Halyna Pekhnyk Archives

Write, just to forget

People come to meetings with writers in the wartime for many reasons. The first of them is an opportunity to speak on the topics that cannot be hushed up. To hear how one should fight the enemy, but remain a human, with love in one’s heart.

Kherson is Ukraine

They were killing people of culture for their unwillingness to cooperate. Thus, one of the numerous crimes still remains shocking: the chief conductor of Kherson Music and Drama Theatre Yuriy Kerpatenko was killed by Russian military men in his own house after he refused to cooperate with the invaders. Con-duc-tor!

When will you go away, you traitor?

The Ukrainian city of Kherson was under occupation for more than eight months. Having occupied the city in spite of the powerful civic resistance, on March 1 the Russian army shot 17 territorial defense soldiers from tanks.

The New Black in Ukraine

The first news about the potential blackout in the capital of Ukraine shocked everyone.

Light at the end of the war

Kyiv. It is night outdoors. It is absolutely dark in this yard. Two multi-storeyed buildings standing one after the other are not lit at all. Adults, children, elderly people with specific needs live in these buildings.

Front? Are you sure?

The word “front” in the dictionary of the Ukrainian language has got nine meanings. That is incredibly a lot, since when I normally work with texts and check specific words, they have several lexical meanings.

It is impossible to say “Goodbye!”

Having a separate place at a Ukrainian cemetery is considered to be a luxury today. To bury a person following the rites we had before the outbreak of the great war is mere luck.

Don’t get me wrong

For people to trust you — you have to speak the same language with them. For people to trust you — you have to tell about your emotions, but not to be an “overly emotional interlocutor”, you have to meet the expectations of being a victim.

The Echo of the War at the End of the World

Half of my life ago, in 2004 to be more precise, I stayed for one year in the USA as an exchange student. It was quite an experience for a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl who grew up on American movies and TV series on the high school teen life. So I actually felt like being in one of those shows.

The Lakshmi Puja Question

“So, everything is destroyed there, in Ukraine? Is there anything functioning?” — he asked. Normally, I would respond differently, but, bearing in mind the visual representation of the war on Indian TV, I took a slower and a more determined approach.

Tag: Halyna Pekhnyk