Concrete Sunflowers

Tag: checkpoint

  • 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,…

  • 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:…

  • Sofiya on life in Crimea

    [Sofiya is from Crimea.  Prior to starting the recording, we were discussing the border crossing process]. Sofiya: It depended on the officers at the border.  You would have to show your Ukrainian passport at the Ukrainian border, and then you would have to walk 3km with all your luggage, all the way to the Russian…