Stories from Ukraine: Anthology series about the resilience and strength of Ukraine and its people

The “Stories from Ukraine” anthology series presents a view of Ukraine and Ukrainians that is often simultaneously intimate and expansive. The collection, currently made up of three volumes called “Believers,” “Fighters,” and “Keepers,” offers readers 23 diverse narrative non-fiction stories. Collectively, they provide readers who aren’t closely familiar with Ukraine with an interesting way to learn about Ukrainians and challenge any preconceived notions they might have.

These stories are sure to interest Ukrainians, as well, who are likely to see or feel themselves or their loved ones in these pages. While the personal struggles and triumphs of the Ukrainians are the subject of the stories, the Russian-Ukrainian War and the presence of Russia within Ukrainian history are phantoms that haunt and often inform the narrative. In this way, the destructive power of the war and Russia’s efforts to erase Ukrainians are part of the picture, but the real story is always the relentless resilience of the Ukrainian people.

The kaleidoscopic vision of Ukraine presented in these stories is accomplished in how the stories were collected and how they were written. Each volume focuses on different generations that make up the Ukrainian people today. “Believers” chronicles the stories of people who are currently teenagers or in their twenties. This group has only known a world where their people have been fighting for the right to exist.

“Fighters” shows the lives and reality of the current generation of adults in their 30s to 50s. These people saw the end of the Soviet Union and have defined themselves and established lives amidst constant change and calls to resist and fight.

Finally, “Keepers” shares the stories and insights of the oldest generation of Ukrainians alive now, those who have experienced the effects of Russianization against their land and people for most, if not all, of their lives. The stories in “Keepers” focus on the individuals who rejected Russia either recently or long ago and who engage in the all-important process of passing down their cultural traditions while continuing to inspire with their bravery and energy.

Along with the ambitious scope of the three volumes, most of the stories feature authors interviewing the subject of the story while also providing dual narratives for author and subject. The authors provide insight and context and depict the impact of war on their lives, but there is also always a central subject whose experiences are the focus of each piece. The authors often make fruitful use of the narrative opportunities provided by this structure to illustrate complex truths.

In the contribution that starts “Believers,” “Anna: A Story about the Ukrainian South, Home, and Human Anatomy Coloring Books in an Emergency Backpack,” we’re transported to the beaches of the Ukrainian South at their busiest before the war, so that even people on the other side of the world can vicariously experience the joy of those summers. We’re then brought to those same beaches after the war, where now a bleak emptiness reflects the reality of a changed world.

The story then introduces Anna, a university student who, along with four friends, were staying in a vacation facility in Odesa when it was struck by a Russian missile. The attack severely injured Anna, and the story of the attack and her subsequent struggle to recover was captured on social media. This caught the attention of the author, who noticed that Anna was from the same region as her, which allowed their connection to be seamless when Anna agreed to meet with the author. We then learn about Anna and the effect the attack has had on her, featuring surprisingly positive outcomes for her through the struggle to recover and grow from the experience.

“Believers” often explores the typical roles of young people as students and children of parents, but the stories also display the amazing resilience and independence required by those growing up in a world marked by war. The account of the SignMyRocket initiative, started by Anton Solokenko, is chronicled in “Anton: A Story about Three Levels of Loneliness,” and it provides an honest and illuminating portrait of how one person contributed to that initiative in an unexpected way.

Solokenko reveals how SignMyRocket was at first reluctantly embraced by the military but now cannot do enough to meet the demands asked of it by the various military units. He shares the highlights along with the struggles and disappointments, but, pointedly, he also speaks about the loneliness of these efforts, both for himself and for Ukraine, and how he works in defiance of that loneliness.

There are many ways to fight for your country, and this idea is explored both beautifully and brutally in the “Fighters” volume. Some have made the choice to go and fight on the front line, like the soldiers featured in “Beard: A Story about Kramatorsk, Dingus, and the Frontier.” As the author recounts, these people quickly recognize the difference that drones will make in the fight against Russia, so they teach themselves how to operate and build them. Beard’s knowledge of the area from having grown up in the region proves to be a significant advantage for the troops.

We also meet Tetiana from “Tetiana: A Story about School, Bread, and Bravery,” who is a school principal forced to lead occupying Russian soldiers through her school. In a remarkable moment during the tour, she commanded the Russian soldiers to clean up after themselves rather than disrespect the space. We also learn about people engaged in volunteer activities and those who support missions from their own towns, actions that make all the difference in a world that vitally needs support.

There are also those who fight even when out of the country, as shown in “Larysa: A Story about Non-random Occurrence.” Here, two Ukrainian women meet in Stockholm, where one has been living for many years, while the other has lived there only since the start of the war. Their mutual anguish of being away while wanting, even needing, to be at home to support their people is beautifully shared, while they also discover their shared histories with the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

Two constants pulse through these stories: the love for the land and the importance of the Ukrainian language. The first is seen in small but significant ways, like a reference to soldiers planting vegetable gardens wherever they go in “Larysa.” But there is also Serhii Lymanskyi from “Serhii: A Story about a Reserve at the End of the Street,” who teaches us about the Cretaceous Flora, which he has dedicated his life to protecting. Lymanskyi struggled to study this land under Soviet regulations, but he prevailed to actually see it become a protected land. He now witnesses the assault on Ukraine from the very specific vantage point of its effects on the steppe that he has spent his life protecting.

On the question of language, there are many teachers and students of philology in these stories, where the choice to speak Ukrainian instead of Russian is an important one. That choice is considered differently throughout the three volumes. For some people, it is the only choice they have known, while others have had to make the uncomfortable choice to speak Ukrainian in settings where they previously would have only spoken Russian.

Most interestingly, “Keepers” presents stories of elderly people who are rejecting the Russian language that they have spoken their entire lives. In “Mariia: A Story about Survivor’s Guilt, Self-Deprecation, and Hope,” one woman talks about how “some cannot recognize a Russian missile in their city as being Russian,” but she has no such problem.

In “Maria: A Story about Revolutions, War Diaries, and the Language of Home,” we learn of Maria Galina from Odesa who grew up in a Russian-speaking family but shifted to exclusively speaking Ukrainian after a lifetime. The author and Maria share their mutual feeling that “if Ukrainian is not spoken around me, I don’t feel at home.” 

There is a paragraph in the “Keepers” contribution, “Myroslav: A Story about the Path from Fear to Loss of Fear,” that discusses the luxury of having three active generations living together – grandparents, parents, and children. The author explains how not everyone will realize and understand the meaning of this luxury. Taken as a whole, however, the “Stories from Ukraine” anthology helps readers understand the importance of this phenomenon.

Many people have been affected by war and tragedy, and whether that war or tragedy happened in the time of your grandparents, your parents, or you or your peers, those events have direct impacts on what happens to you, now. This collection plays an important role in documenting this unique cultural moment, one where people from different generations can each tell their stories for readers in Ukraine and around the world.

For as much as these stories serve the Ukrainian people, the goal is to get them to international audiences. Readers unfamiliar with the nuances of Ukrainian history will relish the layered, richly woven narratives and clear storytelling, not to mention the abundance of footnotes that provide important context.

Fully considered, the scope of these stories is huge, but so is the strife that these people have endured and continue to endure. “Stories from Ukraine” captures real people from all generations who are living in circumstances that are forcing them to fight.

Buy “Stories from Ukraine” on Amazon:

• Stories from Ukraine: Believers
• Stories from Ukraine: Fighters
• Stories from Ukraine: Keepers

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Copy editing: Jayson MacLean