The most important thing in a situation like this is not to panic. As hard as it is. Try to think of something else, of other people. Ivan writes that to me. He turned 18 four weeks ago. He is sitting in his parents’ house in a small town 320 kilometers south-east of Kyiv. Today he ran into the shelter a few times, but now he’s watching “Back to the Future”. The second part.
I’m based in Berlin. I met Ivan a week ago. I wrote him a message the day the Russian army invaded his country. We wanted to let people from Ukraine have their say in the newspaper, provided they were able to do so despite the horror. My friend who is a photographer and was in Kyiv in September met Ivan and his friends there one evening. Ukrainian teenagers who spent hours telling him about their country, their dreams, their lives. My friend later showed me a photo. Ivan has long hair and a melancholy look, he’s wearing a baggy trench coat, I thought you could cast him in a film by Aki Kaurismäki, the Finnish director, right away.
He was sure it wouldn’t happen
Ivan apologized. He couldn’t answer much today, he had to flee Kyiv first. He first moved to the capital in August when he was 17 to study languages and literature. That’s what he wrote to me when he got in touch four days later. He now wants to talk about the last few days.
Until a week ago he lived in the “normal routine of a teenager”, “playing the guitar and stuff”. He was sure it wouldn’t happen. It. The war. Then explosions woke him up. He packed clothes, papers, his laptop, sat in a shelter, tried to buy a train ticket, spent a restless night at his uncle’s. There was fighting nearby. Don’t panic. His motto, for a week. His aunt took him back to the small town the next day.
He sends me a video filmed from the car while driving. Burning tanks, an explosion. It’s quiet where he is now, except when the sirens are wailing, several times a day. His home town has about 7600 inhabitants. The industrial city of Krementchuk is nearby. His shelter is a basement under his parents’ house. They’re sleeping there now. His girlfriend also got out of Kyiv and with them.
His father volunteered for territorial defense, his uncle stayed behind in Kyiv. Ivan watches the news, chats with friends, sees the small videos from the war in his country, which we also see in Germany. You are already here, in Germany, almost unbearable. In the past week, between these videos, I have read a lot of tips on social media on how to deal with the shock that I should also switch off, go for a walk, cook something nice. I’m sure that’s all correct. But still, it makes me excited to read it.
I ask Ivan, 18 years and four weeks old, if he’s afraid of having to go into the military. Don’t know, he writes. “I’d like to take a gun and die for my country, but I might change my mind as soon as I hear a shot.” His English is perfect. I learned from movies, from songs, he writes. He has never been abroad. He hasn’t seen the world yet.