‘The Russian language in Ukraine is another victim of the war’

SWI swissinfo.ch

Ukrainian author Andrei Kurkov has provided an on-the-ground account of life in Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. SWI swissinfo.ch spoke to Kurkov during a visit to Switzerland for the Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy.

SWI swissinfo.ch: In the very first entry, from December 29, 2021, of your “Diary of an Invasion”, you hoped for Ukraine to follow the path of Switzerland. Now we’re sitting in Switzerland one and a half years later. How do you view Switzerland’s behavior over this period?

Andrei Kurkov (A.K.): I understand that traditionally Switzerland is a neutral country. But for me neutrality isn’t something that can justify dealings with an aggressor country. The main issue is that Switzerland is not allowing others to send weapons produced in Switzerland to Ukraine. This is a serious issue for Ukraine because no weapons and ammunition means they could lose the war. It means more victims among the civilian population, if the Ukraine army can’t defend the people.

SWI: At the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy you are speaking as an eyewitness. Have you become more of an eyewitness than a literary writer since the Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022?

A.K.: Unfortunately, I can’t write fiction anymore. I haven’t written a word of fiction in the last 15 months. I tried several times to get back into writing fiction and failed. I will try again. The only topic I can write about now is the war and what is happening to Ukrainians because of this war, because of the Russian aggression.

SWI: That’s a pity as you are an accomplished writer of surrealist and fantastic fiction. Your work has been translated into 37 languages. I read that you speak eleven languages yourself?

A.K.: I used to. Now I only speak six.

SWI: Which ones?

A.K.: Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, English – and I understand Italian.

Andrei Kurkov

Kurkov was born in the Soviet Union in 1961 and has lived in Kyiv since childhood. He is the author of numerous novels and screenplays. In his book Diary of an Invasion, he reveals his experiences and thoughts as a Ukrainian from late 2021 to early July 2022. He currently lives in Kyiv with his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children.

SWI: The Russian and Ukrainian languages are especially politicised at the moment. What is your stance on this?

A.K.: Well you know that I’m of Russian origin. I write my fiction in Russian. Nonfiction I write in Russian, but also in Ukrainian and English. And of course, the Russian language and culture in Ukraine are now also one of the victims of Putin’s aggression: We have less, much less people who speak Russian. Nobody wants to study it.

Russian language writers and poets in Ukraine have a hard time because the majority of bookshops don’t want to sell books in Russian. Even if they’re written and published in Ukraine. It’s an emotional answer to the invasion, that’s also rational to some extent: When I hear Russian here in the streets of Geneva, I don’t know whether their words belong to Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusians. When I hear Ukrainian, I instantly know: These are my compatriots.

SWI: I see. And you yourself, do you still speak Russian in public?

A.K.: In public events in Ukraine, I speak Ukrainian. In personal, private settings, I speak Russian.

SWI: Did you think about speaking Ukrainian in your speech in Geneva today to make a point?

A.K.: No, no. I’ll be speaking English. My family is mostly English, my wife is from England, my kids are British citizens. For me a language is an instrument – sometimes an instrument of culture, sometimes an instrument of politics.

By law Ukrainian is the only official language in Ukraine. That’s actually why I speak Ukrainian when I’m doing public events in Ukraine.

SWI: If the law would be different, would you change your language in public events in Ukraine?

A.K.: I wouldn’t. The Ukrainian language is the most obvious protection of Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian independence. Russia managed to force Belarus to have two state languages: Russian and Belarusian. What happened? In Belarus people who speak Belarusian in the streets are considered extreme nationalists and looked down upon.

SWI: Would it liberate the Russian language in Ukraine, if the Russian invasion stopped?

A.K.: When you look today at what people write on Facebook, then the Russian language is described as the language of the enemy. This is despite the fact that half of the Ukrainian soldiers at the frontlines are Russian speakers. Most of the Russian-speaking Ukrainians understand who is responsible for the poor reputation of their language. Putin is pushing Ukraine to adopt Ukrainian identity faster than it would have happened otherwise.

SWI: Social media is an important sphere. Even while you are here in Geneva you post about developments in Ukraine, for example about the shellings in Kyiv.

A.K. I’m worried every night, because I expect there to be another night of shelling, another night of explosions. I mean the whole country lives like this, under the menace of Russia, afraid of death. My children are in Kyiv as are most of my friends.

But the whole world knows and is watching Russians killing Ukrainian civilians and occupying their territory. I hope this will also influence the decisions in Switzerland. You can’t just be a silent witness to murder.

SWI: You mean the Swiss position on indirect arms exports?

A.K.: On humanitarian issues, on arms, on everything. I also hope that Switzerland will be involved in the future on the reconstruction in Ukraine, and maybe help Ukraine to become a member of the Europe Union. Switzerland is not in the EU, but it’s an important country, also when it comes to finance.

SWI: In Switzerland some politicians of the left are also pledging to confiscate Russian money.

A.K.: I’m not a specialist on this. I hope Swiss banks won’t be hubs for Russian criminal money, which are used to bribe European institutions and far left and far right political parties so that they represent the interests of Russia. This will become important. But I’m sure Swiss authorities are aware of what is happening in Switzerland.

SWI: While the war is going on in Ukraine the fight against corruption hasn’t stopped. The head of the Ukraine Supreme Court was just arrested. What does it mean to maintain civic life in Ukraine now?

A.K.: Well, institutions are functioning, not only institutions: You can buy a new car in Mykolaiv, although one car salon there was bombed yesterday. The chief of the supreme court was arrested and removed from his position. Ukraine has a long history of problems with the legal system, which was very corrupt until recently. Obviously the fact that this person was detained and stripped of his duties means that the fight against corruption is going on. How long it’ll go on until society can say we are corruption-free, I don’t know. But the fact that this happened is a very positive thing.

SWI: You are known for your critical view on Ukrainian politics. In your recent book “The Diary of an Invasion” you also give a differentiated picture of President Zelensky.

A.K.: President Zelensky has huge support in Ukraine. Of course he also faces a lot of criticism, from the intellectuals, from public figures, because Ukraine is made of individuals – not of collective masses as Russia is. In Ukraine we have more than 400 political parties registered. The discussion is nonstop in Ukraine, the criticism is nonstop. The next president will have the same. And he will suffer like everyone else. The thing is: Zelensky is doing his job as president of the country at war. And he is doing it well.

We will see what happens when the war is over and whether he stays president. Until today not a single president of Ukraine has managed to have two whole terms. This says something about Ukraine: You cannot have a dictatorship, if you cannot even have one president complete two terms.

SWI: You see this as positive then?

A.K.: Most of the time it’s positive. Because it shows that there is a democracy, there is political freedom, freedom of expression, and nobody is punished for criticising authorities.

SWI: Would you still hope for Swiss kind of stability when the war is over for Ukraine?

A.K.: Well, it would be ideal. But Ukraine cannot afford to be neutral like Switzerland. Ukraine has to be a part of the force that defends the country in the future. But in a sense Switzerland was always an example of harmony for me: different cantons, four languages, cosmopolitan cities where people speak English, as we do today. Because of this neutrality and harmony you have the UN headquarters and the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Switzerland is an example of an ideal country.

SWI: Still today?

Yes.

Edited by Mark Livingston.