Info: Folgendes Interview wurde etwa zwei Wochen, vor der tatsächlichen Invasion Russlands in die Ukraine aufgenommen, jedoch leider nie veröffentlicht. Die Informationen finde ich persönlich trotzdem sehr interessant und zu schade, um sie nicht zu teilen. Allerdings, wird demnächst ein zweiter Teil des Interviews folgen, mit sozusagen einem „Update“ zur aktuellen Situation.
Anknüpfend an meinen letzten Beitrag, in welchem ich versucht habe die Geschehnisse zwischen Russland und der Ukraine in den letzten 10 Jahren knapp aufzugreifen, folgt nun ein eher persönlicheres Gegenstück zu diesem Thema. Mein Freund Aiv Pastukh, den ich während meines einjährigen Auslandsaufenthaltes in England kennenlernte, war so freundlich, mir einige Fragen bezüglich der Ukraine-Krise zu beantworten. Er selbst ist Ukrainer und verbrachte den Großteil seines Lebens dort. Erst vor etwa drei Jahren, mit 21 Jahren, beschloss er schließlich nach London, England zu ziehen. Doch wieso er diesen Entschluss fasste und was seine Gedanken über die aktuelle Situation der Ukraine sind, kann er wohl selbst am besten beantworten:
(Das Interview wurde auf Englisch durchgeführt, da er selbstverständlich kein Deutsch spricht und ich leider auch kein Ukrainisch verstehe.)
Question:
You grew up in the Ukraine but now live in England, right? When and why did you decide to move to London? And did you move with your family or by yourself?
Answer:
I was about to finish my Bachelor in English in the Ukraine, and as my dad already worked here (in England), I decided to spend some time in the UK, improving my English as I´ve never been to an English-speaking country before. I´ve lived with my dad for a while, before I felt confident enough to live in the UK by myself.
Q: As you´ve lived in the Ukraine for quite a while, I suppose you have somehow witnessed the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. If so, how did you experience it and did the conflict have any impact on your life?
A: It all started in 2014, if I’m not mistaken. Army service is mandatory after you turned 18 (for males only) in the Ukraine and many people I knew died because they had to serve the country in the war against Russia. They simply had no other choice by mandatory than to go and fight. So the Crimea Peninsula was taken over by Russia, and I remember visiting that place almost every summer when I was a kid as it was a beautiful resort place within the country. Of course now, I can’t really go there, and I also don’t feel like going there as it’s part of Russia now.
Q: Do you remember learning about the conflict in school? Or did you talk about it with your friends or family?
A: We´ve always talked about it within my family, but we never learned anything about it in school, I’m afraid.
Q: And do you think it would have been helpful for you to learn about it in school, to be able to understand more of what is happening between the Ukraine and Russia or are you quite happy that you didn´t talk about that in school?
A: Well there aren´t any subjects on this but there are lots of events, especially memorials for people who passed away. So teachers talk about this but not in a way of school subjects, more as extracurricular activities.
Q: I would like to know what your perception of Russia is in general. Did you always have a rather positive feeling towards Russia, as they are your direct neighbours, or was it mostly negative? And did that change over time? What is your feeling towards Russia nowadays?
A: As I read and learned a lot about what is going on, I now feel ok about the people and the country. But I don’t feel ok about the Russian government, as it’s their choices to fight, not the people’s. Most Ukrainians have a biased point of view about Russians, same with Russians about Ukrainians as there are a lot of issues of miscommunication about the war.
Q: As you probably know, Russia started placing more and more soldiers at the krainian border. The USA as well is starting to move soldiers to eastern europe. They aren´t supposed to actually fight against Russia, but to send Putin a warning signal. Many people are still scared another war might take place, Ukrainian civilians are even preparing for a war. Does this whole situation scare you even though you are not in the Ukraine at the moment?
A: It does scare me, especially because I have family and friends who live there. It’s scary that something like that might happen in the 21st century.
Q: You said you still have friends and family in the Ukraine. Are you afraid something might happen to them? Also are you planning on visiting them or rather not at the moment, giving the circumstances?
A: I grew up in the western part of the Ukraine which is the absolute opposite side of where all of this takes place. I would love to go and visit them, as it doesn’t really feel like something is going on over there. To be honest people on the western side of the Ukraine still live as they used to, but it scares me that the areas of actions might expand.
Q: Do you know if any of your relatives living in the Ukraine at the moment, are scared of Russia actually invading the Ukraine or do they not believe this is going to happen?
A: There are many points of view. But we are scared, as many people have already died in the fightings, which is insane! I ask myself, if that many people have already died, is there anything that can really stop the person who is responsible for that? I think an invasion could happen, but I really hope it won’t.
Q: Last question: Do you think you will ever move back to the Ukraine? If so, why and if not, why not?
A: I don’t think so, as I don’t feel like I belong there anymore. I have way more opportunities and I can see my life here in the United Kingdom but unfortunately I can’t say the same about the Ukraine.
Thank you so much for your time Aiv!
Link zum Beitragsbild: https://unsplash.com/photos/CQ1XW-631uM