Grandma Olya talks about war and life
"We have good people! If I had to, I would lie on the floor and put people higher up on the couch" / collage by Ulad Rubanau, Euroradio
Yauhen, a Belarusian man lived near Kyiv in the town of Irpen. Now he is in a settlement about 100 kilometers from the border: He was sheltered by his grandmother Olya, a local resident.
Grandma Olya used to work as a milkmaid on a farm, she is 70 years old. When Yauhen came to the village, she helped him with potatoes and pickles, gave him eggs and bacon. And she told him what she thought about the war. He later shared with us an audio recording of this conversation.
About the beginning of the war
"Who thought Putin would start this war. Everybody thought he was going to concede, and he -- look at this".
I never thought I would live to see the war. I never even had that thought in my head.
About the Russian soldiers
"They took the children [to the war -- Euroradio], so many died! It's horrible".
Don't listen to any presidents or deputy presidents - listen to your parents.
Stay at home, do not follow any provocations, do not obey anyone - and you will stay alive.
How can he not feel sorry for these children, these people? Sending children to their deaths. And what will happen when these dead children are brought to their parents? What will happen?
About Russia
Acquaintances live in Russia, they call me. They tell me that their friends think we're at war here. "Bandera people." With each other. They don't believe that Putin sent troops here.
About the "Bandera people"
Where are those Bandera guys? Come on, we don't have them here!
Ukrainians are peaceful people. We don't have Bandera guys, we have good people, they will shelter everybody. Personally, if I had to, I would lie on the floor, and put people up on the sofa.
About the Belarusians
Let them stay at home! Let them not go to the army, let them do two years in jail, but not go to war! If they come out of jail, at least they'll be alive! But you don't come back from the war alive!
About the Russian language
I don't know if they discriminate against it or not. A person uses the language they are used to. There are those who switch to Ukrainian - the president and everyone in parliament. Those who want to, switched to Ukrainian. And those who don't want to, speak Russian. If a person is a human being, let them speak whatever they want [in this conversation the interviewer asked Grandma Olya questions in Russian - Euroradio].
About Zelensky
I voted for him. And now I will only vote for Zelensky. No president would sit still in such a situation. And he's there, he's not running anywhere, he's giving interviews, giving orders -- he's doing everything.
What does Putin need?
Kyiv. He wants to take Kyiv so that Ukraine can be with Russia. He has sought to seize the Verkhovna Rada.
About Lukashenka
It used to be - Lukashenka is just Lukashenka. I even welcomed him, he kept the stability, the discipline. But now the opinion has changed.
I think Lukashenka is like Putin, he's pointing guns at peaceful people, at peaceful soldiers. Like whom? A bandit. He's the one who let Russian soldiers across his border.
About the news
I watch the news on TV. Whichever channel I turn on, they always show the same thing. And in Russia, they probably don't even let anyone watch Ukrainian news - who will let them?
What to say to a Russian soldier when meeting him?
We don't have any Russian soldiers in our village yet. What would I tell them? Son, where are you going? Where are you going? And what will you tell your mother if you come back alive?
No one's hiding in our hut and cellar. They will defend themselves, drive them away, of course. People can come out with pitchforks and throw molotovs.
About how life has changed
Now you're just waiting for it to be over soon.
