When Russian armed forces opened a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, the ordinary lives of millions from Kyiv to Kharkiv were upended. Two years later, Ukrainians have earned the world’s admiration, not only for their courage on the battlefield, but also for their determination to maintain a functioning civil society.
The Russian invasion targeted Ukrainian culture as much as the country’s infrastructure. Chytomo, an online publishing news platform, has diligently documented the resistance by the country’s publishers and poets, as well as booksellers and novelists, to that attack.
Iryna Baturevych, Chytomo co-founder, recently described for me the Ukrainian book community’s mood today.
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“The mood is to keep on fighting because we have no other opportunity. It’s very hard to understand that new bookstores are opening. New festivals are appearing in Kyiv and in other cities all over Ukraine. This is showing how much Ukrainian people want to have normal life back,” Baturevych said.
“We know that with the help of Ukrainian literature, with Ukrainian culture, we are not only normalizing our life. We’re also trying to make our society, our country, stronger. This war is something that is trying to erase our history and to erase our culture, and we are showing that we are an independent European nation,” she continued.
“This is something that’s bringing people together, but it’s also driving the industry forward. This is very important.”