Air raid sirens are constantly sounding, people are holed up in bunkers. Yevgenia Belorusets, an artist based in both Kyiv and Berlin, speaks to DW from inside the Ukrainian capital.
Ukrainian photographer Yevgeniya Belorusets shares her experience from inside KyivImage: M- Stauffenberg/imago images
Advertisement
Yevgenia Belorusets, born in 1980, is a photographer, artist and writer. She lives alternately in Kyiv and Berlin. Her work deals with the intersection of art, media and society. She has been in Kyiv since December 2021 and spoke to DW from her apartment in the Ukrainian capital on March 1, 2022.
DW: Can you describe your everyday life? How are you experiencing the war?
Yevgenia Belorusets: Several times a day, sirens can be heard warning us of missiles. It is not clear whether the danger is really coming or going. But you have to seek shelter. You have to go into the cellars, into the bunkers, deep underground. I'm reckless sometimes and I wait and hope it just passes.
The streets are deserted. There is a queue in front of the pharmacy, people wait five or six hours to get their vital medicines. Not long ago we were still in the reality of a pandemic — it still continues, but it's not the topic anymore.
Now it's all about the injured, wounded, soldiers and others. Few pharmacies are open. Only the people who need medicine for wounded soldiers can enter without having to queue.
People are afraid, they go out as little as possible. Yesterday I accompanied my friend to the train station. I don't live far, it usually takes about 25 minutes to walk. But yesterday was really dangerous — and I went back alone.
Ukraine: Kyiv fights back against Russian assault
Russia launched an all-out attack on Ukraine on February 24, deploying missiles, air and ground forces. The Kremlin claims to be targeting military infrastructure, yet countless civilian buildings have been hit as well.
Image: Ukrainian President s Office/Zuma/imago images
An armed civil defense man with one leg patrols an empty street under curfew in Kyiv, Ukraine
Armed civil defense man patrols an empty street under curfew in Kyiv, Ukraine
Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo/picture alliance
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed not to leave the capital
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed not to leave the capital
A plume of smoke is seen rising in the distance from Antonov Airport, in northwest Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, on February 24. Russia claims to have seized control of the strategically important airbase.
Image: DANIEL LEAL/AFP
Explosion at dawn
A massive explosion is seen in Kyiv in the early morning hours of February 25, a day after Russia began attacking Ukraine from three directions.
Image: Ukrainian President s Office/Zuma/imago images
Airplane wreckage
Ukrainian servicemen inspecting the wreckage of a downed aircraft in Kyiv on February 25. It is unclear what caused the plane to crash.
An elderly woman is seen amid a severely damaged building in Kyiv on February 25 after a Russian missile struck the residential area.
Image: Wolfgang Schwan/AA/picture alliance
Unexploded shells
Two Ukrainian soldiers are seen searching for unexploded shells after a firefight with a Russian raiding group on the morning of February 26. Ukrainian soldiers had earlier repulsed a Russian attack on the capital, Ukraine's military announced.
Image: Sergei Supinsky/AFP
Damaged commercial district
Rubble strewn across a damaged commercial area of Kyiv on February 26, after Russian shelling. Sirens were ringing out during Saturday morning, with reports of clashes between the Ukrainian military and Russian forces moving in on the capital.
Image: Aytac Unal/AA/picture alliance
Vehicles destroyed
Two Ukrainian soldiers inspect a burned-out truck after a Russian airstrike in Kyiv on February 26.
Image: Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo/picture alliance
'If you want peace, prepare for war'
Ukrainian soldiers are seen against a hazy pre-dawn sky as they prepare for service at the military airbase Vasylkiv just outside Kyiv on February 27.
Image: Maksim Levin/REUTERS
Natural gas depot explodes after rocket attack
Early on February 27, a natural gas depot in Vasylkiv, just outside Kyiv, exploded in flames after reportedly being hit by Russian shelling.
Image: Maksim Levin/REUTERS
Smoke clouds Kyiv skyline
After many outlying areas of the city were hit by shelling on February 27, a haze of clouds hung over the metropolis of some 3 million people.
Image: Irakli Gedenidze/REUTERS
12 images1 | 12
How do people in Ukraine get information right now? Can you share ideas with other people?
I am in many Telegram groups and channels. I read 10-20 different news sources, mostly independent, government or verified journalistic sources — reliable sources. You can exchange ideas in the comments. But we are careful. I am in constant contact with relatives, friends and acquaintances through various social networks and by telephone. The communication is very intense. I also try to take photos with my smartphone and with my old film camera.
Why are you in Kyiv now? Why are you staying there?
I came to Kyiv in December to work on a novel dealing with human rights. I'm also working on another book that's more about social research, which requires me to do a lot of research in Ukraine.
I had already planned to return to Berlin in the beginning of March, but when the war started, I suddenly didn't want to leave. My parents are here. My father is a bit weak right now — he is a translator of German poetry. I would only be ready to leave the country with my parents and with my friends. But thank God most of my friends are no longer here.
Have many of those around you — family, friends — left Ukraine?
I keep a diary for "Der Spiegel." That helps me. Writing in German, a foreign language for me, is a challenge. That gives meaning to my existence in this situation. I write. I am thinking. I take pictures.
What are you photographing?
Little things, my streets. I am looking for images to represent my thoughts.
In a 2018 interview, you expressed your fear that there would be a war against Ukraine. Why? What were the signs? Were you alone with this fear?
That is hard to say. Russia launched violent attacks in eastern Ukraine and the whole region was in danger. There were only a few international journalists reporting on site, and little was said about it on the Ukrainian side — people apparently didn't have the strength to do so.
It was never about protecting the identity of people close to Russia and their way of life. It is precisely those people who are being attacked, as we can also see in Kharkiv , which has now been attacked.
This is a Russian-speaking city with a unique history and modernist architecture, and now it's just under rocket fire. There is no military infrastructure; civilians live there and they are now being attacked with rockets. It all started back in 2014 in Donbas.
Didn't the people of Ukraine want to admit that?
With its disinformation campaign, Russia managed to get some Ukrainians to believe that eastern Ukraine was really pro-Russian — that Russia was invited to go to war there. But one never invites a war.
The Ukrainians who believed this also believed that the east of Ukraine was voluntarily occupied by the Russians. But people have been dying in this war for years, every day.
Putin justifies his attack on Ukraine with the accusation that those in power in Ukraine are fascists — propaganda that is also circulating in the West.
You have always been a critic of the political situation in Ukraine, how do you experience that?
Ukraine has never been a fascist country, nor has it ever been inhumane. Nationalist parties have never really been popular here — their share in parliament is less than 3%.
My view of the country has always been, and always will be, critical. At this moment, however, it is very difficult to remain critical. I'm shocked and I'm in love with my country because I see that people really protect each other and stand together, that people are trying to counter this unspeakable, inhuman violence with something human. If any food is missing, you give it to each other.
My neighbor is a doctor who stayed in Kyiv to work in the bomb shelter, although he can hardly stand the shelling. He puts himself in danger to help.
How many times a day is there an air raid alarm?
Several times, three or four times until this afternoon. And going into the bunker every time and waiting for the air raid alarm to stop is very difficult.
Have friends from Russia contacted you?
Many have come forward and said they are sorry. They're tense, they think it's terrible, they say: "Shame on Russia!"
How are things going for you now?
I want to keep writing, keep telling stories. And do what I can do, here and now. I can't really plan anything in this situation.
What can the rest of the world do now, what would you wish for?
Everyone must now take a position — even in the art world. Any support, any help is important right now. People are being murdered, just like that, on the streets, and you have to do everything to stop it.
I want sanctions that will destroy the Russian economy. I want military support for Ukraine at all levels. We have to be able to protect ourselves. I hope that truth prevails in the end.
Cultural backlash against Russia's invasion of Ukraine
From the Eurovision Song Contest to Disney and the Cannes Film Festival, the cultural sphere is reacting to the invasion of Ukraine. Russian artists critical of their government are also canceling performances.
Image: Matt Stroshane/Walt Disney World via AP/picture alliance
Disney to suspend all business in Russia
Initially, Disney announced it would no longer release films in Russian cinemas. Now the corporation is halting all its activities, from its TV channels, including TV content marketing, to licensing and cruises. In a statement, Disney said it is taking the steps in light of "the relentless assault on Ukraine and the escalating humanitarian crisis."
Image: Matt Stroshane/Walt Disney World via AP/picture alliance
Cannes bans Russian delegates
The Cannes Film Festival announced on March 1 that it would "not welcome official Russian delegations" or people linked to the country's government. A number of film festivals are reacting similarly, including Glasgow and Stockholm. Locarno has announced it would not join a boycott, whereas Venice will offer free screenings of a film about the 2014 conflict in the Donbas region.
Image: REUTERS
Russia barred from Eurovision Song Contest
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the song contest, stated on February 25 that "in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year's Contest would bring the competition into disrepute." Meanwhile, Ukraine's folk rap Kalush Orchestra (photo) have emerged as the act with the best odds to win.
Image: Suspilne
Opera houses halt Bolshoi collaborations
London's Royal Opera House has canceled the summer season of Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet. The Metropolitan Opera's staging of "Lohengrin," co-produced with the Bolshoi, will also be affected by the New York opera house's decision to cut ties with Russian state-supported artists. Until now a Putin loyalist, Bolshoi director Vladimir Urin was however among the signatories of a letter opposed to the war.
Many Russian artists have condemned the war. But despite an ultimatum from the Munich Philharmonic to publicly position himself, star conductor Valery Gergiev remained silent on the war led by Putin, his friend since 1992. On March 1, the German orchestra fired its acclaimed chief conductor, and the globe-trotting maestro's numerous concerts in Europe and the US have also been canceled.
Image: Danil Aikin/ITRA-TASS /imago images
Soprano Anna Netrebko pulled out of operas
The Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Berlin State Opera have ended their collaboration with Russian opera star Anna Netrebko, who was asked to "repudiate her public support for Vladimir Putin," but declined to do so. She is "one of the greatest singers in Met history," said the opera house's director Peter Gelb, "but with Putin killing innocent victims in Ukraine, there was no way forward."
Image: Roman Vondrous/CTK/imago images
Museums cut ties with Russian oligarchs
Amid calls for cultural institutions to remove allies of Putin from their boards, museums are cutting ties with major Russian benefactors. Billionaire Vladimir Potanin has stepped down from the board of trustees of the Guggenheim Museum (photo), according to The New York Times, while Artnet reports that banking magnate Petr Aven has left his position as a trustee of the Royal Academy in London.
Image: Han Fang/Xinhua/imago images
Hermitage Amsterdam break ties with Saint Petersburg
Amsterdam houses the largest satellite of Saint Petersburg's storied Hermitage Museum. It had until now never commented on Putin's political actions, but "with the invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine, a border has been crossed. War destroys everything. Even 30 years of collaboration," the Dutch museum stated on March 3. They are also closing their current exhibition, "Russian Avant-Garde."
Image: Richard Wareham/imago images
Russian artists pull out of Venice Biennale
It is not always the organizers of events who are boycotting Russian acts. At the Venice Biennale, which starts on April 23, it is rather the artists and curator of the Russian exhibition who have resigned, stating on Instagram that "the Russian Pavilion will remain closed" in protest of civilians being killed by missiles and Russian protesters being silenced.
Image: Photoshot/picture alliance
Hollywood delays films releases in Russia
Following Disney's lead, Warner Bros, Sony, Paramount Pictures and Universal have all decided to halt the release of films in Russian cinemas. "The Batman" (photo) was to be released in the country on March 4. Other upcoming titles affected by the decision include Disney's Pixar animated film "Turning Red," Paramount's "The Lost City" and "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and the Marvel film "Morbius."
Image: Jonathan Olley/DC Comics /Warner Bors/dpa/picture alliance
Concerts canceled in Russia
"Ukraine, we stand with you, and with all those in Russia who oppose this brutal act," said Nick Cave. He has canceled his Russian tour dates planned for the summer, just like many other groups, including Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Iggy Pop and Green Day. Popular Russian rapper Oxxxymiron has also canceled his shows in the country, calling for an anti-war movement.
