A Kiev citizen revealed to MK the truth about the situation in the Ukrainian capital

Why didn’t they evacuate the city earlier? Is there such a possibility today?

– The mass departure of the people of Kiev began literally the next day after the start of hostilities. Most of the townspeople were not sure what to do and where to go. Streams of cars poured towards the western border. But leaving for men soon became impossible. It remains banned to this day. True, trade in all kinds of permits for crossing the border developed rather quickly. Also, these permits are a kind of incentive for loyalty to the authorities.

– Do newspapers come out?

– The number of newspapers has significantly decreased last year. This is due to the ban on Russian-language publications, that is, the requirement for the mandatory release of a mirror edition in Ukrainian, or, as they like to call it now, in the “state” language. Seriously crushed printed materials and the transfer of media to the Internet. The remains of printed periodicals can be found only on a few layouts.

– Water, electricity, heating, gas – what is in your house from the standard set of benefits of civilization?

– For the second week, power outages remain a significant problem. Many districts complain about problems with heating and hot water. The emergency shutdown of water last week caused a certain panic. People rushed to replenish the supply of drinking water. Queues lined up at the city pump rooms, where you can get artesian water. The legend claims that it is drinkable, but there are great doubts about this. People with low incomes cannot buy bottled drinking water in stores. The water in the water supply, if it is supplied, unfortunately, does not differ in quality.

Interest in emergency sources of electricity has increased. Wealthy private sector residents buy generators. For those who live in high-rise buildings, this energy supply option is not suitable. People buy all kinds of batteries and power banks. But they, in turn, also require a source of replenishment of energy, and the generator does not work without fuel. Seriously spurred the panic mayor Klitschko, who called on foreigners to help Kyiv with blankets. No one can understand how the brought blankets will be saved.

There were warnings from mobile providers about possible interruptions in communication. Such interruptions are observed in the work of local Internet providers, whose equipment is also subject to rolling blackouts. It happens that there is electricity in a house or office, but there is no Internet, and then the Internet appears, but the “light” disappears.

– Is it possible for Russian speakers to watch Ukrainian TV in Russian?

– We are deprived of a full-fledged television at the behest of the Ukrainian authorities. Most major TV channels broadcast the so-called “Unified Information Channel”. Obviously, this makes it possible to more strictly control and dose the information supplied. In fact, this is a very sad propaganda spectacle that does not inspire much confidence among the people. Commercial TV channels are not able to find advertisers and sell advertising to ensure at least some production of a media product, so they are forced to be content with second-hand.

– How is the cultural life in Kyiv? Cinemas, theaters, museums, concert halls – what works out of it? Or does everyone think about their daily bread?

– We are not talking about difficulties with food. The salaries of state employees are paid. However, small and medium-sized businesses have seriously sank. Slowly, many retailers have curtailed, stores are closing. Western trade brands have left not only Moscow, many of them are no longer in Kyiv either. This is primarily due to the fact that the purchasing power of the population has collapsed.

Offers in the cultural sector have also undergone significant changes. A prerequisite for presence in the cultural space is militaristic propaganda and Russophobia. Russian language is prohibited. An illustrative example is the Lesya Ukrainka Theater of Russian Drama, which for many years was bullied for the Russian language. In the summer, a message appeared about the “desire” of the theater’s creative team to abandon the Russian language. Everyone understands perfectly well that this is the “desire” of completely different people who have nothing to do with the theater. But artists need to survive, feed their families, after all.

Only People’s Artist of Ukraine and Russia Larisa Kadochnikova was allowed to continue playing her solo performance in Russian. The National Opera of Ukraine, which excluded musical works by Russian composers from its repertoire, also came up with a similar “initiative”. As a result, the theater was left without a guaranteed full house for Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. There is an active search for a worthy alternative. Quite recently, the premiere of a new modernized production of “La Traviata” took place, the repertoire is now dominated by performances to the music of European composers. In the same vein, the Moscow Philharmonic builds its concert activity.

The implementation of an order for hate propaganda is a tempting carrot for creative people. With this new version of “Glory to the CPSU” and “Communism will win,” many wipe the thresholds of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, the Kyiv mayor’s office and numerous foreign foundations. Without mentioning the support of the Ukrainian army, it is not customary to submit performances for the awarding of cultural figures.

“Aggravating circumstance” are the facts, God forbid, touring in Russia or cooperation with Russian colleagues. Performances of all kinds of “volunteers” and “philanthropists” who squeeze out a penny for the needs of the army have become fashionable.

The posters of the Kyiv Young Theater and the Theater on the Left Bank are full of dubious innovations. At the same time, the Ivan Franko Academic Theater of Ukrainian Drama is true to its status and is not exchanged for one-day propaganda agitation. New productions of serious plays by foreign authors appear in his repertoire, which pleases.

There are no big tour concerts and shows. Obviously, due to the state of siege and the lack of free money for the audience, as well as due to the mass exodus of representatives of the middle class outside the country, who constituted the audience for this type of art.

– Does transport work and, in particular, the Kiev metro?

– The work of transport has undergone certain changes. Due to interruptions in the supply of electricity, trolleybuses are being replaced by buses. At the same time, part of the trolleybus fleet still continues to enter the line. The metro operates as usual. True, in the near future they promise to increase the interval of train traffic.

During the declaration of alarms, metro stations turn into bomb shelters. Of course, they are not very comfortable. But people bring chairs and rugs with them. Many occupy the “amphitheater” of the escalators. The filling of metro stations was very impressive at the beginning of hostilities. Now people are used to it and go to shelters less and less. This is due to the removal of the armed confrontation from the capital.

– Can we say that the local authorities are doing everything for the safety of the population?

– If the city continues to live and work, then the local authorities are trying to ensure its viability. Some things get better, some things get worse. Kyiv has much more opportunities than regional centers or small towns and villages, especially those located near the “front line”. The authorities are well aware that relative social well-being is a guarantee of citizens’ loyalty.

– “How not to love you, my Kyiv” – Yuri Gulyaev sang in the 60s. And the Soviet people loved this city just like Leningrad or Moscow. Therefore, I would like to ask: the monument to the Motherland, the Arch of Friendship of Peoples, Vladimirskaya Gorka – is everything in order with these places? When was the last time you were near the visiting cards of your capital? Is it possible to walk freely on the streets?

– The Motherland Monument is in place. He is surrounded by a permanent discussion of how to change it and remove the Soviet symbols. I won’t be surprised if over time they start dispersing the idea of ​​its demolition. Obviously, the size of the monument stops its opponents, who now set the tone in the humanitarian sphere.

Most of the monuments are covered with protective structures so that they do not get damaged. However, for some reason this does not apply to the monument to Alexander Pushkin by the famous Ukrainian sculptor Alexander Kovalev. Busts of Pushkin were dismantled in the city on Glory Square and in the courtyard of the Kyiv gymnasium No. 153, which was also deprived of the poet’s name. And there was also a wave of regular renaming of streets and squares – a favorite pastime of all kinds of local activists. But in the parks, as always in autumn, it is beautiful and cozy.

– How does the energy crisis affect you personally? What to do without light to a person who does not think of himself outside of culture?

– I said a little about the situation with electricity and the Internet. If there is electricity, then, of course, it is possible to read digital books, articles from online publications, watch videos and television. Russian media are no exception, of course, you won’t see them without the help of a VPN. Satellite TV is also available.

– How do you feel about the Ukrainian language and culture? What language is spoken more?

-How can you relate to the language that you hear from childhood, read books in it, watch films, tell jokes, in the end, on a par with Russian. We are mostly bilingual and do not experience any difficulties in using Ukrainian or Russian. Two languages ​​are like two parents. You can’t love them differently. And if they start convincing you that your mother is better than your father, then nothing good will come of this venture. The current language policy in Ukraine did not emerge six months or eight years ago. For thirty years, the Russian language has been methodically ousted.

At first, they assured that the state Ukrainian language needed protection, and for this he was given an exceptional position in office work and in state communications. Then it turned out that for some reason it is also possible to get an education only in Ukrainian. And finally, we were confronted with the fact that the public sphere – education, culture, media – is an exclusive area for the state language.

The assertion of the positions of the Ukrainian language was ensured exclusively by administrative measures aimed at strangling the Russian. At the same time, throughout the entire thirty years, the Russian language has shown an amazing “survivability”. As the people of Kiev and their children spoke in Russian, they say so. True, in the conditions of the deindustrialization of the country, many residents of the agrarian regions, most of them Ukrainian-speaking, were drawn to the capital. For this reason, Ukrainian speech has become heard more often here. But refugees from the Donbass provided a certain influx of citizens who speak Russian.

As for the change of language “to spite the neighbor”, this phenomenon also takes place. But most of the time it’s a show for show, when people want to impress. Then they forget about it, and everything returns to normal. There were cases of comments about the language of communication. It’s funny when the initiators of such remarks are people who barely speak Ukrainian. For some, “the wrong language” is the last argument for lack of others. But in general, the people of Kiev are tolerant people.

Linguistic quotas in book publishing and a legal ban on the import of books from Russia led to the actual collapse of the book trade industry. In recent years, a rather funny phenomenon has appeared when Russian-speaking Ukrainian writers began to write texts in Ukrainian themselves or with the help of translators. The idea did not particularly take root, it caused laughter and mockery from Ukrainian-speaking colleagues. By the way, to replace the politicized Russophobic graphomania, real literature begins to break through, raising serious topics, written in good language. And the tone here is set by both literary heavyweights and young authors.