Last week you were in western and central Ukraine, where people are trying to pick up life again. What do you notice on the street?
‘It seems to be a quiet phase. Those left behind go back to work or to the market. People who left the country at the beginning of the war also partly return. Temporarily, to visit their family, or for good.
‘There is little to be seen of the Russian attacks in the center of Kyiv. There you really only see checkpoints and sandbags. As a result, residents can return to normal life relatively easily. It is still quiet on the street. Many people work from home, education is also online.
‘The atmosphere is different in places where there has been a lot of fighting or which have been occupied. In Irpin, in some neighborhoods there are no houses left standing. The people live among the rubble. There is some running water and electricity again, but normal life is no more when your entire city is destroyed and bodies are still found. You notice that in the people. In these suburbs, the Ukrainians are deeply traumatized by the constant bombardments and threats.’
Do Ukrainians feel safe there now?
“The situation remains uncertain, of course. The Ukrainian people do not believe that Russia will only carry out attacks on the Donbas. The inhabitants are ready, because as they say themselves: we know the Russians and we know the history. In places like Irpin they try to keep morale high. There is much music about victories and there is cheerful talk of dead Russian soldiers. To western eyes it may be very sour. But for them it’s life or death.’
Many Ukrainian refugees want to return to their country. How do those left behind deal with it?
‘In Irpin I stayed with the couple Tetjana and Volodimir. You could see from everything that they are traumatized by the fierce fighting in their city. It was only when they talked about their daughter Angelina that I saw a little life return to their eyes. But they absolutely do not want their daughter, who is currently in Germany, to come back to Irpin. Partly because it’s too dangerous, but mainly because they don’t want their daughter to see them like this. The mother described it very aptly: our souls are not yet calm enough.
‘There are also increasing discussions between spouses and families about how safe it is to return. Men who have been left to fight are more comfortable with their families staying in safe territory . But some women who had to flee are tired of being alone with the children in a refugee camp in a foreign country. They want to go back. This sometimes leads to heated disputes. An acquaintance of mine even temporarily cut off video calling her parents because they refuse to allow her to return. That too is war in 2022.’
Just after the start of the Russian invasion you were also in Ukraine to report. What has changed after two months of war?
‘The biggest difference with the end of February is that the population is now returning to normal life. What also strikes me is that hatred against Russians has increased. That is also one of the reasons why some Ukrainians prefer to return to their homeland. They feel that they cannot express themselves well in other countries.
‘That was also the case for the Ukrainian Polina, whom I met on the bus to Kyiv. She could not bear the European media talking about ‘a conflict’ between two countries. Or about the possibility that Ukraine will give up part of the country to solve the war. She made the comparison with victimblaming: you can’t expect a country to just give up a piece of territory if civilians are raped and murdered.’
Has attitudes towards western media also changed?
‘The people I spoke to in Ukraine are grateful to be able to share their story. You can see on social media that young Ukrainians are increasingly irritated by foreign media. They don’t see us as people, but as a story, it sounds. Some also say that correspondents who work here look at Ukraine through a certain lens, which is incorrect, because they often lived in Russia before.’