Auf dem Bild ist ein Kind zu sehen, das während einer Schulabschlussfeier in der Region Charkiw im Juni beim Laufen eine ukrainische Flagge hinter sich her wehen lässt.

Photo credit:

A child in front of the destroyed building of a cultural centre, hit in a missile strike in the town of Derhachi, Kharkiv region, on June 17, 2023. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images

A wounded city

Residents of Kharkiv Talk About the Attack on Their City

Editorial

A Wounded City

Residents of Kharkiv Talk About the Attack on Their City

What was the first day of the war like in Kharkiv? How has the city changed as a result of the devastating attack on Ukraine? How do people experience the war? Kharkiv residents were asked about this in the first months after February 24, 2022.

Introduction

Who are Young Kharkiv?

The interviews about the first months of the war in Kharkiv were conducted by the NGO "Young Kharkiv". But who is "Young Kharkiv" and what goals is the NGO pursuing with its oral history project?

Introduction

Oral History Interviews in War-time

Notes on Field Research

What does it mean to interview people when there is a war going on? Yevhenii Telukha describes the difficult circumstances under which the interviews were produced.

Background article

Kharkiv–a Metropolis at War

The initiators of the interview project stayed in Kharkiv during the continuous attacks. Iryna Skyrda, a member of Young Kharkiv, talks about what was special about the city and how it changed as a result of the war.

Background article

Kharkiv–The Capital of Ukrainian Modernity

Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1919 to 1934 - a place of bold architectural experiments and the center of Ukraine's cultural avant-garde. The expert on urban history Mikhail Ilchenko provides an insight into this period.

Since the beginning of the war, the NGO "Young Kharkiv" has been conducting interviews with residents of the city, which has been subjected to ongoing and massive shelling attacks from day one. The aim of this project is to build up an archive of interviews with contemporary witnesses in order to record their personal experiences of the war, as well as stories about places of remembrance in this heavily destroyed metropolis.

Interview with Mykola S.

Interview (video)

"And we tried not to forget that we have to eat and drink and go shopping sometimes.”

Interview with Kateryna I.

Interview (video)

“We can buy everything, but not life”

Interview with Anton D.

Interview (video)

"At the moment, I'm dreaming of doing the things we haven’t been able to do because of the war."

Interview (video)

Interview with Yevhenii T.

"At night, the sky is almost always glowing red. In Leningrad they have white nights, we have red nights in Kharkiv."

Interview (video)

Interview with Oleksandra I.

"When an airplane flew past the windows and everything was burning and roaring, then you knew it was time to run."

Interview (video)

Interview with Oleksandr K.

"We talked about how it might be the last time we would see our neighborhood intact before it would be destroyed by war."

Interview (video)

Interview with Vladyslav S.

"Everything in Kharkiv is great, no matter what it is."

Interview (video)

Interview with Liudmyla K.

"We have put our heart and soul into it for 30 years. We planted berries and fruit there. And now it's all gone."

Interview (video)

Interview with Andrij K.

"I know that I won't be able to go to my favorite places for the next few years. That hurts and makes me very sad."

Interview (video)

Interview with Anton S.

"When I started volunteering, that’s when I got my daily routine under control."

Interview (video)

Interview with Valerij S.

"The positive moments are when there’s news associated with the gradual liberation of areas of Ukraine."

Legend

Station of life
Person
Place of remembrance
Organization

The interviews in full length

Interview with Mykola S.

Interview with Kateryna I.

Interview with Anton D.

Interview with Yevhenii T.

Interview with Oleksandra I.

Interview with Oleksandr K.

Interview with Vladyslav S.

Interview with Liudmyla K.

Interview with Andrij K.

Interview with Anton S.

Interview with Valerij S.

Edited by

Svitlana Telukha

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Antje Johanning-Radžienė

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