In this interview, Skylar Painter interviews Alina Mozolevska on her experiences as a young child during the Soviet Union, her experiences as a female professor in Ukraine during war, as well as her time organizing an international summer school during wartime. Click the header for transcripts and further information. 

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Nina Andriievska. Nina Andriievska has lived all her life in Radsad, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine, until the full-scale invasion of Russian Federation began on 24th February 2022. She and her family had no intention of leaving their home, but things didn’t turn out as she had hoped. They ended up in a small town of Pelplin near Gdańsk, Poland. She shares her experience as a refugee while living in Poland for half a year (from March 2022 till August 2022), talks about hardships she faced there, of how she tried to keep working under such pressure, and of how she eventually returned home.

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Inna Ivanchenko. Inna Ivanchenko is a resident of Mala Korenykha, a microdistrict in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. She is a mother of three children (sons aged 27, and 22, and a daughter aged 9) and a wife of an officer. On the very first day of the Russian full-scale invasion, her husband went to military enlistment service and currently serves as a platoon leader. Because of the impending risk of living in occupation, Inna and her daughter had to leave for Lviv, where they spent a period of 6 months (from March to August). She talks about her struggles as a mother, a refugee, and a wife of a serviceman during the full-scale war.

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Hanna Kavun. Hanna Kavun was born and raised in Demuryne, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, but has been living in Radsad, Mykolaiv Oblast, for more than 50 years. She has a long family story of how female members of her family suffered from different armed conflicts. She tells the stories of her grandmother and mother who witnessed Russian Civil War (1917-1922), Soviet occupation of Ukraine (1921), dekulakization (1917-1933), Holodomor (1932-1933), collectivization (1928-1940), and Nazi occupation of Ukraine during World War II (1941-1944). Hanna shares her family stories drawing parallels with today’s reality of Russo-Ukrainian War.

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Dariia Lazarieva. Dariia Lazarieva was born and raised in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, where she lived with her 6-month-old daughter while her husband was working in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast. That was up until they were hit by Russia’s full-scale invasion on the 24th of February 2022. After two weeks into the full-scale war, Dariia decided to leave the city to protect her child. From there she went to Germany, where she settled in a small town called Oberried, where she currently lives. She shares her experience of living the first weeks of the full-scale invasion with a small baby, talks about her way to Germany and the difficulties she faced while travelling, discusses the help she was provided with by Germans, and expresses her perspective on her return to Ukraine.

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Raisa Nikitina. Raisa Nikitina is a resident of Radsad, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. After the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion into the territory of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, she didn’t leave her home village and decided to contribute to Ukraine’s defense through volunteering. From then on she has been gathering money for Ukrainian Military Forces. She discusses her work as a volunteer, her cooperation with fellow villagers, shares her thoughts on the topic of Russo-Ukrainian war and how it has impacted her life and attitude.

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Viktoria Poliakova. Viktoria Poliakova is a resident of Radsad, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. She shares her thoughts and feelings, struggles and concerns of being a single mother of a grown-up son who was drafted into Ukrainian Army to defend his country following the Russian full-scale invasion on 24th February 2022.

In this interview, Yuliia Slipchenko interviews Tetiana Viecherkouska. Tetiana Viecherkovska is a resident of Radsad, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine, and lived there when the Russian Full-Scale Invasion began on the 24th of February 2022. She is a mother of a 6-year-old son, with whom she left for Lviv (Western Ukraine) in March 2022 for the period of almost three months, until the end of May of the same year. Her husband was mobilized in September 2022 and is currently serving military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Tetiana shares her experience of being a refugee, a mother and a wife during the war conflict, telling how it affected (and keeps affecting) her, her child and her relationship with her husband.