The soothing clatter of the wheels — the Kyiv–Kharkiv train is picking up speed. The compartment is warm and cozy; tea is already being served. Thoughts swarm like bees, and it is hard to shake the anxiety: for me, this assignment is the first, a step into the unknown.
The events of the winter of 2014 and the early spring had been unfolding at a breathtaking pace. Yanukovych’s escape to Russia, the Russian invasion of Crimea, and the pseudo-referendum on March 16, after which Putin announced the “annexation” of the peninsula. At the same time, pro-Russian forces were increasingly destabilizing Donbas.
On March 13, during a rally for Ukraine’s unity in Donetsk’s central square, Ukrainian activist Dmytro Cherniavskyi was killed. And on April 6, pro-Russian forces seized the buildings of the Security Service in Luhansk and the Donetsk Oblast State Administration, where on April 7 they proclaimed the creation of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
And now — alarming news from Kharkiv. On that same April 7, pro-Russian forces seized the Kharkiv Oblast State Administration. Since the beginning of spring, the city had been feverish: as early as March 1, pro-Russian activists had stormed the administration, beaten Euromaidan supporters, and forced them to their knees. Now they have taken down the Ukrainian flag over the building and are preparing to proclaim yet another “people’s republic.”
It is toward this city of Kharkiv that the train rushes that April evening. I still have no idea what I am about to go through or what events I will witness. Each new day brings new challenges, and it becomes harder and 2 harder to believe that all of this is happening in your own country, as the events of each day overshadow everything that came before. Not every episode of that spring becomes a photograph. But the most vivid ones remain in memory forever.