“…Organism Mobilizes for Survival Somehow”: War Everyday Life in a Narrative of the Resident Nova Buda Village in Kyiv Region

(record and publication by O. Vorobiei)

Abstract

An interview recorded in August 2023 from a witness to the events of the first two months after the large-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is presented.

The purpose is to introduce into scientific circulation the testimony of a man of advanced years who became an eyewitness to the rapid attack of enemy forces on the north of the Kyiv region in February — March 2022, and, therefore, highlight the situation of the civilian population of villages that were close to the already occupied territories and were constantly threatened by the enemy’s further advance towards Kyiv, enemy artillery fire, bombings, fires, and casualties.

The methodology is based on obtaining information of a subjective nature through semi-structured interviews using predetermined questions, leaving room for flexibility depending on the person’s answers about events from his personal life. In the future, individual experience can be compared with other sources regarding the realities of the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The scientific novelty lies in reconstructing the daily survival practices of the peasants who were under the threat of occupation due to the enemy’s advance on Kyiv. Currently, it is difficult to understand them completely without referring to oral texts, including those that can be interpreted as personal documents.

Conclusions. The interview materials reflect a living, non-static story. The latter appears in a three-dimensional section: place, time, and circumstances in which the individual found himself. Considering the fleeting nature of events and the impossibility of their immediate documentary recording, the oral history narrative about the personal experience of the survival of an average person in the extraordinary circumstances of the war can be included in the future mega-historical narrative.