"For the tree of memory to grow, you need humus from stories and fairy tales": an interview with Andriy Andrushkiv, journalist and lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University's Business School, for The Museum of Civilian Voices by Rinat Akhmetov Foundat

The public space of The Museum of Civilian Voices by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation hosted an interview with Andriy Andrushkiv, Master of Theology, a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a lecturer at the Business School of the Ukrainian Catholic University and the Ukrainian Leadership Academy. The conversation was moderated by Anastasiia Platonova, a cultural critic and curator.

Speaking about Ukrainians' personal experiences of the events of the war, Andriy stressed that a person is transformed by a great experience, both terrible and good. He spoke about the role of religious outlook in this process: 

"People often start looking for opportunities to organise themselves, their lives, and the space around them afterwards. And the religious worldview provides the support and tools to move on, to create a field of effective interaction against the backdrop of terrible events. Christianity is a religion that postulates equality. Situations of experience on the verge of life and death are levelled, and my worldview helps me to go through them."

An important issue discussed during the interviews was the concept of justice and revenge in the Christian perspective: 

"Unless justice is done, there will be no peace and happiness for many Ukrainians. But I want to hope for the best. When the Balkan War ended, I was still at school, and some criminals are still being extradited and tried, and these are long processes. It is our function as a community to help extinguish this pain. Some of the practices of different religions are about helping to accept pain, to accept death. The community helps to come out of it."

Andriy emphasises that memory is what shapes the future. In his opinion, the more we retell, make fairy tales and documentaries, creating the "humus" of memory, the more likely it is that a tree of memory will sprout from it: 

"History consists of many small things. It is very good that there are many videos, texts, and testimonies. It is the diversity of memory and sources that makes it possible to understand and shout out. For some people, the testimony of journalists may be biased, but a child's diary or someone's 'story' will speak."

In April 2022, when a Canadian journalist asked him why the defence of Kyiv was so united, even though the world expected the capital to fall "in three days", Andriy responded with a folk tale about Kotyhoroshko, who went to rescue his brothers and sisters from the snake's captivity, saying: "For the sake of my own blood, I don't spare my own life." Having accepted his responsibility, he won, freed his family and got everything: money, a princess, fame. This is not just a story or a legend. 

"A fairy tale is a transformed experience. People believed it was the right thing to do. It is a story that has programmed our future and will continue to do so."

So why were the forecasts different? According to Andriy, most analytical reports on Ukraine were written by people who do not understand what it means to be a Ukrainian.

"Because the state didn't work, we had to establish interaction networks. This is what was not realised about our capacity for resistance. And this is what films, articles, and books gradually reveal about us. And we have our own thing to do: to tell stories to keep the memory alive and those who have it harder."

The public interviews continue the series of cultural events of The Museum of Civilian Voices by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, aimed at preserving the memory of the war. Follow the announcements of new events on the Foundation's social media and the Museum's website: https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/