{"id":8803,"date":"2022-03-08T12:27:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T12:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/?p=8803"},"modified":"2023-05-17T08:13:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T07:13:10","slug":"doubly-displaced-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/doubly-displaced-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Olga\u2019s Chronicles: Day 9 of War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Doubly Displaced in Ukraine: \u201cI\u2019ve seen it all before\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Internally displaced from Russian-occupied Yasinovata<\/a>, <\/strong>Donetsk<\/strong><\/a> in 2014, Olga Olenichenko, social activist, educational and cultural worker, social media manager and entrepreneur, is now tirelessly engaged in supporting and welcoming fellow Ukrainians fleeing bombardments in cities across Ukraine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please help Olga to help others and donate to her <\/em><\/strong>Go Fund Me<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Olga Olenichenko<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On International Women\u2019s Day, we honour the solidarity work and social activism that Olga and her friends are doing to support fellow Ukrainians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 4th 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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The conversation below between Olga and <\/strong>Marie Gillespie<\/strong><\/a> took place on Friday 4th<\/sup> March. It chronicles Olga\u2019s perspective on the unfolding horror and tragic events across Ukraine as Russia\u2019s brutal attack kills thousands and forces millions to flee in the first week of this unjust war.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olga was born in Donetsk which in 2014 became \u201coccupied territory\u201d after the Russian army invaded and forced her family to flee. Since then, she has acquired the status of an \u201cinternally displaced person\u201d (IDP). She now lives in Ivano Frankivsk<\/a> with her two sons and husband. Olga is at the centre of a massive humanitarian operation locally, setting up shelters and essential support for the 14,000 IDPs who have fled to Ivano Frankivsk in the last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met Olga in 2018 when we came together during a workshop series that I was running in Kiev \u2013 part of Open University research on Cultural Diplomacy<\/a> projects funded by Goethe Institut and British Council in \u2018societies in transition\u2019 \u2013  meaning \u2018transition to democracy.\u2019 Now clearly such cultural diplomacy projects (as documented in our report Culture in an Age of Uncertainty<\/a>) are under threat of destruction, like Ukraine itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olga was part of an inspiring digital museum project Luhansk Arts and Facts<\/a>. This digital archive curated collections of artifacts of cultural life and social activism in Luhansk from 2004 to 2013 \u2013 the period between the two revolutions in Ukraine – the Orange Revolution<\/a> and the Revolution of Dignity<\/a>. This cultural project was very important as the Lukhansk region was accused by Russian political actors as having \u201cno culture of its own\u201d \u2013 only Russian culture. To the Russian regime the Russian-speaking minorities in the region signified that Lukhansk belonged to Russia. The Lukhansk museum project showed this to be a gross falsehood. Due to lack of funding, it ceased but continued to inspire other similar projects. Indeed, it inspired our digital archive Covid Chronicles from the Margins.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was also inspired by Olga\u2019s social activism and knew she would be at the centre of solidarity activities. We decided to get together and chronicle her local experiences as the surrounding rural areas of Ivano-Frankivsk, though deeply affected by the war, is relatively safe. Olga also wanted to raise awareness of how Russia\u2019s brutal attack on Ukraine is a continuation of the conflict she experienced in 2014 \u2013 a war that has taken over 10,000 lives, injured 24,000<\/a> and displaced around 1.5 million Ukrainians<\/a>. Olga wanted to offer her personal perspective  on recent events and with typical modesty she began by saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I don\u2019t do a big job. Just trying to organize for people where to go, search for cars to pick them up and take them to safety, share contacts, talk to them as a psychologist and provide psycho-social support. And, yes, I do everything sitting at home just by phone and laptop. Sometimes feel I should be outside and working in volunteer centre. But I can\u2019t because of my small boy and my goats (now I have 9 of them). And so being a mother and running a small farm is also a big job. Neither my boy nor my goats will understand if say \u201cSorry guys, but today I won\u2019t be here\u201d. That\u2019s why, I try to help people online and I feel I am also taking part in the Information War against Russian propaganda.<\/em>“<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

MG:<\/strong> We last met face to face in happier times in Kiev in 2018 at the Goethe Institut as we researched Luhansk Arts and Facts<\/a>.  I\u2019m so sorry for everything that you and fellow Ukrainians are having to go through \u2013 and I know how much you are involved in helping and support internally displaced people \u2013 how are you and your family?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OO: <\/strong>This war is of course terrible, much worse than it was in Donetsk in 2014 after the Russian Occupation \u2013 we left our homes back then. Now it is full scale war. In 2014 the Russian military were coming after us, so we had to run. First of all we believed we could fight the Russians back but soon realised we were beaten already. So, we took our car and went to Ivano Frankivsk, 1300 kilometres to the west \u2013 about as far away as we could run. We drove through the whole of Ukraine from the East to West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, thinking about then and now, it is so hard. But if we are just talking about me, I am an optimist. I am always trying to be positive, trying to do something, try to help people, to build shelters and not get depressed but to act \u2013 therefore I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s hard for me personally now but sometimes of course like anyone I just break down \u2013 my friend lost her husband \u2013 how could we not weep? We are human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to prioritise. For example, yesterday two young men they came to me, and I printed for them Volunteer ID cards so they can drive through all the roadblocks. (Olga has set up a local print service herself as no such service is available in the village). So, if somebody asked them \u2018why are you not at war?\u2019, they can explain why they can\u2019t go to the war and say but they have cars, they can help people. They bring people from danger zones to Ivano Frankivsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MG:<\/strong> That\u2019s great Olga. So how dangerous is it where you are? Yesterday you said the sirens started \u2013 is there bombing in your area?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Air Alarm App posted on by Olga on Facebook \u2013 allows instant alerts across Ukraine by Ciivil Defence System.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

OO: <\/strong>No, this is mostly safe, maybe one of the safest places, because we have no strategic targets of interest here for the Russians and we are at the furthest limit from Russia, close to Poland.The other thing that makes me feel safe is that I\u2019ve experienced all this before. The Russians hounded us out of our homes in Donetsk and I\u2019ve observed the Russians closely for 8 years since and somehow, I feel I know Russia very well. I know their tactics. I know how they do things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFor me, of course it\u2019s horrific but it\u2019s not as terrible as it is for those people who are seeing war, fleeing war for their first time. I have seen it before.  I was ready for that but not those who are newly internally displaced. Yesterday it was more than 14,000 IDP people came to Ivano and so it\u2019s much more \u2013 it is bigger than it was in 2014 when numbers of displaced people was like 4000.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

MG:<\/strong> Yes and figures of Ukrainians leaving the country across the western border, according to BBC this morning was coming up to 750,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OO: <\/strong>Yes, people here are so afraid because this is their first experience of war and maybe because we are so close to Polish border, but I feel quite safe here and confident about our resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MG:<\/strong> On the news in UK they highlight the great courage and bravery of Ukrainians and the challenge they are giving to Putin and the Russian forces who didn\u2019t expect such a big fight back. Equally talking about the numbers of people leaving the country and UNHCR estimates that between 4-7 million people are expected to leave Ukraine and go to neighbouring countries or countries where they have family here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OO: <\/strong>So many of us were displaced from that first wave \u2013 people like us don\u2019t we don\u2019t want to go anywhere anymore. I just want to stay here. Moving home again after 8 years it\u2019s difficult because we are just getting our lives started here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MG: <\/strong>I understand that, and you know when you think back to your experiences of war and Donetsk \u2013 you said you were already exposed to war and Russian attacks and you built up resilience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not physical resilience, it\u2019s mental and emotional<\/em>\u201c.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

OO:<\/strong> I guess we developed some resilience because when we left our home place in 2014, my parents stayed there. Being separated, of course, I was hungry for news and every morning, every evening, I was reading and reading the news. That\u2019s why I started to understand more in politics yeah started more analyse all these things  – develop my \u2013 how do you say – media literacy \u2013 so this is my personal experience and it helps me help others. Now that\u2019s why it\u2019s different in Ukraine because now they hear the bombs. This time the Russians want all of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAs displaced people we know how to organise shelters very quickly. We know everything about what to provide, how to talk to people, what they need, so many things and even we guessed and counted how many people would come to Ivano \u2013 somehow you understand what they are going through\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n