We are talking immediately after it was reported that they were in Irpin thirty kilometers northwest of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, in an artillery attack on refugees, a woman and two children were killed, and one person was seriously wounded.
Larisa Venediktova lives in Kiev. She is the director of Tanzlaboratorium, an independent performance group with which in 2009 she won at INFANT, the International Festival of Alternative and New Theater in Novi Sad, with the play Kurbas.reconstruction. Larisa Venediktova uses contemporary dance as a method of critical analysis.
He says that currently "the most damaged small places around Kiev, Irpin and Bukh" where the Russian army, which he calls fascist, "were shooting at civilians last week."
"We are fine. Kiev is preparing for defense. "Despite loud rocket attacks, the city was untouched," says Larisa Venediktova.
He says that moving around the city is possible "although some vehicles from the city traffic have been used for barricades, and although numerous checkpoints with territorial defense with well-armed residents have been set up." Metro stations have been turned into shelters, but trains are still running, albeit with long intervals."
He adds that in supermarkets it is possible to find "all the necessary food, but it is more difficult to get medicines because many pharmacies are closed due to a lack of workers."
Although there is a state of emergency in the city, they have access to information about what is happening, he says, "unlike the Russians who have no news other than those that spread Kremlin propaganda."
She sees her friends, but "there are fewer and fewer of them in Russia." She also notes that, if she understood correctly, "Russians do not agree with the actions of their government and do not accept the aggression that is directed at them."
The daily work for her and everyone she knows "is now preparing for the defense of the country." Some of her friends "have joined the army, and many participate in territorial defense and volunteer."
According to Larisa Venediktova, Putin attacked Ukraine "in order to reconstruct the Soviet Union, which is impossible to do without Ukraine." But Ukraine does not want to be part of it. Ukraine is a free, democratic, independent country, and Putin cannot allow that."
He believes that in this situation it is natural to be afraid, especially when "the enemy is not the army but terrorists" and emphasizes that they are actually "in fear of the possibility of restoring a totalitarian regime, which for us would be the same as a concentration camp."
Here's why she didn't leave Kiev. "Everyone has a place that is his. When he leaves it, the devil of emptiness takes up residence in him."
Sonja Ciric
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