fully destroyed. The nearest villages close to our city don’t exist anymore…
Do you know anything about shelling of the kindergarten #72 in the city?
It happened on Feb. 26. This was an artillery shelling from missile systems, self-propelled guns, ballistic missiles…and many buildings were hit at the same time. Dozens of people suffered. The enemy’s goal is to cause panic in the city.
What could you tell about the attempts to take the city by assault? What weapon are they using to reach their goal?
Lots of tanks! Artillery! Missile systems! When “Iskander” ballistic missiles are hitting it reminds of an earthquake. Even buildings that aren’t struck shake from the impact. We called the recent assault the “Battle for Chernihiv 2022.” Residents stopped the convoys themselves too. The residents of village Koriukivka just used their bodies to block a road and the tanks had to turn back. However, in town the town of Bakhmach in the Chernihiv region, people didn’t manage to stop the breakthrough. We have information that the occupants opened fire against civilians who blocked their movement in the town of Ichnia, also in the Chernihiv region. There were cases where Russians soldiers drove people out of their houses in the middle of the night, leaving the residents to suffer from cold in our winter weather outside. That’s part of why many civilians joined the territorial defense and are ready to fight against the occupants with the bare hands.
What message would you like to send to people in other countries?
I would like to say thank you for the support which is felt here. Volunteering, rallies, weapons that we desperately need. If you can help more, it would be great! Any aid would be good. The world is small in fact. If Russian destroys us, they will go further. Russia’s ultimate goal is to dominate the entire world just to feel their power. Their philosophy is, and this is clearly claimed on the information platforms of Russia, that the borders of Russia end nowhere. Nobody in the world should feel safe right now. This is why it is important to struggle against what is indeed a neo-Nazi ideology.
What would you like to tell the Russian people and/or the Russian government?
Peaceful people in Russia should know that this escapade will lead to the death of Russia. Stop it, otherwise you will be liable for inaction. Let them read the history of World War 2 carefully. I advise the Russian government to watch the film “Nuremberg” released in 2000. And I wish their military forces who came with war to turn into fertilizer.
Editors’ Note: To bring these interviews to you as accurately and fully as possible, Diplomatic Courier is publishing Artem’s interviews in three parts. All interviews have been edited for clarity but are largely unaltered. These interviews were transcribed on March 3, 2022, and reflect a situation which may have evolved significantly in the following days.
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Ukraine’s Stories as Told from The Ground – Chernihiv
Chernihiv, Černigov, Černihivská, Ukrajina. Photo by Max Tereshchenko via Unsplash.
March 11, 2022
In the first of a three-part series of interviews covering the situation on the ground in Ukraine amid Russia's invasion, Artemy Ponomarevskyi spoke with a colleague to learn more about what's happening in the city of Chernihiv - Artemy's hometown.
M
y name is Artem and I’m a Ukrainian translator and media/communication specialist living in Kaunas, Lithuania. When I left, I never imagined that I would never be able to again see places from my childhood in blossom and unbroken as they used to be – but now I’m afraid I will only find ruins if I return home. Because of this fear, I spoke with Ukrainians on the ground in three cities and bring their stories to the rest of the world.
“I covered up all the windows with my fiberboard paintings”
I spoke with Oleksandr, a journalist and activist living in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv – which has been a stronghold in the defense against the Russian military and is also my hometown.
Please, tell me what has was happening in Chernihiv during the first days of the invasion?
I did not sleep the night before the invasion… I took my phone and started watching the speech by Putin. I realized it was the declaration of war. Later, people started writing and posting videos of explosions in various cities. My friends didn’t believe that a war had started, but they were woken up by gunfire and explosions from missile strikes. Everyone was shocked. People began to leave the city. On my way to work I heard a siren sound, and now I can hear it all the time. The sound just stuck in my mind and other people have the same problem. Our editor-in-chief left the city with children; we were asked to leave the office due to explosions nearby. I remained with one colleague to start collecting information for our citizens. I did not eat anything the first 2 days from stress. But it was also hard to buy anything in shops, where the lines of hundreds of people are standing to get some products.
I heard from our common friend that the house of your parents was hit. How are they?
Yes, a building materials hypermarket “Epitsentr” together with the entire private district (without any military objects in the nearest area) was shelled. First, a missile hit the house of our neighbors. Then another one hit my parents’ house and destroyed part of the walls. After some pause the shelling continued, and I barely managed to pick up my parents from there and take them to my apartment in the center. Currently, no stone remains unturned in that district. The entire northern part of the city is smashed by the Russian “Grad” missile systems. You know, earlier I was interested in painting and have some of my pictures on fiberboards. So, I hammered up all windows with my paintings and, thus, use them as a protection, because I’m afraid not to be in time to the bomb-shelter.
Our region borders both Russia and the Republic of Belarus at the same time. Do you know about any attacks from the Belorussian side?
Ballistic missiles sent from Belarus hit the center of our city. At the same time, the Russian missile system “Iskander”, also from the territory of Belarus, was working. As a result, the cinema, kindergarten, school, psychiatric hospital, children’s policlinic, dentistry, library, boiler house, regional hospital, municipal hospital, and some residential houses were either damaged, or fully destroyed. The nearest villages close to our city don’t exist anymore…
Do you know anything about shelling of the kindergarten #72 in the city?
It happened on Feb. 26. This was an artillery shelling from missile systems, self-propelled guns, ballistic missiles…and many buildings were hit at the same time. Dozens of people suffered. The enemy’s goal is to cause panic in the city.
What could you tell about the attempts to take the city by assault? What weapon are they using to reach their goal?
Lots of tanks! Artillery! Missile systems! When “Iskander” ballistic missiles are hitting it reminds of an earthquake. Even buildings that aren’t struck shake from the impact. We called the recent assault the “Battle for Chernihiv 2022.” Residents stopped the convoys themselves too. The residents of village Koriukivka just used their bodies to block a road and the tanks had to turn back. However, in town the town of Bakhmach in the Chernihiv region, people didn’t manage to stop the breakthrough. We have information that the occupants opened fire against civilians who blocked their movement in the town of Ichnia, also in the Chernihiv region. There were cases where Russians soldiers drove people out of their houses in the middle of the night, leaving the residents to suffer from cold in our winter weather outside. That’s part of why many civilians joined the territorial defense and are ready to fight against the occupants with the bare hands.
What message would you like to send to people in other countries?
I would like to say thank you for the support which is felt here. Volunteering, rallies, weapons that we desperately need. If you can help more, it would be great! Any aid would be good. The world is small in fact. If Russian destroys us, they will go further. Russia’s ultimate goal is to dominate the entire world just to feel their power. Their philosophy is, and this is clearly claimed on the information platforms of Russia, that the borders of Russia end nowhere. Nobody in the world should feel safe right now. This is why it is important to struggle against what is indeed a neo-Nazi ideology.
What would you like to tell the Russian people and/or the Russian government?
Peaceful people in Russia should know that this escapade will lead to the death of Russia. Stop it, otherwise you will be liable for inaction. Let them read the history of World War 2 carefully. I advise the Russian government to watch the film “Nuremberg” released in 2000. And I wish their military forces who came with war to turn into fertilizer.
Editors’ Note: To bring these interviews to you as accurately and fully as possible, Diplomatic Courier is publishing Artem’s interviews in three parts. All interviews have been edited for clarity but are largely unaltered. These interviews were transcribed on March 3, 2022, and reflect a situation which may have evolved significantly in the following days.
