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.
”Kyiv is standing strong”
Finally, I spoke with Alisa – a brave woman who is an activist and defender of civilians. Speaking from Kyiv, Alisa had a story which gave me some hope, despite all the ruin and casualties suffered in the city. This is part of our conversation.
My first question is about what is most important. How often is the city under fire and how is the situation with food and medicine supply?
We hear explosions all the time, and by the third day of aggression we learned how to differentiate them. When we were hiding in a shelter, we were surprised to receive messages that the enemy had already occupied some districts of the city, but later when internet access was restored it turned out that Ukrainian forces controlled all the city. However, we could hear explosions from towns surrounding Kyiv and are quite close. Many buildings in Kyiv were damaged, including those situated in the residential districts. Regarding the supplies, some supermarkets and pharmacies are working, but only at some addresses. Anyway, I haven’t been able to check many areas of the city. Neither public transport, nor subway is available. But it worked during the first days …so we were shelled at night, but buses and trams were working in the daytime.
Could you describe how the civilians of the capital of Ukraine were prepared for war?
The situation was so that our bomb shelters were not enough prepared, because nobody was expecting this kind of war. City center bars opened their shelters, although without emergency tunnels. In many of them either ventilation, or toilets are not working. It is problematic when the shelter is big and designed for 200 people, and armed soldiers are walking in the streets at night so people remain trapped inside.
How did you handle this situation?
I have to say that people became very well organized. People bring water to the shelters, repair the toilets, make hot water available, arrange the shelters to be as comfortable as possible not just for themselves but for others too. People are also removing the enemy tags, both fluorescent, those hardly conspicuous at the daytime, and neon, seen only under the ultraviolet light. In many cases such tags are created on the roofs, most likely for an amphibious landing. We even have our own scouts, who risk their lives to explore what is going on nearby. They also prepare Molotov cocktails. I am proud of our community.
So, people are reacting quite actively to what is happening, aren’t they?
Yes. One elderly lady of about 80 years came to hide in a shelter and told us that she was looking for some sweets at home to treat children. But instead of sweets she found a gun! It turned out she had a combat pistol, bullets, ownership documents, which was very surprising. We also know a person who lived in China for many years, and now he is coming back to Ukraine to defend his country. So, there are different situations. Some people leave and some return.
Ukrainians are now defeating the enemy on many fronts, and not just military. Whose credit do you think this is?
The biggest credit for this goes not so much to the country leadership but to the Ukrainian people. It does not matter that people earlier voted for the different political parties and whether they got disappointed with their leaders or not! All are standing now together, shoulder to shoulder. I think this is a very important indication that Ukraine has democracy. We stand not for power, but for ourselves, our country, our identity, our language, and our culture. Putin has unintentionally helped us unite. People who didn’t believe in Russian aggression before, finally they do. Similarly, when we seceded from the Soviet Union there were many people who studied political science, who were interested in politics, and there was a breakthrough. After it we had some decline. There was some breakthrough again after 2014 followed by some decay. And finally, at this very moment people start to analyze, follow news, stopped being indifferent. They are becoming interested in what is going on.
Finally, what would you like me to tell international media?
I am very proud of Ukraine as a strong country. I thought about the Cossacks, Ukrainian warriors, who centuries ago built from nothing. They built the strongholds, gathered, and organized the model army to defend peaceful people. Now history is repeating itself. Brave people – women, men, and even children of 15-16 years old – are ready to resist. We always show that we can organize ourselves. We always wanted to join NATO, but now the question is if NATO would like to join us. We are demonstrating that Ukraine has one of the strongest armies in the world. And, of course, we are very thankful for the support and aid provided by so many countries. This is crucially important for us, because this is not only war between the countries – this is the war of political systems. It is war between authoritarian and democratic systems, and democracy must win!
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 – Kyiv
Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Eugene via Unsplash.
March 11, 2022
In the third 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 about what's happening in Kyiv - exploring both damage to the city and the citizenry's resolve to resist.
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.
”Kyiv is standing strong”
Finally, I spoke with Alisa – a brave woman who is an activist and defender of civilians. Speaking from Kyiv, Alisa had a story which gave me some hope, despite all the ruin and casualties suffered in the city. This is part of our conversation.
My first question is about what is most important. How often is the city under fire and how is the situation with food and medicine supply?
We hear explosions all the time, and by the third day of aggression we learned how to differentiate them. When we were hiding in a shelter, we were surprised to receive messages that the enemy had already occupied some districts of the city, but later when internet access was restored it turned out that Ukrainian forces controlled all the city. However, we could hear explosions from towns surrounding Kyiv and are quite close. Many buildings in Kyiv were damaged, including those situated in the residential districts. Regarding the supplies, some supermarkets and pharmacies are working, but only at some addresses. Anyway, I haven’t been able to check many areas of the city. Neither public transport, nor subway is available. But it worked during the first days …so we were shelled at night, but buses and trams were working in the daytime.
Could you describe how the civilians of the capital of Ukraine were prepared for war?
The situation was so that our bomb shelters were not enough prepared, because nobody was expecting this kind of war. City center bars opened their shelters, although without emergency tunnels. In many of them either ventilation, or toilets are not working. It is problematic when the shelter is big and designed for 200 people, and armed soldiers are walking in the streets at night so people remain trapped inside.
How did you handle this situation?
I have to say that people became very well organized. People bring water to the shelters, repair the toilets, make hot water available, arrange the shelters to be as comfortable as possible not just for themselves but for others too. People are also removing the enemy tags, both fluorescent, those hardly conspicuous at the daytime, and neon, seen only under the ultraviolet light. In many cases such tags are created on the roofs, most likely for an amphibious landing. We even have our own scouts, who risk their lives to explore what is going on nearby. They also prepare Molotov cocktails. I am proud of our community.
So, people are reacting quite actively to what is happening, aren’t they?
Yes. One elderly lady of about 80 years came to hide in a shelter and told us that she was looking for some sweets at home to treat children. But instead of sweets she found a gun! It turned out she had a combat pistol, bullets, ownership documents, which was very surprising. We also know a person who lived in China for many years, and now he is coming back to Ukraine to defend his country. So, there are different situations. Some people leave and some return.
Ukrainians are now defeating the enemy on many fronts, and not just military. Whose credit do you think this is?
The biggest credit for this goes not so much to the country leadership but to the Ukrainian people. It does not matter that people earlier voted for the different political parties and whether they got disappointed with their leaders or not! All are standing now together, shoulder to shoulder. I think this is a very important indication that Ukraine has democracy. We stand not for power, but for ourselves, our country, our identity, our language, and our culture. Putin has unintentionally helped us unite. People who didn’t believe in Russian aggression before, finally they do. Similarly, when we seceded from the Soviet Union there were many people who studied political science, who were interested in politics, and there was a breakthrough. After it we had some decline. There was some breakthrough again after 2014 followed by some decay. And finally, at this very moment people start to analyze, follow news, stopped being indifferent. They are becoming interested in what is going on.
Finally, what would you like me to tell international media?
I am very proud of Ukraine as a strong country. I thought about the Cossacks, Ukrainian warriors, who centuries ago built from nothing. They built the strongholds, gathered, and organized the model army to defend peaceful people. Now history is repeating itself. Brave people – women, men, and even children of 15-16 years old – are ready to resist. We always show that we can organize ourselves. We always wanted to join NATO, but now the question is if NATO would like to join us. We are demonstrating that Ukraine has one of the strongest armies in the world. And, of course, we are very thankful for the support and aid provided by so many countries. This is crucially important for us, because this is not only war between the countries – this is the war of political systems. It is war between authoritarian and democratic systems, and democracy must win!
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.
