In Solidarity with Ukraine: 5 Italian journalists and authors visited Ukraine

PEN Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute launched the program of foreign authors’, journalists’ and cultural activists’ visits to Ukraine – In Solidarity with Ukraine. The first delegation came from Italy.

In Solidarity with Ukraine is a program aimed at creating a message about the consequences of the Russian military’s crimes against Ukraine and its culture and giving the participants of delegations a sense of context and understanding of the current situation in Ukraine during the war.

Throughout the week, Nona Mikhelidze, senior fellow at the Institute of Foreign Affairs (Istituto Affari Internazionali) in Rome, Paola Peduzzi, journalist with Il Foglio outlet, Christian Rocca, chief editor of the Linkiesta portal, Francesco Chiamulera, director of Una Montagna di Libri book festival, and Davide Maria De Luca, editor of the Domani Editoriale, met Ukrainian cultural and human rights activists, servicepeople, journalists and artists, and got acquainted with social and cultural context of the country.

"This was a very useful and thrilling visit. It’s Ukrainians’ courage that produces changes for all Western countries. I thought I would find bitterness and fatigue in Kyiv; instead, I felt a very touching but also very powerful energy. Somebody told me that it was life that defeated death here, no matter what," says Paola Peduzzi.

The participants of the program witnessed de-occupied towns and villages affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine. "We went to see the localities stained with tortures and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian military. Burnt houses stood side-by-side with rebuilt ones. We saw ruined bridges but already in the repair process. Some of them will forever bear the scars of devastation, like Romanivskyi bridge over the Irpin river… We went to Chernihiv where, as in many other places, the pictures of destruction and renovation were unfolding in the cycle of decay and revival, pain and hope," Nona Mikhelidze writes in her piece for La Stampa.

"The visit within In Solidarity with Ukraine appeared to be one of the most intense experiences of my life. We met Ivan, one of the Russians’ ex-captives, who showed us the frightening basement in Yahidne (Chernihiv region) where 368 innocent Ukrainians had been forcefully held in inhuman conditions for almost a month. I have no doubt that his evidence will be of crucial importance when Russia is brought to justice for its war atrocities. I will do my best to convey the information about serious human rights violations in Yahidne and other Russian-occupied localities to the widest possible audience," says Francesco Chiamulera.

The participants met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Among civic and human rights initiatives, they got acquainted with the Centre for Civil Liberties, Truth Hounds, CrimeaSOS. They also had meetings with representatives of the Book Arsenal, Dovzhenko Centre, National Art Museum of Ukraine, Khanenko Museum, visited Mystetskyi Arsenal and the Ukrainian House, and talked to Ukrainian servicepeople at the Veteran Hub. The delegation also met American historian Timothy Snyder in Kyiv.

Besides, a public discussion during which the Italian delegation talked about power and reconsidering democracy in the situation of war took place within the program. The conversation was moderated by Volodymyr Yermolenko, philosopher and president of PEN Ukraine. You can see the record here.

Until the end of the year, the Ukrainian Institute and PEN Ukraine are going to host three more delegations from Spain, Netherlands, and France. Upon the end of the visits, the delegations’ participants are expected to become ambassadors of Ukraine abroad, writing about it in the international media, launching projects of support and establishing contacts with Ukrainian cultural, civic, and human rights institutions.

"I will remember this trip until the end of my life. I am immensely grateful to PEN Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute for making it possible. I’ve met incredibly brave people and visited places of Russian terror. The combination of these two things urges me to redouble my efforts in promoting Ukraine among Italian politics and media. On top of that, I’m going to come back soon, since nothing is as actual, proper, and ethical nowadays as supporting Ukraine and its marvelous people," says Christian Rocca after the end of the journey.

After visiting Ukraine, the representatives of the Italian delegation have already published more than 20 articles in Italian media where they tell the stories of Ukrainian artists, volunteers, and servicepeople with great delicacy and poignancy. For instance, Paola Peduzzi wrote about her meeting with Tata Kepler and Kateryna Halushka. Christian Rocca told of visiting de-occupied towns and villages. Nona Mikhelidze shared her experience at the festival https://www.domosofia.it/ etc.

Information partner of the program In Solidarity with Ukraine — Espreso TV Channel.