I’m raised and born in Kharkiv, and, throughout my entire adult life, I have been trying to make this city better within my modest means. “Kharkiv is Ukraine” are not empty words for me. Having been a film critic (and hopefully still one) and an arthouse popularizer in the recent years, my inner task was to instill both the love of art within cinema, as well as the common human culture.
Significantly, I have often said that community service is not my thing: I’m a loner. But the war in my country, and right in my city in 2022, significantly shifted my approach and attitude. There was no moral right to remain indifferent. So now that I’m 44—an adult, mature, and a seemingly well-shaped person (as I believed)—I’m a volunteer, continually changing and learning much about myself and life around me. This new path and incredible experience progressively led me to Nova Ukraine. Happy to be a part of this diverse group of individuals, this large, international, idea-driven team. Big ship, big sail, as we say here. The same I could say about my beloved and strong Ukraine.
Interview
Is your volunteer experience different from what you used to do before?
I’ve spent my entire life, at least my adult life, organizing things: businesses, affairs, events, and occasions. But volunteering turned out to be something else, and it requires new skills, abilities, knowledge, ambitions. It made me rethink and take a fresh look at my own values.
What are your values?
My values are honesty—with myself, with people, with those who protect me, with those who trust me with the foundation’s funds, and with my colleagues who work alongside me on equally important tasks.
What story touched you the most during the two years of war?
We received a request from the Dvorichanska community (Kharkiv region), which is located on the border with russia. They sent us a request, we gathered everything they needed, and before sending it, we called to confirm if they were ready to receive it and if everyone was still in place. On that very day, there were significant strikes and heavy bombardment across the region, including our community. The woman who had sent us the request said there was no place to deliver the supplies, and no one left to receive them. Some people had died, others had been evacuated, and the entire community team and leadership were forced to leave. We looked at the collection we had prepared and realized that under these conditions, we couldn’t plan anything serious or strategic.
What is the most important thing you have realized over the past 2 years?
Everything has become clear to me. Ukraine is the most important thing. I am a living “product” of Ukraine, I am its seedling. If I spoke another language until 2022, it only means that I need to study history, get to know my roots, and understand that from a certain point on, that language was once “imposed” on me, that language my people were forced to speak. I am a Ukrainian!
What would I wish for myself 10 years ago?
I would have wished to ask my relatives more carefully about the history of my family. If they didn’t know, I would have gone further. I would have advised my 10-years-ago self to delve into documents and archives to learn where I came from and how it happened that I am the way I am.
Imagine that our donors hear you, what would you say to them?
First, I would express immense gratitude for their concern for Ukraine.
Then I would say that Ukraine deserves attention not only because of the ongoing war but because it is a unique place, a unique country, with unique people who, in their own way, have not given in to the crude pressure, who mostly have not been afraid, who, perhaps not overwhelmingly but significantly, are holding the line against a much larger, stronger, more numerous, and more brazen enemy, which I cannot consider a state. It is a barbarian that has always been next to us, and we are resisting them.
What will you do after you win?
I will probably cry, although I haven’t allowed myself to do so for many, many years. And it will be a sufficient reason to just let go and allow myself to exhale. After that, I will gather all my brothers and sisters who have been with me throughout this war. I will gather my loved ones together. Under such circumstances, there can be no strangers. We will come together and feel the significance of what we have accomplished.
What do you dream about?
I dream of a successful, civilized, progressive and transparent country called Ukraine.
Donate to Support Our Efforts
Please consider supporting Nova Ukraine’s various projects by donating today to bring critical support to those in need. As the devastation has no end in sight, please consider making your donation recurring.
