Tag: Interviewed in English
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Oleh on heroes and the future
<we had been chatting prior to starting recording> Vic: So you said you believe in the Ghost of Kyiv? Oleh: I did believe. Vic: You did believe? Oleh: I did believe, like first couple of months of the war. I really thought it was a real person. But then it like became, became obvious in…
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Andrey on propaganda
Vic: What is it? Conway: It’s an ancient superstition. So if you’re giving an example of an injury that happened to someone else and you point at your own body where it happened, then you’re bringing that onto your own body, that injury. Andrey: Yes, I agree. Conway: But this is ancient. Andrey: I also…
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Альона про мову та лайку
Альона: [переходить на українську] Ми знаємо, що наша реальність має великий вплив на нашу мову, і так само мова має вплив на нашу реальність. Коли почалося повномасштабне вторгнення, я саме досліджувала, для своєї дисертації, інвективну [лайливу] лексику в українській мові, в політичному дискурсі. Тому, безумовно, у мене з’явилося набагато більше матеріалу для дослідження. Е, перед…
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Aliona on language and swearing
Aliona: [starts speaking Ukrainian] We know, that our reality has a great impact on our language, and language impacts our reality just as much. When the full-scale invasion started, I was in the middle of research, for my dissertation, on invective [swear] lexis in Ukrainian language, in a political discourse. Because of that, certainly, I…
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Sometimes the Russians just disappear
Mary: <start cut off> just, disappeared overnight. I remember my- Vic: So they occupied it [Sievierodonetsk] in 2014, 15? Mary: Yes, it was occupied. Basically, um, yeah! It just happened overnight. People woke up in the morning and the Russians were gone. So, that’s a great legend: you can wake up in the morning and…
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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…
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Human shields in Izium
Iryna: <start cut off> were kept as captured and the parents didn’t have access to their kids, because Russians kept the kids as a like shield against Ukrainian drones and missiles. Because they knew that Ukrainians wouldn’t target them. I don’t have the picture right now because I changed my phones, but there was a…
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Tank friendly fire incident
Iryna: So, in the beginning of the war when Russian tanks and echelons were just entering Kyiv, I was acquainted with a guy. He’s very young, he’s younger than me. He was probably 19 or 18 at that moment, and he joined the military forces right away. The Russian troops were already getting closer to…
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Ana on stamps
Part 1: Ana on wartime culturePart 2: Ana on superstitionsPart 3: Ana on stamps Ana: Okay, so when we enter the university in Ukraine, like after the school, we should pass the exams. And it’s usually history, math, literature, and English, I’m not sure. So there was a question in 2024 during the exam, and…
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Mary on folk heroes
Vic: So can you tell me about Pes Patron? Mary: I’ve always loved Pes Patron. When I first came to Lviv in December of 22, there were Pes Patron posters everywhere, and I just thought it was amazing. I have young refugee friends in Berlin. I purchase Pest Patron books for them. I purchased Pes…
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Amy on what was in that jar
Note: This quick interview took place after more than a few drinks during a group dinner. Vic: So what was in the jar that the old lady threw at the drone? Amy: Pickled tomatoes. Vic: Where did you hear that it was tomatoes? Amy: In an interview she did. Vic: You think there was actually…
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Oksana on folk heroes
Oksana: Yes, so when the war started in- when there was this explosion in Dubai, in Ukraine already appeared some funny videos. Well not funny but such videos about which we have the jar of pickles, and now there is such an anecdote of story that in Dubai a woman hit the missile by the…
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Valeria on Johnsonuk
Vic: Can you explain Johnsonuk to me? Valeria: It’s a very funny phenomenon because, well- I don’t know about him much, but I only know that he was in a position of power, some power in the UK. At the time, well, at the start of the full-scale invasion war he was coming to Ukraine…
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Iryna on runes and playing cards
Vic: So as a Ukrainian person, when you see people with the rune amulets or rune chevrons or tattoos, do those have any connotations for you? Iryna: Well, I grew up in a family where tattoos are banned <laughs>. So I think that people can, you know, have as many tattoos as they want because…
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Valeria on folk heroes: part 2
Series: Valeria’s story Valeria on folk heroes: part 1 Valeria on folk heroes: part 2 Vic: Do you think that language barriers contribute to people’s decisions? Valeria: Yes, because you know, Russian propaganda works really well, and they think that- well, there are indeed some people like this. But in truth, most of Ukrainian speaking…
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Valeria on folk heroes: part 1
Series: Valeria’s story Valeria on folk heroes: part 1 Valeria on folk heroes: part 2 Vic: Did you ever see any Ghost of Kyiv mentions on VK? Valeria: No, I don’t think so. I think I just exited it soon enough, you know, just in the first day of war, I was like, “No, I’m…
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An attack on Kyiv
Iryna: So this is our first time in Kyiv. We go there on a volunteer mission, and we exit the train station. We leave all the backpacks, all our belongings, at the train station, because we still had a few hours before we could check into our hotel room. And we’re like, “Yeah, let’s go…
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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,…
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Iryna’s church dream
Iryna: It’s probably the weirdest and the most strange story that has ever happened to me in my whole entire life. It was probably day three or day four of the full-scale invasion. I was super sick, super high fever, chills, I could barely go to the toilet. I lived by myself in a dormitory…