BLITZ INTERVIEW: Yevhen Maslov - a journalist from Kharkiv, now a refugee in Germany - 'Ukraine will be revived within 5 or 10 years'

Maslov hopes for Vladimir Putin’s death, the collapse of the Russian Federation, and the court in The Hague. "Of course, it infuriates me that NATO is so afraid; Ukraine is not Israel, unfortunately."

(Yevhen Maslov: “The war has not changed me or my values. Freedom has always been the main thing for me.”)

Where are you from in Ukraine? And where are you now? What are you doing?

I was born and raised in Kharkiv, where I worked as a journalist almost my whole life. Now, we live in Krefeld, near Düsseldorf, in Germany. “We” are me, my wife Ia, and our dog Gaia. Our cat Masya died recently.

How did you end up in Germany?

By accident. My son has been living in Germany for the last 10 years, and in February 2022, his wife arrived in Kharkiv from Düsseldorf for a few days. Her return plane ticket was for Feb. 25, 2022. The day before she was supposed to leave, the full-scale invasion began; Kharkiv was fired at from the north, and the “rashists” were on the ring road and even tried to break into the city center. The next day, we all drove to the border of the European Union. I only had minimal driver experience - I got my license at age 60, and the longest trip I had made was to get vaccinated against coronavirus - 20 kilometers from our home. And now I was driving 2,700 kilometers to Düsseldorf! There, we received temporary asylum in Germany. Now, I'm unemployed for the first time in my life.

(Yevhen Maslov, a journalist from Kharkiv, now a refugee in Germany)

Please tell us about your work in Kharkiv.

In Kharkiv, I ran many media projects and live radio and TV broadcasts. A few years before the war, I even became a civil servant for a while, being one of the representatives on Ukraine’s National Council for Radio and TV. I didn’t really want to, but after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 (which drove Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych from power), it proved necessary to fight the increased Russian disinformation and aggression and also the corruption that existed in the media in Ukraine itself.

(Yevhen Maslov on the main square in Kharkiv, in 2020, happier times.)

At the same time, I kept teaching journalism at the university in Kharkiv, I am very proud that many of my former students are now fighting on the information front, they are under real shelling, real missiles and real bombs. During the war, my friend and former student Yevhen Streltsov launched FM radio Nakipelo in Kharkiv, a very important and high-quality project as the region is under constant attack by Russian propaganda (Kharkiv is only 30-40 kilometers from the border; most people in Kharkiv have Russian as their first language).

(We interviewed Yevhen Streltsov in our ‘Radio Kharkiv’ podcast last month.)

How has the war changed your life?

The war ruined all plans and projects, depriving me of my home and work. Although the war was not completely unexpected for me - I never believed our president, who tried to calm us down by talking about the barbecue parties we would be having in May (2022). I was convinced the invasion would come, so our backpacks and documents were packed in advance. But I had no intention of leaving Kharkiv, I was considering working in the press service of the National Guard, or the Territorial Defence. But fate had a surprise for me – I ended up in Germany.

I am a public person and a typical “Ukrainian fascist” in Vladimir Putin’s understanding; because I love my country and I have liberal values in my head, I hate communism, corruption, and especially totalitarianism.

It’s strange to talk about this now, but during my journalistic life, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, I was several times offered to work in Moscow. I worked for a year in the polar region of Murmansk, and there, they offered me the opportunity to stay and build a career. In the '90s, I could have gone to work in Königsberg - Russian Kaliningrad, where the grave of Immanuel Kant was ‘touched up. My wife Ia is from there. But something always kept me from accepting. Maybe fate.

I had an amazing experience; a few days after the start of the war, we were sitting in the basement, hiding from shelling in the city of Kropyvnytskyi. A former colleague, editor of the Moscow Sobesednik – we were even friends when he worked in Kharkiv for the Komsomol youth newspaper – called me on the phone. And he says, “Zhenya, can you give me an interview, please, as you know there is a ‘special operation’ going on there?” This was the first time I swore at a former co-worker and cut him from my life. Like many other classmates, colleagues, and acquaintances who wrote to me publicly and privately, calling me a “Banderite’’ and a nationalist. Some of them even threatened me with death.

For me, the real problem was the transition to the Ukrainian language and the break with Russian culture, which has now become something I detest and hate. But I was raised in the golden age of Russian poetry and painting. We even registered the first independent television company in Kharkiv in 1991 as a bureau of the Moscow Niki TV. At that time, in Moscow, there were progressive talk shows like “Vzglyad” by Listyev and Lyubimov, “Seconds” by Nevzorov, and the magazine “Ogonek.” But Putin’s Russia, along with its entire culture, has slipped into totalitarianism.

How has the war changed you personally?

In no way at all. My values haven't changed. Freedom has always been the main thing for me. And what Russian propaganda has done to the country’s elite and ordinary citizens, as well as to not a few Ukrainians and even to some Europeans, is a disaster. And this will last for a long time. And I cannot forgive this.

What has surprised you most about Ukrainians over the past couple of years? Good or bad?

- I was surprised, and I think everyone was surprised by the large-scale volunteerism of Ukrainians. In many spheres, volunteers have replaced government institutions. I have friends and colleagues who raise money for the military - like Roman Donik, or who help lonely pensioners survive the war - like Alexander Kostenko, help wounded soldiers in their rehabilitation - like Anna Gin, and even homeless pets – like Galina Nevecherya. Many people have donated to support the military, buying drones and equipment, and repairing cars. They do the possible and the impossible. Yes, I am proud of our people, the Ukrainians. They have become a political nation! Of course, at the same time, corruption and separatism are infuriating. And it scares the West! There is still corruption in Ukraine, but it has decreased a lot over the last 10 years. Before the war, I passed and got my driver’s license without bribes. The corruption perception index in 2012 was 144 and in 2022 - 104. It is still far from the European level, but it is decreasing, which is a good trend.

The problem is that the Russians are using “corruption in Ukraine’’ in their propaganda – to drive wedges to undermine the relationship between Ukrainians. Before, it was between the Ukrainians in the east and west; now, it is between those who are at the front and those who are not or have been forced to immigrate. That is one way the Russians are trying to force us to settle and negotiate on their terms.

What are your plans for the future?

Honestly, I have no idea. Everything became “short-term.” Here in Germany, I have helped with some pro-Ukrainian actions and events to collect means for the soldiers. In the town where we live now, Krefeld, there is a rehabilitation center for wounded Ukrainian soldiers, and I help as I can. I study German, but I am 66 years old, and it is tough for a journalist to have lost your language. There is nothing for me at the job center.

(Yevhen Maslov and his wife Ia, in Germany, 2023.)

How do you see the war ending and the return of Ukraine to normal life?

Putin’s death and the collapse of the Russian Federation into small states is a nice prospect to hope for. And hopefully, the court in The Hague will put an end to Russian war crimes. By the way, the Nuremberg process started in Kharkiv. Did you know that?

I am sure that Ukraine will be revived within five, a maximum of 10 years. Of course, it infuriates me that NATO is so afraid; Ukraine is not Israel, unfortunately. The Russian Nazis still have enough missiles; my Kharkiv is constantly being shelled.

And now Russian propaganda about the possible creation of a “gray zone” is accelerating; Putin cannot forgive the failure of the Kharkiv People's Republic. (In 2014, Russian provocateurs and some locals very briefly occupied some government buildings in Kharkiv before being chased out by locals).

But Kharkiv is a Ukrainian city, and no matter how much Putin would like it to be the capital of “Little Russia,” Ukrainian nationalism, as a political movement, arose in Kharkiv. The slogans “Glory to Ukraine!”, “Glory to the Heroes” came from Kharkiv, ‘La-la-la-la and Putin is a dickhead!’ was invented by the Kharkiv football ultras. And the first real gun battle with the separatists was in Kharkiv. So, normal life in Kharkiv will begin only with the collapse of Russia. Or, if everyone is too afraid, it will never begin.

Tell us one thing you think people abroad do not know about Ukraine, but they really should.

It’s a pity that Europe didn’t know much about Ukraine before the war. I remember when I traveled to France, Germany, or the USA, I was constantly asked: “Is Ukraine in Russia?” This is a narrative imposed by many years of Russian propaganda. And in reality, the difference between Russia and Ukraine is colossal. Great Russian chauvinism led to this ‘Rashism’ in Russia. I really want the term ‘rashism’ to become international and not be confused with fascism. The history of Ukraine is part of the history not of Russia but of Europe; Ukrainians, who suffered greatly from wars and the Holodomor, totalitarianism, communism, and Putin propaganda, are still Europeans. I felt this very clearly in 2014 on the Maidan in Kyiv and Kharkiv. And when the question arises - whether to support Ukraine in the war against the aggressor - the answer should be obvious to all Europeans - we need to support our own.

You know what's terrible? The terrible thing is that while we are talking, they are shooting and killing.