Chernihivshchyna is a Northern Advanced Post: Occupation, Liberation, Prospects of Living on the Borderland

Author

Bekh Mykola

a Ph.D. in History, a research fellow at the Ukrainian Ethnological Center Department of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4186-1339

Chernihivshchyna is a Northern Advanced Post:
Occupation, Liberation, Prospects of Living on the Borderland

Abstract

The main events in the outlying villages of Chernihiv during the period of occupation / deoccupation are described in the article, based on the collected expeditionary materials. The interviews have been recorded in the villages of Ivanivka and Yahidne. They have been occupied by Russian regular troops for almost a month. Chernihivshchyna is one of the first regions to meet the hostile invasion of the northern neighbour. The rapid passing of Russian troops through the region, as well as their deployment among the housing stock of the population, which was a human shield for the invaders, led to catastrophic consequences in some settlements: damaged infrastructure (roads, schools), destroyed cultural heritage sites, polluted environment, and human lives were cut short. Thus, today it is important to record the state of development of the social, domestic, and cultural spheres of everyday life in the region. The attempt is made to describe the attitude of the local population to Russians in different periods of coexistence (Soviet times, independence, occupation), since the local population of the border region has always had close trade and economic ties. The testimonies recorded from the locals are extremely important not only for understanding the full consequences of the occupation of Chernihiv region, but also for Ukrainian society’s understanding of the trends in relations with its northern neighbour and for outlining an action plan to secure sovereign territories from both external invasion and internal destabilization. The communication of the local population with the occupiers through field evidences is considered in the published work. These are, in particular, illustrative aspects of the invaders’ inability to explain their own purpose of occupation, their lack of understanding of Ukrainian history and culture, the rejection of the local civic position by the military men of the RF, etc. The peculiarities of the life of villagers under occupation and during the period of deoccupation are also analysed in the article; the trends in the region’s reconstruction both at the expense of local and volunteer resources as well as through projects with Ukraine’s external European partners are considered.

Keywords

Chernihiv region, occupation, deoccupation, brotherly people, reconstruction, volunteering.

References

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