Olha Konsevych was editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian news platform Channel 24. She participated in the M100YEJ for the first time in 2014 and has been a regular participant in the M100 Colloquium ever since. In 2019, she became part of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and its innovative Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network (TILN). In 2021, she became the first Ukrainian to join the Vital Voices Global Partnership’s VVEngage cohort. She currently works for the Tagesspiegel, among other publications.
Twitter: @Liza22Frank
Ukraine is now at the most difficult stage of its history. Journalists are being physically killed by Kremlin’s rockets and Russian soldiers. Many of my colleagues are working from basements and shelters only while there is electricity and mobile network. I personally went to the border with Poland, Moldova, and visited Kyiv. But I did not see any fear in the eyes of my colleagues.
This year of war has brought Ukrainians not only a lot of suffering, anxiety and uncertainty, but it has also strengthened their spirit and taught them to value the lives of their loved ones, their own lives, and to be more attentive to their desires. We had to comprehend so much in such a short period of time, that sometimes it seems that in this year we have lived 20–30 years of life and made as many decisions as would fit into a small historical chronicle. Every day you make a choice, and every day you have to take responsibility, often not only for your own life, but also for others. This is especially true for those who stayed in Ukraine.
In the fall, I met with my friends in Kyiv and tried to understand what had changed in their lives. My friends have grown up. It seems to me that now, at the age of 22-25, they behave like very experienced people. My student years also came at a time of change – the 2014 was a year of Revolution of Dignity. I also had to grow up very quickly and make my own choices.
Moreover, I think that this year was also important for the international community, which realized that it had been trying to build this illusory system of balance of power for too long. And now we are all trying to stop a person who has decided that he is the most important politician in the world and can play war in the 21st century.
Europe, on the other hand, created its own energy dependence, believed that it could build some business projects with Putin, a man who was in the KGB and never respected Western values. Everything that was happening in Russia with the opposition was also visible. But at that time, it was more profitable to come to an agreement, so no one was preparing for the Great War. For example, Germany has been reducing its army for the past 25 years, not investing heavily in weapons, and not even allowing for the possibility of a major war in Europe. A complicated historical past and faith in the civilized world are the reasons why this happened. But February 24, 2022, changed a lot.
But… I don’t want to sound like a person who only criticizes. It was very unexpected to see how such a large bureaucratic machine as the EU was able to react quickly to the crisis and the great war in Ukraine and offer help.
Ukraine is now fighting not only for itself, but also for European values, for preventing bombs from falling on the territory of other countries. Because the aggressor’s appetite can only grow.
As well as Ukraine will have many more challenges ahead, because war is also an environmental disaster, a humanitarian catastrophe, a demographic crisis – all of which will affect our lives, and we should think about all of this now.
As my personal story, since April 2022 I live in Germany and I was inspired by many people. They dispelled many stereotypes about the Germans. For example, the fact that most people here live in abundance, work without stress and earn their status and money easily. Or that the Germans are very fond of rules, or even obsessed with them. In fact, all people are different.
War and people have taught me more in these months than in any university or institution. I learned to love life. I don’t feel survivor syndrome anymore. Not only that, but I even believe in the future.
