One year to the day after the first Russian bombardments on Ukraine, the fighting continues, especially in the Donbass. The Russians imagined a rapid offensive, lasting only a few days; they found themselves facing a determined Ukrainian army, organized and supported by Western powers. This fall has been marked by resounding victories from kyiv, prompting Russia to mobilize civilians to go to the front. Could Ukraine finally emerge stronger from this war? In any case, this is what the former Franco-Ukrainian mayor of the city of Hlukhiv, Michel Terestchenko, wants to believe. Interview.
How has the situation evolved in kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion?
The most striking thing is the number of missing people, of soldiers killed on the various front lines. We see more and more Ukrainian flags in cemeteries, there are huge losses in every village. In the capital, on the other hand, life has almost returned to normal, many people have returned. Schools, shops, cinemas, theaters, everything works. Work resumes. People have confidence in the future, we have the feeling that victory is at hand.
What does everyday life look like in the capital?
There are still regular air raid alerts. The last one, for example, sounded just five minutes ago. The children are then taken to the shelters, it is stressful for them, but they have gotten used to it. Now they watch cartoons there. There is really no more anxiety because there are almost no more missiles. Finally, the fear dissipates, we get used to it, we organize ourselves. As for the electricity, it is completely back.
Ukraine has become a strong nation”
What remains of Ukraine before February 24?
It has changed a lot since the beginning of the conflict. Better. Ukraine is beginning to resolve its problems of corruption and nepotism. It cleans itself, it asserts itself, it grows. People who were wondering about the links that should be maintained with Russia, it’s over! No one wants to be friends with Russia anymore, the nostalgia of some, especially the elderly, for the Soviet Union has disappeared. Today, Ukraine is more enterprising and creative. It has become a strong nation, full of hope and which will be able to exist as a great European nation. Because now, it is truly European.
What is the morale of the inhabitants after twelve months of fighting?
Overall morale is very good. We feel a lot of resolution among the inhabitants, there is no defeatist discourse. The majority of Ukrainians support their army.
How do you envisage the continuation of the conflict?
This year has been marked by a series of slaps in the face of Vladimir Putin: a sunken boat, the destroyed Crimean bridge, Joe Biden in Poland… These are blows he cannot respond to. Russia is now just a paper bear. I am convinced that we cannot lose. Vladimir Putin has lost his army, the war and all hope of staying in power for long. One way or another, he will come out feet first and his successor will have no choice but to capitulate. All of this will be over before the end of the summer because the Russian army cannot bleed any longer.
Ukraine has already won the war”
Do you fear the use of a nuclear weapon by Russia?
Moscow can’t do anything. Vladimir Putin is the king of blackmail and threat, a mafia spy who has seized power and seeks to keep it by all means, but his nuclear arsenal is held by a Potemkin army. He did everything he could in this war, and it came to nothing. He will just scream but nothing else. We are waiting for his surrender because Ukraine has already won the war, it just remains to know when we sign the act of capitulation.
What do you think of the Western support which has been reaffirmed in recent weeks, in particular through the promises of deliveries of heavy tanks to kyiv?
Emmanuel Macron finally understood that Ukraine was going to win the war. He had doubts and thought that Russia was invincible. Today, he understood that it was necessary to rid the world of this rotten regime which seeks to crush any normal evolution of the democratic, civilized world. Finally, the West understood that it was better to deliver weapons to Ukraine than to keep them within their borders. Thus, they allow Ukraine to solve the problem for everyone.