One year since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. “I remember every moment of last February 24”, thus begins the story of the Ukrainian journalist Iryna Guley, who over the last year she has sent to Vanity Fair several videos in which he showed the conflict that had broken out in his land. The one that from the first moment, Irina Guley he chose not to abandon. Thus, over the last year, Iryna has moved to different areas of her country, together with her colleagues to continue working even when the missiles were flying above them.
«I remember everything about that February 24, as if it had just happened. I woke up and in the first few seconds I didn’t realize they were bombs, then the car alarms went off, then the sirens. That’s when I understood that it wasn’t just a roar: it was war. It had really blown up.” The days that followed were characterized by something that Iryna had never experienced before and in such a strong way: the ability to make decisions in a second. «I left Kiev without taking anything from my apartment, I left everything I had there, I took a bag and left. I never thought I’d make it.”
The realization that the war was not going to be a blitzkrieg came at a precise moment. «When I saw the bombing of the municipal building of Kharkov: there I understood that the Russians had come to kill us all, that they weren’t going to leave like this. That time was the first time I cried». Then the siege of Mariupol, the Ukrainian army forced to surrender at that time. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” continues Iryna, who for all these months has been away from her family, who live in a small village. “It is a great pain to look at the photos in my phone that I took before February 24th. I dream of reliving spring in Kievthe warm spring with the flowers that perfume the air and go back to hearing the song of the swifts that I adore».
There’s one thing Iryna almost says in one go when she looks back on senior year. «I haven’t cried many times, although the mourning has been constant in the last year and has touched many people close to me. I didn’t cry often. I’ve gotten used to being without electricity, although luckily it’s not missing in this period. Perhaps, it’s almost as if I’ve gotten used to the war. Does it really happen?”
– Iryna Guley: «The war took away my emotions»
-Ukraine, Iryna Guley: «Every awakening is a return to war»
-A month of war, Iryna Guley: «What have they done to you, my Ukraine»
Source: Vanity Fair
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