passed In the first minutes of 2023, he is running in the hallway of his house with a glass of champagne in his hand. Russian troops bombarded Kiev five minutes after the start of the New Year. His three children are still in Ukraine, but he and his wife currently live in the United States, where he works as a university professor. Andrey Kurkov, One of Spain’s best-known Ukrainian novelistsdecided to board a plane to visit the Dénia Humanities Festival and attended a roundtable today to talk about the issue that has made him a war refugee. She published ‘Diary of an Invasion’ (Discussion) in which she describes everything that has happened since February 2022.
More than a year has passed since the conflict began. How have you been?
I spent the beginning of the war with my wife in Kiev while my children were in Lviv. We decided to move to the east of the country where we met some friends. We took them to the border with Slovakia, where we stayed with our eldest son. Our little boy decided to return to Kiev, so he spent the whole war at home, in the historical center of the city. He decided to take a high risk. The closest explosion he experienced was 500 meters from our house. When my wife and I finally got in the car for Marseille (France) in June, we decided to leave the country. Since then we have been traveling via France or Germany. In January, we moved to the United States, where I teach at Stanford University (California).
Are you planning to return in the near future?
I think so too. My wife is going to Kiev in May and I am in June. Life goes on in my country. Bars have customers and cinemas are full.
Not adjusted to this life on the go?
It’s been stressful. I really tested myself. I am 61 years old. The war forced me to be very active.
He attended the Festival de les Humanitats de Dénia at a discussion table on conflict.
Since the beginning of the war I have published 70 articles on the situation. This conflict has three decisive elements. On the one hand, there is the imperialist desire to regain control of Ukraine; on the other, the destruction of Ukrainian identity, which shows that the conflict was actually a continuation of the war started by Tsar Peter the Great 300 years ago. Since then, Russia has tried to control Ukraine and integrate Ukrainian society into its system. They want to make people speak Russian and forget about Ukrainian culture. Putin has already said that his favorite tsar is Peter the Great. He wants to repeat his success.
What is the third factor?
Geopolitics. This is a conflict between Russia and the West. Putin has officially said that he is not fighting against Ukraine or the Ukrainians, but against the United States and NATO. We are experiencing the Third World War, as Ukrainian troops use NATO ammunition and weapons.
How do you see the future in the short term?
I think the next six months will be the most dramatic period in this war. In two or three weeks there will be a counterattack by the Ukrainian army, which will last for several months, possibly until autumn. If our army is able to push Russian troops back into its territory, the line of fire will be on the border between the two countries. The situation may be ‘frozen’ for a long time until a negotiation is reached, but there is no guarantee that Russia will attack again.
He recently published ‘Diary of an Invasion’ (Discussion), in which he describes the brutality of the conflict. What impulse drove you to do this? Is he a writer or a citizen of Ukraine?
This is the second diary I’ve written in my life. I have been writing diaries since I was 15 years old. But this was different from what I did, because I have a lot of arguments stemming from both my profile as a writer and my role as a citizen of Ukraine. This is a diary but also an essay on war.
Ukrainians are anarchists by nature.
Has Ukraine become Europe’s Ithaca?
Yes, at least for Ukrainians. What is not understood in Europe is that Russians and Ukrainians have different mentalities because of their history. I’m ethnically Russian but grew up in Ukraine. I became Ukrainian not by my blood, but by the culture I lived in the country. To highlight some differences between the two countries, I will tell you that Ukraine never had a royal family, was independent from Russia until 1654 and was ruled by Cossacks without the presence of an aristocracy. Ukrainians are anarchists by nature. They respect your opinion more than their own politicians. They elect their president to hate him and blame him for everything they don’t like. Ukraine is always ready to protest, while the Russians think collectively. For them, stability is more important than freedom. Putin is trying to destroy Ukrainian identity by bombing museums and theaters.
Doesn’t this situation put you in a difficult situation when using Russian?
My mother tongue is Russian. I remember in the days of the Soviet Union if you spoke Ukrainian you had to be either a nationalist or a peasant. The cultural element is essential in wars. In Ukraine, many libraries were destroyed in order to destroy the legacy of Ukrainian writers in the occupied territories. My book is also banned in those regions. I will not publish my book, Diary of an Invasion, in Russian until the end of the war.
“It will take ten years to overcome the hatred of all things Russian”
What is the future of the Russian language in Ukraine?
Before the war we had 40% Russian speakers, now 30% I think. This rate will continue to decrease. Russian will be a marginal language in my country. Ukrainian bookstores do not want to sell books in Russian, even if they belong to domestic authors. I think it will take ten years to overcome the hatred of all things Russian. I know this because as a child I had a negative reaction to another language, German. When I was in school I had to choose between German and English and said that I would never learn the mother tongue because the Germans killed my grandfather. I learned German at the age of 37. Russian culture is dead to Ukrainians and I can show you why. (Below shows Russian propaganda with a picture of Tolstoy alongside messages of support for the Russian military in Ukraine.) Many Russian writers support Putin and those who have decided not to speak up.
Do you think the war changed your writing style?
Yes, actually it didn’t just change the way I write, it touched everything. I stopped writing fiction because of the war. I have an unfinished novel, it accompanies me on all my journeys and I cannot finish it. I can only write about conflict.