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My Extra Power for Story Writing
And what it has to do with Donbas and Ukraine
I’m a Ukrainian writing in English. 💙 💛
Originally from the Luhansk region of Ukraine (invaded by russia in 2014), I’ve not seen my parents since 2021. My mom passed away in occupation. My step-father is pro-russian, conciously staying in occupation and now lying in the hospital there with a serious illness.
“Thanks” to russians, I don’t have a home.
Thanks to Ukrainian Luhansk, I can write about it in English, self-reflecting on my russification, restoring my true identity, and telling more people, including foreigners, about my homeland.
⚡ My origins are my extra power to counteract russian propaganda about Donbas being pro-russian, about the “people of Donbas” calling russia in 2014 and asking to help, save, and protect them from the “Kyiv regime,” “nazis,” “nationalist bigots,” whatever.
When pro-russian bots come to the comments under my articles today and say that russia came to save the “people of Donbas,” I have the argument they can do nothing with:
❗ I’m the “people of Donbas,” you morons!
I didn’t call russia. I had nothing to save me from. But even if I had, russia would be the last thing I asked to help me. (Who in their right mind would call on the murderers of their ancestors for help?)
And guess what?
There are no “people of Donbas.” There is no “Donbas oblast’.”
There are Ukrainians from the East of Ukraine. There are Donetsk and parts of Luhansk and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine staying on the Donetsk Coal Basin. (See “don” + “bas” there?) Geography, guys, you learned it? 😊
I studied English at Taras Shevchenko National University of Luhansk. (Yeap, that’s Taras Shevchenko who invaders call a “russian poet” and, simultaneously, remove his bas-relief near my alma mater.)
⚡ I wrote more about notable Ukrainian writers, including Taras, here:
I practiced English as an intrepreneur at Luhanskteplovoz. (Yeap, that’s a large industrial company in Luhansk that had been manufacturing locomotives, multiple unit trains, and other heavy equipment for different countries — I worked as a translator with Indian representatives when they came to see how the production was going — until russians came, looted it, and made it completely inoperational.)
My English writing skills are my extra power to tell the world about my Luhansk, which is often unfairly forgotten. (People usually speak about “Donbas,” meaning Eastern Ukraine in general, but they often associate it with the Donetsk region only.)
⚡ I talked about Luhansk in my story for this book,..
…and the invaded Luhansk is the place where the storyline of my upcoming novel takes place.
In 2022, Medium became my platform for self-reflection on my identity and culture and for being among the voices to tell about Ukraine, its people, and our struggles in the Russo-Ukrainian war (ongoing since February 2014.)
❗ It’s not “the war in Ukraine.” And it’s not a “Ukrainian conflict.”
It’s a war with only one culprit and aggressor:
russia.
English is my power and opportunity to translate and share stories of our soldiers (many are from the Luhansk region, too) and communicate the situation to foreigners.
⚡ It’s a pity to see how many foreigners, including those in governments, don’t understand the context and don’t want to accept the true reason for the russian invasion: the destruction of Ukrainians and erasement of their identity; not all that sh*t about NATO, nazis, protection of russian-speaking Ukrainians, whatever.
I think that’s because of fear:
If you accept it’s genocide, you should do something with that. You won’t have any moral right to ignore it. So, it’s more comfortable (psychologically, too) to find another reason and thus justify your indifference and inactivity…
❗ Congrats, guys! You’re watching the genocide online now, and many of you are blaming the victim.
So, I’m here to tell my murderers again:
I’m the “people of Donbas” of Ukraine.
The Azov regiment you all are afraid of and publicize as “nazis” are Ukrainians who protect their lands and whom we, the people of Ukraine, love, respect, and call heroes.
We all are the people of Ukraine.
And, as a representative of the Eastern part of my country you invaded and genocided, I have a voice and writing power to state for the record in English:
❗ No one invited you or wanted to see you here.
Go to hell and take all that madman’s ramblings about “brotherly nations” with you. You aren’t brothers; you’re invaders. You’ve always been. You haven’t liberated my Donbas. You wiped my home off the face of the earth. Not putin, but all of you. You are terrorists and murderers, a nation of psychopaths proud of their crimes.
And I’m disappointed to see that the free world refuses to see it or doesn’t give a damn about it, letting your tyranny shine.
A big thanks to , , , , , , and for their work here on Medium and for inspiring me to share my stories! You’re cool, my writing fellows, and your content matters!
👉 Written for Balakun, a nonprofit connecting Ukrainians with foreign supporters for English practice. Take a look here to find more stories from students in Ukraine, and feel free to join!
P.S. And please don’t hesitate to clap and comment! Your support is a huge engine for my extra writing power, too! 😊
