This month, as part of the Foundation’s In Solidarity With Ukraine programme, writers and journalists from both countries visited Ukraine.
Writer Denes Kruszowski, media law professor Gabor Polak, and journalist and editor Marton Jankovic came to Ukraine from Hungary. Journalists Silvia Colombo and Lucas Figueiredo arrived from Brazil.
During the week, the delegations visited the capital’s landmarks, including Independence Square, St Sophia of Kyiv, Mykhailivska Square and others. They also visited the office of Truth Hounds, an NGO specialising in the documentation and investigation of war crimes, and the Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The first evening ended with a concert by the folk band DvaTry.
“Kyiv is a wonderful European city. Ukrainians today have a better understanding of what Europe and European values are than those who watch the war from afar, often with indifference,” says Gábor Polák, a professor of media law. Hungarian poet and writer Denes Krusovski adds: “The city’s cultural diversity and intellectual dynamism are not stifled by air strikes. Although it is not easy to maintain the appearance of normal life under such circumstances.”
In the following days, the guests from Hungary and Brazil saw for themselves the consequences of Russia’s aggression. They visited the children’s hospital in Okhmatdyt and travelled to the Kyiv region, stopping in Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka. They also visited the liberated village of Yahidne in the Chernihiv region, where the occupiers had kept more than three hundred villagers in extremely difficult conditions in the basement of a village school. “I was amazed by the strong desire for life and freedom of the inhabitants of these places. The occupiers practically razed these settlements to the ground, but the locals have already rebuilt many things and filled them with life,” said Hungarian writer Denes Kruszowski.

As part of the visit, the guests also took part in two public discussions at PEN Ukraine. Brazilian journalists and writer Maryna Hrymych discussed the common experiences of Ukraine and South America. Hungarian writers and researcher Katerina Zarembo discussed the points of intersection between Ukrainians and Hungarians.
On the last day of their stay in Ukraine, the programme participants visited the Zbirka bookshop and met with war correspondents. Stas Kozliuk and Mykhailo Palinchak spoke about the peculiarities of Ukrainian journalists’ work during the war.

At the end of the programme, the delegation members will become ambassadors for Ukraine, reporting on the war and Ukrainian culture in their own reports, projects and performances. “After this trip, we will work even harder to make sure that no one can turn a blind eye to the horrors committed by the Russians. And also to make sure that everyone sees the extraordinary struggle of Ukrainians for the survival of the Ukrainian nation and culture,” says Gabor Polak.
Source: article by PEN Ukraine