The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has sparked an international outcry for the wronging being done on Ukrainian citizens as Russian troops attack major cities. The Malta Independent got in touch with Platon Dmitriyev, a Kharkiv born citizen who has had to flee the city as “it is not safe there, wherever you are.”

Dmitriyev told this newsroom that two days before the invasion, he decided to structure and prepare any documents and whatever else he may need as a precaution. On 24 February at around6am, he heard an explosion. “It was very scary, and so I moved from my apartment in the city to my father’s place in the suburbs of Kharkiv, where I grew up,” he said.

After spending some time there, where Dmitriyev said that he and his family moved to the bombing shelters at least once every day, some days ago an invasion attack began in the area. “It was horrifying, we heard the sounds, and everything was shaking,” Dmitriyev said, adding that eventually they decided it was no longer safe and moved 200km away from the city.

Asked about how he was coping with things, Dmitriyev said that he is experiencing a lot of emotions.

“Life is so interesting and scary at the same time,” he said. He added that it is currently very hard to keep track of friends and relatives, some of whom have moved away from the country, and some are displaced around Ukraine. Dmitriyev, who is currently studying for a PhD in France, was planning to go back on 1 March, but because no male citizen aged 18 to 60 years is allowed to leave the country, his plan fell through.

“The emotions I feel are black and white, I feel a lot of hate towards the particular man who started this war and towards those people who support him, as well as huge amounts of love towards my friends and family whilst talking to them about what is happening,” Dmitriyev said.

Dmitriyev described the bombings as horrifying, adding that he cannot understand that there would be any reason to do this. He expressed that the air attacks are the scariest, as one knows the danger is coming but they cannot hide, they can only expect it. “It is a feeling I wish for nobody to feel,” he said.

“I stopped looking at photos of my city because it is horrifying, and I cannot take it anymore,” Dmitriyev said, especially with regards to the places, civil buildings, and people’s houses which he has come to know during his life.

Dmitriyev was asked about what civilians are doing militarily, to which he replied that people in Kharkiv are banding together to try collect as much humanitarian aid as they can. “A lot of people are in charge of communication routes and coordinating cars to help people move away,” he said. He recalled a first-hand story about his father and his friends who went to deliver humanitarian aid to a hospital in Kharkiv. At that exact time, 100 metres away from them a bomb hit, and they had to help wounded people in the vicinity. He highlighted the realities of the situation.

Dmitriyev commended the army for fighting bravely in this war, while expressing the anger Ukrainians are feeling at the moment.

“In 1994 Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. We had a huge collection of nuclear weapons and we willingly demilitarised ourselves and willingly gave away that nuclear power in exchange for the safety guarantees from Russia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. We got our guarantees, we declined the use of nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees that our country will stay sovereign and safe, yet that didn’t happen,” he said. Dmitriyev added that Europe has done a lot, yet it is not enough.

“It is heart-breaking seeing all the damages to the buildings and people suffering and running, and families separating,” he said.  

Dmitriyev said that he and his mother moved away, however his father remained in Kharkiv. “We wake up every day thinking of him and waiting on any news about his place while trying to understand what is happening,” he said.

Dmitriyev said that the situation in Kharkiv is that the city is not surrounded. He said that it is being attacked from the North-eastern direction, so the North-western direction is still Ukrainian.

The situation is still very dangerous, as he said that as they were travelling away from the city, a few hours after passing by an area where people can fly their planes leisurely, the area was bombed.

Asked about that he hopes for the future of Ukraine, Dmitriyev said that he hopes everything will turn out for the better, adding that if one looks deeper into the history of Ukraine, one will see that “it is not the first time someone tried to oppress us or kill our identities.”

“Under the USSR, Ukrainians were fighting for their identity, for being Ukrainian,” he said. Even is Ukraine ends up under the occupation of Russia, Dmitriyev believes that Russians will not be able to hold it, as citizens will cause a lot of problems, troubles and protests for a government who is trying to suppress their identity on their territory. He exclaimed that because of this, there will certainly be more suffering.

Would joining the European Union help Ukraine in the fight against the injustice being done to them? Dmitriyev said that joining the EU is not about confronting an enemy, but about working together with initiatives and creating connections. He said he believed in the Ukrainian troops and their bravery but appealed that the airspace should be closed as air bombings are the worst things currently happening.

Dmitriyev said that in his lifetime he has travelled across Ukraine and established many connections, “I do not want to leave this country at all – even if I will have to, I really want to come back and be with my people,” he said.