“Show Us Your Nazi Kyiv”: The Story of an 18-Year-Old Ukrainian Girl Who Escaped Russia and Returned Home on Her Own
This is a story of inner resistance, loneliness, coming of age under the harshest conditions, and strength that takes root even in the shadow of fear. Our heroine, speaking anonymously, shares her story.
Her hometown was occupied, and later, her family decided to move to Russia. But the girl had her own plan—and was determined to return to Ukraine, no matter the cost.
Her family tried to start a new life. The girl was forcibly enrolled in a Russian school—but it ended in bullying and humiliation, with teachers standing silently by.
“One of my classmates would run up to me and yell in my face: ‘Glory to Russia,’ ‘Death to the khokhols [derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians]!’ Once, he kicked a dog and shouted, ‘I’m Great Russia, and the dog is Ukraine!’”
Local teachers also mistreated the girl, doing everything they could to provoke and humiliate her.
I felt alone and powerless. There was no one I could speak to, no one to complain to. If I had gone to my relatives, they’d have said: ‘They’re picking on you because you probably don’t say "Glory to Russia." Well, say it—and there won’t be any problems.’ They still clung to the hope that I’d adapt, fall in love, make friends, and ‘come to my senses.’ But I couldn’t imagine myself as part of the ‘great Russian culture.’ How could I live in a place where I hated everything around me?
This story is told in her own voice—brave and unbreakable. Listen to her. The full article by Kseniia Chykunova is available on hromadske.