March 13, 2022
Transcript below:
Interviewer: Please state you name, your occupation, as much as you are willing to share, and where you are from.
Dennis: My name is Dennis. I'm CTO of an IT company here in Ukraine, in Mykolaiv. And I'm from Mykolaiv.
Interviewer: Tell us how you are feeling, mentally, physically, and also about your family and friends. Are you concerned?
Dennis: Ok, so, I'm, I'm feeling ok. Physically, physically I have unstoppable diarrhea for two weeks in a row. Otherwise, ok. My family, my family, like especially women, children, old people mostly moved to the Lviv region of Ukraine. My grandma stayed in her house. My grandma stayed in her house, and yeah. Uh, regarding... I have a bunch of friends in Ukraine, and I'm really worried about ones that are under occupied, in the occupied territories. Especially we can't find connection with one of my friends, Nikolai, that is in Ivankiv village near Kiev. It's been already more than week, and whole Instagram, still keep trying to search him and connect with him. There are a couple friends of my girlfriend that in Bucha were taken hostage by, by Russian guys. I think she will tell more. But they eventually escaped. (Dogs playing in background). And they are being evacuated.
Interviewer: Wow. What are your biggest concerns for the next few days, and then the next few years?
Dennis: Can you pause?
Interviewer: Yep... Please tell us about biggest concerns, immediate concerns, and then also maybe long-term?
Dennis: Immediate concerns. My company is on a very steep company is on a very steep road to being unable to function. A lot of guys, developers, have joined military forces. A lot of European and American clients, no matter how supportive they are and how helpful they are, I'm really grateful--and from the other side I can completely understand their fears about us being unable to have the internet connection and continue working in the previous pace. And yeah, I'm scared about this being shot.
Interviewer: When did you start your company?
Dennis: We started four years ago?
Interviewer: And it's been ok since then, until now?
Dennis: Yeah, it's been great. We are working for a couple of big US insurance companies, and for... like we won two or three European Commission tenders on impact and building impact platforms for bunch of purposes.
So, yeah, other fears are like, accidentally, we've collected in this basement, in the basement of the office a bunch of people, families of the coworkers, families that have had their windows destroyed, neighbors, old people from the neighborhood, like round around houses that are nearby. Um, the immediate worry is windows being destroyed. I preferred for that: I bought wood and wooden planks to cover it. The biggest fear is shutdown of the internet and electricity because it will be cold.
Interviewer: If this region falls under Russian control what do you think will be the major differences in life, in daily life, social, civic, government life, political life?
Dennis: The regime mostly. The regime. An inability to express words, share thoughts, visit websites. I don't know, and information. Like there were, there was in incident a couple months ago where fifteen years old kid that was streaming on youtube and on twitch, and he built in Minecraft the building of FBI of Russia.
Interviewer: FSB
Dennis: Yeah, FSB building, he built it in Minecraft and he blew it up and he's in jail. Fifteen years old kid.
Interviewer: I read about that, that was in Russia?
Dennis: Yeah, Russia. And like, the dude that have been streaming games for years, called "Hovanskiy", on youtube, he wrote a song, like a bunch of years before. He got jailed for that. The pressure of church, like I'm not really a religious person, I grew up in the family partly Jewish, partly Christian. I haven't been forced to do religion, and as I see from my friends from Russia, and from the stuff that I found on independent platforms that... that the freedom of word, freedom of expressing your beliefs is like hardcore. And recent news, and recent statement of main patriarch of Russia, Kyril, that gay parade is the worst, worst crime that can happen (https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/07/russian-church-leader-appears-to-blame-gay-pride-parades-for-ukraine-war-a76803). I'm really scared and shocked about that. It's been a lot of years where since Ukraine started to be like open-minded, and people started expressing, and expressing their thoughts, feelings and sexual orientations, and it's all gone if Russia is here.
And like, from like my childhood memories--I'm twenty-five years old--when I was a kid I've been a professional skate-boarder, and I had like every usual kid-skateboarder I had long hair, and I've been kicked a bunch of times like by local dudes that don't like my hair. But now, as I see from my coworkers, in the company, that are a lot younger that they don't have this kind of bullying, and aggression against choosing their hair-color, pants-size, etc. So...
Interviewer: And the fear is those kinds of freedoms can go away....
Dennis: Yeah,
Interviewer: This is a difficult question. We hear often this is a struggle for freedom, independence, self-determination, and democracy. In your own words, what do those words mean? What is democracy for you? What is liberty. You've spoken at length already but if you have just a small commentary there or we can skip it.
Dennis: ...
Interviewer: You've mostly covered it, so I just wanted to know if there's more.
Dennis: I don't know. Mostly, mostly not being, scared that some douche will come here and take the stuff that is yours, like literally. Like my property, my hometown, my career, my work freedom, like ... and democracy is for me, as a twenty-five years-old IT guy--I just started living. I just started--like I don't have rich parents whatsoever--and I just started having ability to buy stuff, ability to visit, travel, visit et cetera, et cetera, and it's taken away. And if this will be a part of Russia, it will be like in Donbass or in Crimea where I will need to... I will be pressured to receive Russian passport, which will not allow me to travel anywhere, and yeah, and it will be hard to cross to Ukrainian parts, where I have free visa, non-visa regime with Europe (https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/ukrainian-nationals-can-travel-visa-free-to-90-world-countries/), and yeah.
Interviewer: Have you voted in elections in the past?
Dennis: Yes.
Interviewer: Did you think the results were fair?
Dennis: Yes.
Interviewer: And...
Dennis: Everyone, everyone who I voted for is president, mayor, are those people. Like I voted for Syenkevych, I know really well his brother. It's about Mykolaiv's mayor. I voted for Zelenskiy, while thinking that if US has a comedian president, we need one for us. And he showed himself from the most unexpected side, and I'm more than happy about the stuff he done before the war. Like, no matter how old people are bragging about every president, with Zelenskiy, there are real changes: real changes in the roads, real changes in the industry, real changes in the tax, like literally fairness.
Interviewer: And before Zelenskiy, could you describe some of the problems with the corruption?
Dennis: (laughing) Like, in here, it's not the problems of the corruption. It's uh... it's inability to live, to move in any governmental direction without corruption. So free medicine, you will not get it without like--you will get it--but not on the average scale of European medicine without corruption. So you need to pay for reparation, you need to pay for normal treatments, normal medicine, and you need to bribe everyone. If you want to register car before Zelenskiy--now it's a lot better, it's through the--like in US, you can just drive to any place where car is sold and you can register a car in your name. Like in here, it's giant lines, _was_, giant lines that you can stay standing for weeks in, and the only way around it is to bribe someone that works on the car registry center that will move it faster, like, to one day or something. Now it's all better, it's all automatized and computerized and yeah.
Interviewer: What does Europe mean, and do you want to be a part of the E.U.?
Dennis: Like mostly, Europe means, and being part of the E.U. means to, to be, to be protected, mostly. We already have none visa-regime with Europe. Like from the other side, with being in European Union will be hardcore taxes-wise compared to what we have now. But I think it's worth it, to be protected and pay that price. And I think, like, what is missing here is the, is the, control of law obedience. Like, if your dog shits on the street, we have the law that you need to clean up after your dog, right? But no one will be punished in here for not doing that. And I think that Ukraine is mostly ready, I think maybe sixty, sixty-five percent of the population, especially with newer generation, that are a lot, a lot more European-like than like, I don't know, my parents, my grandparents that would suffer, that would potentially suffer in the regime where the law needs to be obliged.
Interviewer: Do you have any thoughts on the causes of the war? How did this happen?
Dennis: Like, I was from the people that have, that have thought that it would not happen. They're collecting their forces on the border, like they're doing since 2014, just to get hype over the news. Even when the first bombing started, I woke up at six a.m. from phone call, and my friend literally telling me there is war starting, and I'm like: "What? Give me some time to sleep dude", and yeah. But I don't really understand the cause of war.
Like, probably Russia needs to have a buffer between Crimea and the seaside of Ukraine, so like our side of Ukraine; buffer to Crimea, from Crimea to Europe, and I don't, at least to have water there that they have already succeeded in by taking Kherson district and Kakhovka, and yeah. I'm not really a political person to understand that stuff.
Interviewer: What are your hopes for peace, and what do you think Ukraine will look like in two years?
Dennis: My hopes for peace is that this thing stops as soon as it can. I hope, like I don't know how it will stop. I really don't believe in negotiations with mad person. And I'm really scared about those parts that have been occupied first couple of days because Russian warriors will stay inside the towns, and our forces will not ever bomb the cities with our citizens, which is the reason why we're suffering from right now.
The villages where they are hiding are filled with our citizens. And currently our forces in Mykolaiv are a bit bigger, or more organized. Mykolaiv can keep them, but they are hiding in villages behind the back of civilians, and I have no idea how, and if, it's possible to retake the parts that have been occupied.
(Reading the question) What do you think Ukraine will look like in two years?
Interviewer: Do you think it might split, or do you think there'll be some sort of ...?
Dennis: It depends on the results, on the results of the war. I hope that it will stay, as the one piece that it was before. Like, not counting the parts that are, that are, literally pro-Russian, like I'm not really into understanding Donbas and Lughansk situation, but I completely understand the Crimea is really pro-Russian. And if you (Crimeans) want to be there that's ok. And I think that if we will one, and Ukraine will stay in one piece, I think that the war have educated the Ukrainian people to... to think about stuff that's really worth living for, and not to think about the physical, physical wellness, and big houses and fancy cars, because if shit like that happens that's literally worthless, absolutely. Piles of money, they're worthless. You can't buy shit on (with) them. Your fancy car is equal to Tavria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAZ_Tavria) while it's being bombed.
And I hope that if we will win, somehow, or it will stop, the Ukraine after rebuilding, at least in the first half of year when everyone has this memory of wartimes will be really something.
Interviewer: Last question: Many Americans do not know much about Ukraine. What do you wish Americans knew, and what do you want them to understand?
Dennis: Um... that like mostly, from my circles, with Americans that I talk with, that I work with, they really understand that we're smart. And that we're cheaper than US IT people, but the same quality, or sometimes are a bit higher. The thing that most of Americans don't understand is that it is a beautiful country. Beautiful country that is worth visiting, and like, cops will never shoot at someone. That's the one thing: there's no racism. Never ever. Like I work... I was studying local university, I'm... I have two master in engineering, electrical engineering, and I was studying with a lot of Africans. And no one of them--we've been friends with all of them--and no one of them was harassed ever. The thing that shocks, shocks American people, when they visit, when they visit Ukraine--and I'm not talking about Kiev, like major city, I'm talking about Mykolaiv, that is considered most, most crime town ever--that good-looking woman can walk the street at two a.m without being scared, without having a weapon, et cetera, et cetera. So, and the Americans are really shocked about that.
Interviewer: Because you brought it up, we see in the news sometimes about the Neo-nazis or the Right Sector. Do you have any comment?
Dennis: Uh, I'm Jewish. Like, we... the forces of like... in the same time as the, in Great Britain, the football fans are popular (common). The same movement is in here, and there are some movement, and those people that are football fans are joining military, yes, because they love fighting. And as a Jewish person, I have not seen any Nazism whatsoever living in the football town, soccer town. I'm friends with a bunch of football fan. Almost all of them are riding fixie-gear bikes, and I have a couple of them. And yeah, like, if there is a movement, this movement is not active against people here. And I'm Jewish, so I should be the one who, who is scared of Nazis, right?
Interviewer: There's probably more in America...
Dennis: Yeah,
Interviewer: Any last thoughts, anything else?
Dennis: I don't know.
Interviewer: Very comprehensive, thank you for taking the time here.
Dennis: I don't know. I wish that it ends faster. And I'm really, regarding the recent news about shooting on US military...um, on Mossad military base (https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/03/13/Multiple-rockets-fall-in-Erbil-northern-Iraq-State-news-agency), that is on the US embassy. I'm really scared that it will take attention of US to other direction, other side of war will start, NATO will still be scared to help us, and we will be left alone, and we will be Russia. And I don't want to be Russia, and I don't want to leave, because that's my soil, my stuff, and I worked real hard to get it.
Interviewer: Thank you, Dennis.