Concrete Sunflowers

Tag: balakliia

  • A supply hub tour

    R: Let’s take this one, here’s its number. See? It’s all there. And this one was shot down literally about a year ago. I: Is it made of cardboard or what? R: Yeah, sorry, as we say, it’s made of shit and sticks, no other way to put it. That’s just how it is. But…

  • The generator in Balakliia

    Henry: Also, this was the only spot that had a Starlink. So people from all over different villages, they would come here, because nobody had any connection. Like even the railroad signs and all that. I don’t know if I told you this before, but there was a sign that literally said, it was so…

  • Henry’s Balakliia stories

    Iryna and I were- the whole time she was telling me, like, Oh, she could drive. She could drive. Okay, cool. Mind you, she doesn’t have a- she doesn’t have a Ukrainian driver’s license. So what happens if we get stopped at a block post? But anyways, I didn’t let her drive. Nobody let her…

  • Ostap on his experiences with Kraken

    Part 2: Ostap on premonitions I: Just so you know, I’m the interpreter. I can translate if it’s easier for you to speak. If you want to add anything in Ukrainian later, I’ll translate it. [translates into English] Ostap: I’ll try in English first, and we’ll see how it goes. I: If you need help,…

  • Iryna and the bullet

    Iryna: Okay, so back in 2022 when they still had the security checkpoint in Kharkiv train station. We were going back from Balakliia, it’s like the- it was a recently liberated area. It was probably liberated within the last couple of weeks, and you could see all these different, you know, bullets on the ground,…

  • Olha and her café under occupation

    H: Henry, I: Iryna, O: Olha H: Does she remember my fish? [Iryna and the fish] I: [in Ukrainian to Respondent] Do you remember that fish we brought you? It was a huge fish. That was back in ’22. O: Honestly, I don’t remember that any more. So many people have passed through, so many…

  • Iryna and the fish

    Iryna: So we were in Balakliia back in 2022 and there was this local market for the local people. It wasn’t regulated or anything, so the locals would go fishing and they would sell whatever they had in that local market. I got sick and I asked Henry to go and pick up some fish…

  • Viktor the retired soldier

    V — Viktor | I — Interpreter V: At that moment, there was nothing left of the city… if you take a five-story building, just a corner of the house — that’s all that remained. Nothing else was left. I: That was in ’22, probably? Somewhere in the autumn. V: Yes, it was November. I:…

  • Bogdan on folk heroes and idiot soldiers

    Part 1: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 1 Part 2: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 2 Part 3: A smoke break with Bogdan Part 4: Bogdan on the Civilian Prisoners of War organisation V: When I talk to people from Lviv and Kyiv, they’re quite far from the front. Especially in Lviv, where you…

  • Bogdan on the Civilian Prisoners of War organisation

    Part 1: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 1 Part 2: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 2 Part 3: A smoke break with Bogdan I: Do you feel like it’s history repeating itself, like when you were a kid and you looked after him and took care of him? Now you have…

  • A smoke break with Bogdan

    Part 1: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 1 Part 2: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 2 I: [in Ukrainian] Can I have one more stick, please? I… don’t smoke— H: Khm… I: [in English] Just one. V: [laughs]. I: I love this. I quit smoking IQOS, well, quit smoking altogether… After…

  • Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 2

    Part 1: Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 1 Українською мовою: Богхан про свій час у полоні: Частина 2 B: What else is interesting from 2022 that really stuck in my memory, and now I think I probably wouldn’t do something like that again. When the road was being heavily shelled and the last…

  • Bogdan on his time in captivity: Part 1

    Trigger warning: This post contains descriptions of torture, including sexual violence. Oral interpretation provided during the interview has been omitted from the transcript for brevity, except where the interpreter provides additional cultural context or clarification. I: Vitaliy was telling me, I think… It [the city] was occupied in March, right? Or something like that? B:…

  • Brian from New Hampshire

    Brian: When I moved to Kharkiv full time, April 2024, I had brought my Springer Spaniel Annie, with me. We nicknamed her Humanitariannie, and they used to have these little billboards by the sidewalk with Patron photos warning kids about unexploded ordnance and that type of thing. So I got some great photos of my…