The writer recalls a remarkable period in Istanbul during October 2022, when Victoria Amelina stood out for her youth, energy, and intelligence. At the Lviv Book Forum, a decision was made to support the festival digitally, linking Ukrainian writers with authors and audiences around the world. Yet a handful of international war reporters and journalists with deep regional knowledge chose to travel to Lviv in person. Meeting Ukrainian colleagues face to face added a new dimension to the festival’s impact.
Days filled with intense discussions and fresh friendships gave rise to big projects that formed with unusual speed, driven by context and necessity. Among the attendees were Victoria Amelina, Diana Berg, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Nataliya Gumenyuk, Jon Lee Anderson, Misha Glenny, Emma Graham-Harrison, and Charlotte Higgins. The latter later decided to learn Ukrainian and report on culture. Also present were the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh and, as a result, Dr. Rachel Clarke, founder of the NGO Hospice of Ukraine, which supports healthcare professionals in providing dignified end-of-life care to those who need it most.
Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina participated in a discussion about women and war with Janine di Giovanni and Lydia Cacho. The conversation reflected the hope that Ukraine would prevail, emphasizing that unlike Russia, Ukraine is a liberal democracy in which women play a vital and decisive role in society. The discussion touched on a forthcoming book about the injustices of war and the experiences of women who confront conflict. The first profile highlighted Evgenia Zakrevska, a lawyer who has pursued justice for victims killed during the Pride Revolution in 2014.
At another table, lawyer and author Philippe Sands commented on the importance of establishing international courts for aggression and the need to hold Russian leaders accountable for the war. His work tirelessly documents war crimes for Ukraine’s future.
The writer recalls another event in Cartagena de Indias in January 2023, where Victoria Amelina spoke with Oleksandra Matviichuk, the director of Civil Liberties at the Nobel Peace Prize–winning organization. Andrei Kurkov and Victoria also collaborate with Matviichuk, discussing her work and activism.
During a conversation within Cartagena’s walls, Victoria, Sofia Cheliak, and the festival’s programming director, discussed how literature and ideas festivals might be rebuilt in a future Ukraine. Victoria had previously created a New York Literary Festival in the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut. A month later, a photo arrived showing the destroyed venue, with a message about understanding the pain of the moment more deeply than anyone else.
Plans were laid during a dinner at the London Book Fair to promote Victoria Amelina’s latest Spanish publication, A House for Dom. The discussion extended to her work on Russia’s War Crimes Field Investigator alongside efforts in the liberated eastern, southern, and northern Ukrainian regions. The diary of Volodymyr Vakulenko, found in Kapitolivka near Izium and published by Russian forces, stood as another stark record of wartime atrocities.
Part of the broader narrative is the commitment to keep bearing witness. On June 27, 2023, Russia carried out another war crime by launching a high-precision Iskander missile at the Ria Lounge restaurant in Kramatorsk. Truth Hounds, the NGO documenting war crimes, interviewed eyewitnesses who confirmed that no legitimate military target existed at the site. The attack struck a popular venue where dozens gathered for a normal evening. Investigators from Truth Hounds identified several foreigners who were labeled mercenaries by Russian propaganda but were, in reality, volunteers and journalists. One notable participant was a Colombian peace commissioner who began a support campaign for Ukraine from Latin America, joined by writers Héctor Abad and journalist Catalina Gómez, who has covered the Russian occupation for France 24 and helped evacuate the injured Victoria Amelina to hospital.
Victoria Amelina’s voice and work continued to inspire, even as the world mourned. The determination to document and report endures, with the aim of ensuring that Ukraine remains a place where writers and the public can meet without fear to imagine other possible futures, much like festivals in New York but grounded in Ukraine’s Bakhmut region. Victoria Amelina rests in peace.