I'm now talking to Irina Mishina. She is still remaining together with her family in Kharkiv. Kharkiv is a big city in the east of Ukraine, which is since more than two weeks under heavy attack of Russian military forces. Irina, can you just let us know or can you tell us about your current situation in Kharkiv now? Sure. Kharkiv is situated very close to the Russian border, something like 40 kilometers from the border. And this city was attacked from first days of this big occupation, I don't know, mission. Well, but now I'm living in the city center. We're not suffering from tanks or troops. All the battles happen around the city in the suburbs, closer to the border of the city. But what we do, we did survive in the city center. It was bombing, missile attacks and they hit a different part of the city. Fortunately we had none near our house and in my part of the well like closer to the center but not in the proper center because in the proper center to the center but not in the proper center because in the proper center picture of the city has changed there are many buildings and is there that people died just being in the administration when the missile hit in it and and we heard all that blows we heard it from our part of the city but fortunately till now we didn't had any hit here though my parents live closer to this to the northern part of the city and there it's hot it's maybe last two days it's less hot because maybe our troops took the tanks from the border a bit further. But before, it was very loud at my parents' place. It's a private house. Me, I'm living in a flat. They're living in a private house and they heard both an hour part shooting and tanks and all kinds of, I'm not very good in war ammunition and guns, the shooting back and even two streets from my parents. parents, there were like fallen parts of maybe of this. Well, it was, there were, oh my God, houses were destroyed. There was this destruction. Well, I would say that the hardest days were before the talks, Minsk talks, where are trying maybe to demoralize us, and they just hit living houses, skyscrapers. They just hit not only military objects, as it was in the first two days of this war, two days of this war. But they hid just living houses in separate, in different parts of the city. It was chaotic and it was very frightening. These two days or three days, it's relatively quiet here. I don't know, maybe it's due to some reinforcement that we got. We got a lot of help from everywhere and food and also ammunition and also some guns. So we hear our anti-aircraft warfare, but we don't hear bombs now. In the meantime, a huge amount of Ukrainians are leaving the country urgently. If you think back on this day, the 24th of February, when the war began, which criteria were in your mind to decide either to stay or to go first like war didn't really begin the 24th 24th began this big occupation mission because the war between ukraine and and Russia is started in 2014 when Crimea was occupied and Donbas parts of eastern east southern parts of Ukraine were imitated like there were Russian militaries and Russian people pretending they are Ukrainians and asking Russia to take them to occupy these territories. War started then. But this big aggression started, yeah, the 24th. Maybe your question is why are we staying and are we planning to stay you know as i told you yeah a lot of people left but i can understand people who just left and now their houses are destroyed as it happens on the south on the north north north of the city where like fights I don't think this was bombing but the fights between troops some some oh my god how to say I forgot the word, it's English. So simply it flew to the flats, to the houses of the first line. Yeah, these people left from the first ones and they didn't have lights, they didn't have windows, they didn't have water. Here in the center, we've all that and and it's warm and you know our city services work surprisingly well for me i wasn't i wasn't expecting that for example my parents are closer to this hotline and sometimes they didn't have electricity. And it was fixed during several hours. It was fixed. So it means that when the shots are, when the shots stop, some services come and make works, repairing, and people can, again, have like, if they can do this. A lot of people are afraid but like our family we live in a more than a good house we don't have a high floor i mean it's a sixth floor so it's not on the top and it's not on the bottom our Our people who live in these two houses, it's a group of houses, are united now and protecting also. We have weapons, they make a circle around at night so we will protect our this part of the territory. We have all goods. We have everything we need. But maybe it's not because of that that we're staying. My parents wouldn't leave their house. They have animals. They are going to the underground shelter when they hear shooting. But one of these days, for example, when the house of their friends was like, there was a fire on the roof and the firemen couldn't come because of shooting. But after shooting, just people living around, they went and they took caution. So they could fight the fire and they could save what was left in the houses. So they could fight the fire and they could save what was left in the houses. So like people there, these are private houses, like a village. And they're helping each other. They don't want to lose what they have there. And they are staying. They're very quiet in them. That's surprising for me because I would like to take, quieting them. That's surprising for me because I would like to take, my will was to take them the first days when this big part started. But they didn't want to. I cannot take them by hand and bring them away. And I'm here also if they need help, I will give it to them. We can do that. We can take them. But for the moment, they said that the situation is a bit better. The line has moved out of the city, and now they don't hear bombs, bombing, shooting. They don't hear it all the time as it was like first, I don't know. It may be a couple of days that they don't hear shooting very close and they decided to stay and to help run. It's actually astonishing that, for instance, your telecommunication infrastructure is still working very well. Otherwise, we couldn't talk to each other via Telegram. How can you explain it you know for me it's also very surprising for me in general it's very surprising how we are united in uh in ukraine now how everybody helps everybody and some people take animals and hold them in their seat in their houses while others are leaving and cannot, for example, when there were evacuations by the train, it was not possible to go with animals. There were so many help and food for animals and transporting it to those people. And also, as I told you about the services in the city, that they work when it's after bombing, there is electricity. For me, it's nonsense. I thought the war was something different, you know. And, yeah, and all the operators, mobile operators, they are united now. If you don't connect to one, you can connect to any other. And also, the same thing with the Internet. They are trying, our force is trying to keep us in touch. And we really do this it's like everyday check how are you, how are you, how are you in different parts of the city and I know that sometimes there are breaks but they are repaired I know that there were hacker attacks but they were also fought I guess I can mention that you are in your professional life an actress working on stage in theaters or elsewhere I guess I can mention that you are in your professional life an actress. You are working on stage in theaters or elsewhere. It's interesting to learn how your life as an artist, which is often being connected and very close to other artists abroad, even in Russia, I guess. Can you tell us about your experiences, how you can use these connections now, how the connections, your networks can be useful for you at the moment? By education, I'm an interpreter and teacher of English and French, and I've worked as a teacher for 13 years, teacher of these two languages. And this mostly also helps because I can be almost free. maybe don't have much practice last few years but any anyway yeah and and theatre practice and all that and cinema also it helps that I really have many connections in all parts of the world almost and they are helping very much you You know, everywhere in France, in all Europe, in the United States, in Israel, just people that we know without even being actress, everybody is contacting us. They are asking the real needs, where they can put their money or send something. And we get a lot, really. There are volunteers that help our troops there are volunteers that help with food with medicines because and and also you just show them and they or send money or send something in poland which is close to the which is. People helping a lot, really. And from all, I don't know, from all Europe, almost from all the world it comes. And thank you for everyone. We don't feel alone in that. We feel very much supported. I don't know. I've never seen situations like that before. Anyway, within the last days, we learned a lot about Ukraine and even about the fact that Ukraine is very interesting, that Ukraine is a multicultural country with a lot of differences and an interesting, huge common ground together. Two languages, Russian one and Ukrainian one, differences in religion and the Orthodox Church. Can you tell us how that, can you give us an impression of this coexistence or this coming together of these different cultures in the last years? Also, we would like to know what you can expect for the nearer future. Well, it's a very interesting thing, the history and how Putin now tried to turn it from the legs to the head. Because in his speech before the aggression of the 24th of February, he said something like Soviet Union has created Ukraine. It makes me laugh because Kiev is much older than Moscow is. And Kiev Rus is the mother of all our nations around. And in Ukrainian language is very old and beautiful. There are researches that it's second or third in the world by its melody. Italian is also very melodical. And it's maybe not very well known, but it's normal I think because we Ukrainians will learn very fast and we speak English often and it's okay. So about this moment, With all that, having beautiful culture itself, and we have a lot of this culture left in songs, in clothes, in even like old buildings, but a lot. But with that, me, for example, I'm Russian-speaking. In Kharkiv, like part of my parents, I mean, great-grandparents, me, I was born in Ukraine, but my great-grandparents come from Russia, from one part of Russia. And me, I'm not in any part suppressed or something. I'm not feeling any pressing on me on that behalf. But, you know, me, I do speak Ukrainian. I think it's normal when in the country where the Ukrainian is national language, everything, documentation, official speaking, it's in Ukrainian. It's like in Austria. Yeah, I can come. i can talk to you in english now maybe french we can find connections but if i need something uh official to make i will make it in german i know the rules and these all uh chants about that russian language is being on the press. It's not true. Really, me, I'm speaking freely if I need, because for me, I speak very good Ukrainian, but for me, when I'm nervous, when I don't know, I speak Russian, and to volunteers, to everybody, and nobody says nothing to me, because what is important, what I do, what I am, and not really the language that they speak and I do respect Ukrainian and I like it very much and I don't know in future already Ukrainianization so-called that Russians try to turn into nationalists it's like few years after 2014, it's enforced, but not only from 2014. It's after the Soviet Union, you know, at the times of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian was suppressed as language. Because everything was in Russian, everybody needed to speak Russian, all the official documents, everything was Russian. Ukrainian was like, oh, what is that? It's the same with the churches. But in general, yeah, communists didn't like churches. They made awful things with churches. But it's not about that. About the culture, of course, Ukrainian is developing. It will be. And now, you know, it's also our weapon because when invasion started, there were some dissent. There were like people, Russian people who maybe came before and then starts working as diversion, diversive groups around the city. Now I don't hear about them. I think our troops or our maybe army or maybe also volunteer troops has fought them because but in the beginning it was and we had some Ukrainian words that we checked them on because they pretend being locals but they make strange things. They draw marks on the ground for the missiles. When you find people who look strange, you ask them fewer words in Ukrainian, and you can understand everything. It was a kind of a weapon. In the future, it's difficult to say. You know, now there's much... People are nervous. They are very angry. They feel fear. It's normal to feel all this when someone comes with weapons to your territory and tries to input you what they want to do. We're on our land and we are fighting, of course. And of course, there is a big aggression against Russians. Yeah, because also because they're silent, because really half of this of the country, they are okay with this kind of politics. They believe in the story the government tells them. But there are like normal, I would say, Russians which know, which follow, which understand what really happens there. And there will be kind of hate. I think it's just in human nature because it's very difficult. Me, I'm sitting now, I'm having a warm flat with food, with everything. And when you are in Mariupol, for example, underground, and you're melting snow to drink, and you can see, I don't know, people die around, and you cannot even bury them because they're shootings. Of course, you will hate the aggressor and I think there will be some impact. With me personally even speaking now Russian but making good cause I don't feel that I'm in all kind of I don't know I don't feel any aggression to me and also Russians who are my friends who are helping us who are telling about the true situation here they also nobody tells them uh-huh it's you nobody is trying to offense them or something everybody understands everything at least in ukraine because in russia no sometimes relatives say oh maybe you're crazy I believe in your national government. They're telling us. Well, exactly. I have a family. Father is in Russia. One daughter is now near Mariupol in Telmanove. We don't know even if she's alive now. But when he had connection to her, he said, oh, do you believe all this or your national government? It's not us. it's them bombing you. And you don't know what to say. And you don't say anything to this kind of people. It should be mentioned that you have two small children. And can you tell us how they can cope with the situation with this sort of state of emergency and how can you as parents provide them with the necessary safety um yeah i've got two kids uh five and a half boy and almost three, the girl. And we tell them what is happening. And they know that Russians, they don't know why, but aggressed our country, that Russian troops are coming here. They also know that there are normal people in Russia who understand everything. They maybe cannot understand all the deepness, yeah? But they do ask questions. They were surprised because we have also relatives in Russia, and they were surprised. Why? How? How is that possible? They were afraid, of course, by loud sounds, but you know, we had a chance not to have bombs just around us so we just uh when we heard the sound of a signal this air syrian we came down they knew that they should be they should take their clothes warm clothes and we will go to the shelter. They like shelter very much. There are lots of children there so they can play because now they don't have their kids in gardens or something. And they are even after this chaotic bombing stopped and we could come back to the flat to kind of normal life. They ask us sometimes and we go to the shelter to communicate that the children can run there, you know, they can play, do a lot of things. Children, you know, I'm very happy that I'm with children. First, like, it's additional responsibility yeah if I was without children I would go volunteer I would go somewhere now I'm staying with them yeah making something distant like connections all kinds of what I can do for my place I'm staying but also they don't read news and so they yeah they have like uh normal children they they're funny they are playing they are but really my situation is in some somehow unique because uh of course there are children who are in shelters and it's cold there and they are tired of this situation and of hearing and of parents who are also who feel fear. I don't even, I cannot even really think, I couldn't sleep like tonight because of that Mariupol and all that situation. that Mariupol and all that situation. In Mariupol, there was a bomb near a children's hospital and the house where children are born. And it's horrific. I don't know how the children there feel. And also I've got one family near Kyiv who could escape the occupation. They just left on the shootings and they heard shootings very close and also two children, small as mine, children were terrified. Even they had two days or three days when there was no food and they ate something like bread, which is not very good already. It's terrifying. They could escape, I'm happy, but there are lots of us that couldn't still. And this, you know, air, it's the main problem now. We have some reinforcement that came, it seems, because now it's like we have less bombing from air. But maybe it's just the strategy changed somehow. But in the sky we were naked. That brings me probably to my last question. For sure a crucial one, regarding the necessities of international solidarity. What do you expect from the world? How should the international community support you, Ukrainian people, the civil society, people remaining in their cities under bombings what do you expect what can the world do for you first we're very grateful because the world already makes a lot for us i even didn't expect so much help support everybody who can send something money supplies we have really we have a lot of food coming medicines i know that some ammunition something people gather really unbelievable like a lot uh but what stays really, the sky, if the countries that can, that have this warcraft, if they found a way to make it, not provocating maybe Russia to other actions. But, you know, we're talking about provocating Russia. Russia is provocating everyone now and we are now like a life shelter in front of Europe. And of course we need to cover our sky if we need to find a possibility. if we need to find a possibility. Our army grew up very much from 2014 when we had like nothing. Russia was our guarantee and hope. They attack and they take Crimea, they take some territories. We didn't know how to respond. Now our army, for my surprise, has developed very much and they're fighting very good. You know, even they don't take people who volunteer to go fighting, to go protecting. They say if they don't have fighting experience, they say stay safe, stay volunteer, help, don't go to the fighting line. But the sky, the sky. but the sky the sky in this sense Irina I really would like to thank you for your time and regarding all these difficulties you experience at the moment take care of you we are wishing you the best for you and your family and your kids and yeah take care and we are thinking of you we stand with you Corinne and goodbye and all the best to Chakiv and you're at home thank you very much thank you very much for your attention for what you're doing for your support, it means very very much we stay at home because it's our home we'll defend it here, thank you great, thank you very much