ORAL HISTORY OF THE MODERN RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR IN THE «UKRAINIAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL»

Abstract

The article shows the archaeographic features and informative possibilities of oral history interviews published in 2022–2024 in the heading «Everyday Life of the Russian-Ukrainian War: Oral History» in the «Ukrainian Histori-cal Journal». The materials cover the period of temporary occupation and military operations in the Chernihiv region, Kyiv region, and Sumy region in the spring of 2022 and present personal strategies for survival and fighting the occupiers. During 2022–2024, 15 interviews were published, 12 of which concerned events in the Chernihiv region. Two interviews concerned the Kyiv region, and one concerned the defense of the city of Okhtyrka (Sumy region). The main leitmotif of the stories is the strategy of survival in conditions of war, military operations, occupation, and constant threat to life. The second important topic, extremely important and painful for respondents, is relations with the «fraternal» peoples of Russia and Belarus. The northern regions of Ukraine had historical, neighborly, and family ties with these peoples who have now become aggressors and murderers. This became a painful trauma for the respondents. The «fraternal nations» became an enemy worthy of comparison with the Nazis and the Nazi occupation regime. One of the respondents is a colonel who commanded the defense of Okhtyrka, his memories are of everyday life in the army during the attack by Russian troops. The published materials were recorded immediately after the liberation of the regions and contain fresh memories of the events. This series of publications of oral historical interviews was one of the first after the start Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These studies should continue in other regions of Ukraine affected by Russian occupation and aggression.