“As a woman with a son whose father died in the war, the idea leaves me breathless.”

Paris, October 30, 2024,

Dear readers, dear readers,

Yesterday was my birthday. At one point during the day I closed my eyes and made a wish: that the war would end and everything would be as before, that I would arrive in kyiv with Yanis and Zakary in three hours and not in more than twenty-four hours. . That we can meet as a family without fear of a missile or drone falling on our apartment. Despite everything, I received a very nice birthday gift: I’m an aunt! This makes me so happy! My little Sasha became a mother, like me, exactly eight months ago. I would have really liked it if we could share these changes in our lives as women, side by side. Instead, I am immersed in constant worry. I constantly think about my loved ones, my sister, her baby, her safety. Unfortunately I was not able to travel to Ukraine, as I anticipated in my last letter. I am waiting for my French residence permit to be renewed so I can travel. It’s long!

Some time ago, the Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy gave a concert in La Villette, Paris, for their 30th^my birthday. I really wanted to go but I couldn’t because right now my life revolves around my baby. It is a legendary group in Ukraine; we can compare it a little with Indochina for the French. Their songs remind me a lot of our childhood and adolescence with Sasha. Especially the one called ya yidu dodomu. She says: “I come home to you/Where eyes are familiar and always new!” /I return home, to you/How long these nights and days last! » Okean Elzy continues to give concerts regularly in Europe. It is a way to promote Ukrainian culture and collect donations. Sviatoslav Vakartchouk, the leader of the group, is very politically committed. For years he has opposed oligarchy and corruption. He founded the Holos party, he was a deputy. At the beginning of the Great War, he sang at the front to raise the morale of the soldiers.

If I’m talking to you about this group it’s because Okean Elzy also performed in kyiv this month. On October 11, the day after his concert before thousands of people, images appeared on news channels and social networks. There we saw recruiting agents from the Ukrainian army who, upon leaving, detained the men, asked them for documents… Some of them were taken away. In a video we see two soldiers immobilizing a guy who shouts: “Let me go, let me go!” » This method of “recruitment” It’s so brutal. It scared me.

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