Kherson is now a face covered in wounds

КА: Katya Alexander

АК: Aleksandr Kniga

КА: I will mainly be asking you about how Kherson is living now, that is, after de-occupation, when you returned. And what is happening in the city, I want to show through your eyes what is happening around, and how your theater lives within everything that is happening in Kherson.

АК: Yes, please.

КА: Thank you so much. Let's start, probably, from the very beginning. Can you tell when and how you returned to the city? What was happening?

АК: The first time I came on November 19th. On the 11th they liberated Kherson, and we naturally wanted, we were eager to go right away, because we had been waiting for these days for a very long time. But they didn't allow us to go, because first explosives experts had to inspect our building for landmines, because occupiers had been in the city for a long time. Of course, they were in the theater too, and everywhere. So we came on the 19th. Ukraine's Minister of Culture Aleksandr Tkachenko also came with us. He also wanted to look, brought some gifts. We gathered cultural workers who were in Kherson at that moment – someone was from libraries, several directors, the philharmonic director was there, the Puppet Theater director. And we came, we entered the theater for the first time on the 19th. There was no electricity in the city yet, because when they were retreating, they blew up the power transmission lines, there was no electricity for a long time. There was no heating, but we still entered our building.

КА: "We" – that's you with the troupe, right?

АК: No-no, I was alone, literally alone, and with me there came several of our workers who were at that time, all the time during occupation. These were several of our actors, they spent all 9 months in Kherson, hiding so they wouldn't... Because the rashists [editor's note: derogatory term for Russian fascists] wanted to force the theater to work. They tried to force me too when they arrested me, so the theater would work. Later, when I realized they wouldn't leave me alone, I was looking for ways to get out of occupation. We actually managed to leave through dozens of checkpoints to Ukrainian-controlled territory after 40 days of occupation, with my wife and younger daughter. Then my sons with their families broke out a few weeks later. And then we got to Lviv, were in Lviv for 3 months, lived there, gathered all theaters, our friends and even held our international festival, because it was supposed to be in Kherson in June, but... We wanted to send a signal to Kherson this way, that no one had forgotten about it, that we remember, that they always talk about Kherson, because rashists here always said: "You've been forgotten, we're here forever, Ukraine won't return." And this affected people psychologically very much. Then we moved to Kyiv, were there. There we restored the theater's work, gathered part of the actors, made performances on the basis of the Lesya Ukrainka National Theater, started our work. We made a big performance about Kherson, it's called "Zalyshatysya ne mozhna" [editor's note: "Cannot Stay"]. These are real stories of our people leaving Kherson, how someone broke out, how they were stopped, how they were turned back, how they were almost shot at checkpoints, these terrible historical moments. Plus the resistance of Kherson residents, because our actors were active participants in all the rallies that were in Kherson. Our director Sergey Pavlyuk generally became like a leader. All channels showed him, because he started from the first day, from the first rally, streams on social [networks]. He told what was in Kherson, they also detained him several times, he was hiding, then he also managed to break out with his family, because he has five children, and they also left Kherson, imagine, in a small passenger car 7 people. That's also a separate story.

КА: Well, each story, yes, like that.

АК: And after all these events we returned. We really only stayed one day, because there was neither electricity nor housing where to stay, and we returned. We had tours organized before this, we with the theater were supposed to be in Odesa on December 1st. We worked those tours there, and I returned to Kyiv, packed things, and on December 7th I already returned permanently to Kherson. I also don't have housing here in Kherson, because I live, my house is in Oleshky...

КА: And they are occupied.

АК: Yes, the left bank is still occupied, unfortunately, so friends gave me keys to their parents' house. And I've been here in Kherson for 3 months already. We restored the theater's work. We cleaned it, washed it, filled it with our energy, because, as I say, rashists tried to create a Russian theater there. Unfortunately, literally several workers went to collaborate, I'm very happy that there aren't so many of them. Out of 250 staff members, only 4 actors, 2 ballet dancers, one musician and several more workshop workers went to collaborate. They appointed our security guard, who worked before the war as a security guard of one part of the theater, as the theater director. And after all this we started restoring the theater. They only took away all the hard drives and actually the entire computer park, and the theater has about 40 computers, all of it was actually destroyed. They stole all the tools in the workshops, because the theater is like a specific factory. We have a metalworking shop, carpentry shop, assembly shop. We manufacture sets and costumes ourselves. There were no tools: no screwdrivers, no drills, not even one hammer. Well, I don't know, probably Russia needs them more, I don't know.

КА: And when you first, still on November 19th, entered the theater, what did you see? How did it, maybe visually or by feelings, change during such a long occupation?

АК: Well, you know, we are creative people. The feeling was like you returned to your own house, but strangers had been using it, not very clean people, you know. And the feeling was, well, I don't know, like you were approaching a raped person. It seems like it's yours and it seems foreign. We entered, there was still such a situation. There's no light, we entered with the minister, journalists came after us. They filmed all our portraits in the ceremonial part, and left their own, these few collaborators who were there. And it looked so ridiculous, they didn't even group them, they hung scattered in their places. And you could immediately see who tried to work in the theater, you don't need to look for anything... Then I asked through social [networks] and through... I'm remembering Russian words.

КА: I understand, yes.

АК: And by phone called everyone who was in Kherson to work. At that moment there were about 40 people, because when Kherson was liberated, shelling started. Before that, you know, it was very difficult with products and with all other things. And people also left a bit, because they were afraid of shelling, and there were about 40 people. So we called everyone to work, and we started cleaning the theater. We restored lighting, started the boiler room, set up a creative hub in the shelter. We have a bomb shelter there, there used to be a cafe there, before the war. It's neat, clean, well like a cafe, basically, which we once had...

КА: Is it in the basement?

АК: Yes, it's actually a bomb shelter. And we made it there, opened a stage, called it "Creative Hub in Shelter," so as not to attract attention to the theater, we didn't call it like it's in the theater, but Creative Hub in Shelter, it works. And you know, I didn't even expect that so many children remained in Kherson and were there at that time. For New Year, starting from December 19th, St. Nicholas Day, we received about 1,700 children. We made St. Nicholas's reception in the bomb shelter, we brought many gifts from Kyiv. While we were on controlled territory, we worked with sponsors, people helped us a lot. This is both the Tavria Foundation and Support Kherson, such a public organization. And we organized such holidays for children: danced with them, sang, you should have seen how, you know, children thawed. They all had non-children's eyes, this struck me so much. And then they went to St. Nicholas for individual reception. He talked with them there, took photos, they received gifts. And that's how we started working.

КА: And I understand that since I read some materials about your theater, I understand that St. Nicholas was your theater administrator?

АК: Yes-yes-yes. It was chief director Sergey Pavlyuk and Aleksey Mogilevsky, he's the theater administrator. They have beards, they didn't have to glue beards, they were very organic like that. And that's how we started working.

КА: And the children... I don't know how much you know or not, but these children, did they live through the entire occupation in Kherson?

АК: Yes-yes-yes. These children with their parents were in Kherson during the entire occupation. But, you know, leaving was very difficult. Kherson found itself in occupation in one day. I myself, you understand... It would seem I have many friends, I had, for example, somewhere to go. Friends from Georgia called me: "Come, Aleksandr, with your family, we'll receive you," – because we have such friendship, you know, very strong. It's still from the times of the Great Patriotic War [editor's note: WWII], Kherson Oblast and Ozurgeti – these are two twin regions, sister oblasts. Friends from Turkey called me, from all over Ukraine, but how do you leave? In one day they captured the Antonovsky bridge, and I'm in Oleshky, on that bank. That's it, Kherson is cut off, they stood between Mykolaiv and Kherson, and that's it, there's no road anymore. There's no road to free Ukraine. On the first day, I came to work, we turned off the electricity there, opened the bomb shelter, so we de-energized the theater, shut off the gas, because it was winter, the boiler room was working. Just in case, in case there might be some fire. And I was already going to go home, it was around lunchtime, my wife calls me, says: "Sasha, the children came, we'll decide what to do, the war started." The sons came with their families. And I'm going. And I get into a traffic jam on the Antonovsky bridge. That is, cars from Kherson to Oleshky, there, toward Crimea, weren't going. And at this time tanks were already entering Oleshky. We turned around with the driver then, helicopters already appeared, shelling of the bridge began. A battle started, landing troops. We returned back to Kherson under this shelling, abandoned the car. I called a friend, and he took us by boat not just to the left bank, but you need to travel 18 kilometers by water to get to Oleshky. He took us there with a friend, and that's how in one day we found ourselves in occupation. And until they arrested me and I sat in the pre-trial detention center... Everyone expected that it would all end soon, very soon, because there was rumbling, battles were going all the time. We believed that very soon, tomorrow or the day after they'll drive them all away. And so many people – where to go, with whom to go, with what money? They also spread rumors that they were taking people out for thousands of dollars. Those who have this money. And who doesn't have this money? Or who can't abandon, there, a sick bedridden mother. These were terrible times, because there was no bread, no medicine, no food at all. These first two weeks were so awful. You only dealt with searching for food, searching for some medicine, tried to help some neighbors or elderly people. It was terrible. But nevertheless, we survived this, and now we're already driving the occupiers from our land. I think we'll definitely drive them out.

КА: Yes, of course, there can be no doubt here. And when you returned to Kherson, I mean when on December 7th you definitively returned and already started living, what was generally happening then and is happening now in the city? Can you tell as a person who is not in Kherson and doesn't imagine the full picture of what's happening there, try to paint a picture of how the situation with shelling occurs.

АК: Well, look. All these 3 months shelling doesn't stop. But it's so senseless. That is, you don't know where it will hit at what moment. These are just people who ran up somewhere to the river, there, in Oleshky, deployed MLRS [editor's note: Multiple Launch Rocket System], fired at Kherson, and wherever it hit. In 3 months, in 3 months I haven't seen any military object, any military equipment. There isn't any in the city. Military stands outside the city. They shoot from there, counter-battery combat is conducted, but it hits the city. Markets, pharmacies, parks, schools, – all this, you know, civilian infrastructure, this is every day. This is every day. You go to work, you hear these explosions all night, incoming, outgoing, then you go to work, you see – here it hit, here it already destroyed a house. At our Puppet Theater it hit literally 3 weeks ago, in the roof, a shell punched right above the stage. Thank God, it didn't explode, but it punched and made a big hole in the roof right above the stage. This is what happens in the city. But we've gotten so surprisingly used to it. We're unloading a truck there – humanitarian aid arrived. We're unloading humanitarian aid in the theater with the guys, shelling begins. Mines are whistling somewhere above the park, above us. We hide. And at this time we see, near the bank there's a line of people, because banks started working, and people are processing cards, because they were blocked during occupation. And people, the crowd, doesn't even turn their head. This is surprising even, how much they've gotten used to it, you understand. But unfortunately it hits. Just literally 4 days ago an MLRS charge hit a public transport stop, and a bunch of people died, and very many wounded. Then there were 6 dead and, I think, 26 people wounded. Well, it's just horror. Just horror, simply impossible. And these 4 days have been very loud in general. Such serious... And ours are pouring it on, as they say, squeezing them from the left bank, trying to chase them further so they don't torment the city anymore, and they respond, and these days everything in the city is very harsh. And the day before yesterday it was so loud that something about sleeping... I'm already used to it too, but it was rumbling so that you kept jumping up. Such an impression that it's flying toward your house, to the place where you live.

КА: And how do you live with this? You've been living under constant shelling for 3 months already, how is this generally experienced, how do you [deal] with this?

АК: Well, how is it experienced? On one hand, you get used to it. On the other hand, there's a goal, there's a lot of work. You're not just sitting there waiting for it to hit. We work a lot, a lot of humanitarian cargo from friends. I'm a member of the Kherson Rotary Club, we receive cargo every day in the international organization, we go to new mail, bring these cargoes to the theater, distribute them to people. Friends also sent us bulletproof vests, we walk around in bulletproof vests. Once I published my outfit, as they say. For us it was a significant moment, on February 23rd last year we had a premiere in the theater. We came home late, and in the morning when my son called, said: "Dad, the war started," – such an impression that I didn't sleep. Because I came around 12 at night, around 1 AM, and at 4 AM my son called. And it was significant for us that on February 23rd this year we had to perform a show. And we performed. Our actress came. We restored this performance while we were in Kyiv. We have several live performances in our repertoire, one new one about Kherson. And we brought the actress, she's in Khmelnytskyi now, but she came and she performed the show. We performed two shows on the 23rd-24th. There were people, there were journalists, we had French journalists. They were also surprised that the city is being shelled, and we... But it was important for us. Exactly a year later we returned as a theater to our theater.

КА: And can you tell in more detail about this day, February 23rd. What performances did you perform, how did it all happen? Did you perform on the regular stage, which is not so protected, or did you still perform in the bunker?

АК: No-no, we performed in this art hub, of course. We try not to go upstairs for now... We have everything ready. Our theater generally has 5 stage areas. We have a Big Hall for 700 seats, we have a Theater-Cafe for 160 seats, we have a Stage Under the Roof for 160 seats, we have a Stage Under the Stage, where mono-performances go, for 75 seats and we have a Stage in the Courtyard. This is in summer, in May, we open a stage in the theater courtyard, in the little courtyard, and there are also 200 seats, we have various programs there. This was born during covid, when we couldn't perform in halls, we decided to perform outside. And people couldn't go anywhere then, and we came up with such a gimmick that you can't go to Italy, but we'll make Italy here. Today we have an Italian courtyard, Italian music, some Italian decoration, some Italian delicacies in our buffet, Italian wine. And the next French program also with the same underground. And that's how we entertained our audience, tickets were sold out in one day. It was, you know, some kind of theatrical madness, because people missed it, they sat at home for some month. Now, naturally, we performed in the bomb shelter. There's not much space there, only 60 seats, we perform there for now. Now we have several programs planned for March. Guests come to us, other artists often come to us, it's significant for them to perform in Kherson. We don't advertise this much, so as not to attract attention to the theater building itself, so we gather [audiences] through social networks, we have a lot of volunteers. So we always have people, the only thing is, we don't write about it. And then we write a few days later, when it happened, as a post-fact.

КА: And you don't write so there won't be too strong a crowd of people?

АК: Well, both so there won't be a crowd, and so it won't hit, God forbid, the building. Because 100 meters in one direction it hit the maternity hospital 2 weeks ago, 100 meters in the other direction it hit. So we're afraid they won't destroy the theater building. In 1943 the Germans blew up the theater, the one that was built before the revolution, and it's one of the architects who built the Odesa Opera Theater. It was a very beautiful theater, but they blew it up. The Germans left, and the next day in '43 the theater exploded for some reason. God forbid, may the Lord not allow, we fear this and want to preserve the building, but we're ready to work. As soon as they drive them away and stop the shelling, we're immediately ready to fill all our stages. And people are waiting for this, they miss it. You know, people meet me on the streets, I go into a store, sometimes I spend an extra hour there, because they stop me, people approach, they're pleased. They ask when, and what, and when will the theater open. Before the war March was already completely sold out for us. We owe Kherson residents about forty performances. We even had such cases in Kyiv: we have a performance, after the performance a woman approaches me, says: "Aleksandr Andreyevich, when I was running from Kherson, I had tickets for the 24th." I say, we had a premiere on the 23rd [February 2022], and this performance was supposed to be on the 24th and 25th. Well, naturally, the 24th didn't happen. She says: "I took out the tickets, I'm keeping them, you'll perform this show?" I promise them that yes, we'll restore it. This was a project we prepared for two years. This is an immersive performance, when a small number of spectators, only 150 people, and all 5 stage areas of the theater are occupied. Spectators move together with actors from area to area. It was called "Vichnist i odyn den" [editor's note: "Eternity and One Day"], that is "Eternity and One Day," this is Pavić, Milorad Pavić, there's such a Serbian playwright. This is called a theatrical menu, main course, dessert. There were three finales, and the audience chooses which finale we'll perform. That is, such a long-playing thing. And indeed, as they wrote later, that we rehearsed it for eternity, but performed it only one day. And it was so prophetic, some journalists wrote to me later when I broke out of Kherson, that you tell your director not to stage such performances anymore, because he showed us war and everything that's happening now, this blood, these horrors. You know, humanity is born in torment, so this was in the performance, of course, and people perceived it, you know, as...

КА: And this performance, it was, it turns out, about some military theme?

АК: No, this is such a Serbian "Romeo and Juliet." There God creates a person from clay, but for him to become human, to breathe emotions and life into him, he must love. Or be loved. And he must go through 7 circles of hell, see all this and meet this person who will love him, and then you become human. That's the gist in brief. And there were all these 7 circles of hell. Moreover, this was [when] we were just coming out of covid. There was this plague doctor, spectators were given these plague masks, they walked in them, to have such a feeling.

КА: Aha, and these performances that you performed on February 23rd already in '23, what were these performances?

АК: There's such Ukrainian playwright Neda Nezhdana. In 2014 she wrote a play, it's called "Kytska na spohad pro timen" – Cat in Memory of Darkness. This is a story of a refugee from Donbas. We staged this performance in 2015. We played it for a long time, a lot, played at various festivals, because the director came up with the idea that the heroine tells her story and cooks borscht. That is, she peels potatoes and at the end treats the audience with this borscht. And now it became in general, the symbol of Ukraine – this is our borscht, and plus this story. And we played it in Kyiv, and already traveled all over Ukraine with it. Now Poland is inviting us to go. And for us, for me then, well refugees, well from Donbas... We ourselves received them, I have 7 people working in my theater today, these are orchestra musicians from the Luhansk Ukrainian Theater. They are refugees, and they came, we hired them, and the guys still work in our theater now. Some dispersed, and some work. This is the chief conductor of our orchestra, he's from Luhansk. And he told me, he didn't run from Kherson, says: "I can't run a second time. I ran in '14," – and they were here all 9 months. And now he rehearses in the theater. Also remembering how to play the trumpet. And now this story acquired a completely different sound, because we ourselves went through this, we ourselves became refugees. You left home with your family on April 4th, as they say, in socks, jacket, and that's it. And everything is just, what's called... We, thanks to people whom I never knew, came to Lviv, there completely strange people met us, took us to their place. We lived 4 months with them in an apartment, you understand. And you understand how much this war united us and opened in us some... And this gives us strength to withstand, and we believe in victory, because it's impossible to defeat such a nation, you understand? That's why we played this story. It sounds different, everyone cries, naturally, and then they eat this borscht. In September we took this performance to seven cities in Ukraine, and we ended in Ivano-Frankivsk. We also played there, they have Derzhypilsky Rostyslav there. This is a young director and theater director, a young director. He once participated in my festival, visits Kherson. We have a huge festival, the biggest in Ukraine, "Melpomene of Tavria." All theaters of Ukraine have visited us. That is, we know the entire theatrical palette of Ukraine, as they say. And we were the first to do it in a bomb shelter, that is, we started experimenting with space. We played performances in the forest, we have such a forest theater. It's now in occupation. We have a venue where we open in summer, in May, and close in September. And there are performances that are played only there. That is, there's "Lisova pisnya" [editor's note: "Forest Song"] by Lesya Ukrainka, it's staged in the forest. There's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare, also an immersive performance, when actors together with the audience walk through clearings at night, and these scenes are also performed. Very interesting, this is also such a tourist attraction. But I'm not about that. Oh, I already went off track...

КА: Yes-yes-yes. You were telling about the performances you played on the 23rd, one of them, about the Donbas refugee...

АК: Yes, about Ivano-Frankivsk. There's such a story that this performance ends, she has such a phrase: "I'm leaving, and I'll leave you my glasses in memory of darkness." And she puts these glasses down, this is the last phrase of the performance. The borscht has already boiled, cooked. And at this time someone's phone sounds an air raid alert. And everyone thought it was in the performance like that. But actually someone from the audience says: "No, this is real, air raid alert!" And people start moving, but we're in the basement. And upstairs there was also a performance going on, 300 people in the big hall. And we have a rule in theaters in all cities in Ukraine – if there's an alert, we must take the audience down to the bomb shelter, if there is one. And at this time all these spectators come down to the bomb shelter. And we start treating everyone with this borscht. Thank God, there was such a huge pot. And it was, you know, simply incredible. We're from Kherson, there are also many refugees there who come, they're from different cities, there are also Kherson people. And such fraternization, also simply incredible. That day we fed about 400 people with our borscht.

КА: An unexpected immersive performance turned out.

АК: Yes-yes-yes, in the finale.

КА: This was the only performance, yes, that you played that day?

АК: That day yes, one. But we were then in [different] cities, started in Kropyvnytskyi, were in Mykolaiv, when Mykolaiv was under shelling. And we also played in Mykolaiv in a bomb shelter this performance. Then we were in Khmelnytskyi, we were in Zhytomyr, then we were in Ivano-Frankivsk, worked in Kyiv several times this performance. Yes, we were also in Odesa, that is, we traveled around Ukraine. We activated our actors so they wouldn't forget. And again we tried to raise the fame of Kherson Theater named after Kulish, because at this time rashists were promoting that they opened a Russian theater here, you understand, such impostors. False Dmitry is in fashion with them.

КА: Well yes. You mentioned that recently not far from you it hit the maternity hospital. How is the situation in the city generally with hospitals, with treatment, how is all this organized now?

АК: Hospitals work, everything works. Every day people go to work, both doctors, this is their mission, and those people who every day repair torn wires and gas pipes. And the city is being cleaned. I came on December 7th, imagine, the city wasn't being cleaned, leaves everywhere, autumn, everything fell, streets are covered, cars... Such an impression that they covered the whole city with manure. And gradually the mayor's office, city administration, regional military administration organized brigade work, streets are being cleaned. Under shelling, also in bulletproof vests, people sweep these streets. Now the city is clean. I even came from Odesa, Odesa seemed dirtier to me than Kherson.

КА: Do they still clean the city in bulletproof vests?

АК: Yes. Yes-yes-yes-yes. Video-trash this is called. And nevertheless everyone works. I look at my workers – when you sit at home, and these shots, somewhere impacts and explosions very close, you're afraid. And when you come to work, you see other people, and people come alive. I see, they run to work, yes, we try not to keep them long, because after two hours transport doesn't run in the city, so people can get there. Somewhere after 3, after 4, the city already dies out, only cars run around. People try to be home. But nevertheless the city lives and dreams that tomorrow or the day after we'll already go out and plant spring flowers, and perform shows, and hold festivals and holidays, and wait for the return. Because people are waiting. Our employees who are somewhere abroad, in different countries, they lived there some 6 months, some more, but everyone dreams, I don't have a single person who would say: "I'm staying in France." It turns out that wherever you are, wherever it's good in Europe, but home is better. Yes I myself, you know, lived, Lviv is a beautiful city, yes, we used to go there on excursions, yes, it's historic there, there are many restaurants, cafes. But I lived there almost 4 months. It's great, I'll come there, but it's not my city, I won't live there. I came to Kyiv, lived in Kyiv 3 months. I studied in Kyiv, I know that big cities oppress me, I can't bear these crowds. Although there today I meet more acquaintances on the street than in Kherson, maybe, because there are many relocated people, and I've been working for many years, but still it's not my city. I came – different temperature, completely different climate. We're in the south, it's warm now. I even went to Odesa yesterday and froze there. This is like 200 kilometers from Kherson. Even though they offered me work in Kyiv, I said no, I always talk about Kherson, talked about Kherson, and I'm returning home to Kherson. And I will, while I have strength, while I still have powder in my powder flask, despite my age, do everything to restore the theater's work and my family business, what we with the children built our green tourism base. We spent 15 years of our lives, the whole family, I have five children, did everything so it would start working. We felt that this could bring some money, that it's interesting, that we made our guests fall in love with Kherson Oblast. And that's it, orcs [editor's note: derogatory term for Russian soldiers] have been living on our base for 6 months already. What they'll leave, only God knows.

КА: I hope everything will be restored quickly. And you also said that transport runs only until 3-4 o'clock, can you tell a little more in detail, how is the situation with this, from what time until what time does public transport run now, how is all this organized?

АК: Well, look, when rashists retreated from the city, they stole everything possible. They even took out trolleybuses. New buses that the city bought before the war. Before the war the mayor bought new buses, we put them on routes here, the city started to revive. A new team came to the city, to the oblast, and we all tried to do everything for Kherson so it would start to flourish. So they stole everything. And now what runs in the city, these are sister-city friends from other cities – Mykolaiv, Kyiv – other cities sent us their buses. These buses work on routes, well something was still preserved. That is, transport runs, everything works, main routes, people already know the movement algorithm, and now it's quite easy to get where you need to.

КА: What time does transport run from what time to approximately what time?

АК: From 8 in the morning. We have curfew until half past six, until 6:30, and transport starts running and runs until about four.

КА: Because then evening shelling begins?

АК: There's no algorithm for shelling. They're from morning until evening, all day. It's impossible to understand any algorithm here. We have acquaintances with whom, thank God, we've now restored communication, and we have communication with the left bank. They say that this MLRS is driving, a forty-barrel mortar. It stopped right in the middle of the street between houses, turned toward Kherson, shot and ran away further. They understand that ours won't shoot at residential buildings.

КА: And how did you restore communication, how is communication with the left bank generally organized now?

АК: It's very difficult there. Our Ukrainian communication just reaches from Kherson. Not all the time, there periodically electricity disappears, or something else, but we have communication. It's very difficult there, there are serious curfews. They're already robbing what's left there, because waves of changing rotations happen all the time. The first ones robbed one thing, the second ones rob what's left, well, and so on and so on. Everything is very expensive there. A loaf of bread costs 60 hryvnias there, and bread that you can't eat. Sausage 700. That is, if on average in our store expensive sausage costs about 160 hryvnias, well, there are some varieties up to 300, then there the most ordinary 700-800 hryvnias. It's very difficult there now, so everyone waits and waits impatiently for when they'll be liberated, when Ukraine comes, and people will be able to live normally. Everyone is waiting for spring. There are hardworking people there, the left bank – this is all early vegetables for us in Kherson Oblast, everything is in greenhouses there. They fed not only Ukraine, but already supplied much to Europe, so I think that in spring they need to be driven out so they have time to plant crops.

КА: Everything like that, I hope everything will be like that. And how is it in Kherson itself with products and with stores? What stores are working now? How is all this organized?

АК: Stores work. The first days literally, as soon as Kherson was liberated, Selpo entered, ATB returned. Here stores are scattered in different parts of the city, [when they] cover the city, so you don't have to walk very far. In stores there's everything in principle. The first days, I know, the first month there were very big lines, you know, people missed it. They went to the store like to theater, probably. Well and just a lot of everything, abundance, I know we stood in line at the cashier for an hour.

КА: And now is it easier? АК: Yes-yes, now there are no more queues, well, just a little. They say, according to statistics, at the moment of liberation there were about 70 thousand people remaining here, out of 350, that is, everyone else had left, fled from the Russian world, and now there are 40-45 thousand, so many people have left.

КА: And I also want to talk about this a bit. Generally, what are the feelings in the city, how many people, how deserted is it? What's your sense of how many people left because the city is constantly being shelled?

АК: I wouldn't say it's completely deserted. Traffic lights don't work in the city, but crossing some central street can be quite problematic. You stand to let people pass. Even some cafes are opening. Just near the theater, literally a few days ago, several cafes opened. There's really nothing there except coffee, but nevertheless they exist, lights are glowing. You walk down the street and see an open cafe. That also warms the heart.

КА: And what does it mean that traffic lights don't work? Why?

АК: Because of constant shelling, wires get torn, and so that cars don't stand at traffic lights, and suddenly at that moment a shell arrives. That's why traffic lights don't work. We try to drive on streets that are less targeted. It's better not to get closer to the Dnipro, because it gets shelled more harshly.

КА: And about the cafe I also wanted to ask. I saw a post on your Facebook where you're standing in a bulletproof vest buying coffee. Can you tell me about that day, how it was, how often do you walk around the city in a bulletproof vest?

АК: On the street we try to walk in bulletproof vests. We got these for our workers. Sponsors helped us, we brought bulletproof vests from Kyiv and distributed them to our people. We had another part, we gave them to the city, to services. And we try to walk on the streets, and our drivers... Not in the theater, of course. We moved all the offices down floors, to safer places. We try not to be on the upper floors anywhere. But on the street we try to walk in bulletproof vests. And all the press comes to us, and they don't even let them into the city at checkpoints if they don't put on helmets and bulletproof vests.

КА: Did I understand correctly about that post that this was your first such coffee purchase to-go in liberated Kherson?

АК: Well yes, it just opened recently, and I saw it. Artists came to visit us, we were setting up an exhibition. And we were installing a banner with the guys on the square. And suddenly we saw that lights were being hung right on the street, and that this was like a signal that a cafe was working. And I went, this was one of the most popular places before the war, it's called "I Love Coffee." A lot of young people always hung out there, they make filter coffee there, it was trendy. So, and it opened. And I went there, I think, I'll go check it out. I'm not a big coffee lover, but nevertheless it was pleasant for me. We went and talked, you know, like old good friends meeting.

КА: And how was it generally, this feeling, it's such a small symbol of returning to relatively, you can't say peaceful, but some kind of previous life in the city. How was it generally, how was it perceived? It's like something so ordinary for a person from Kyiv, but for you it was like an event.

АК: Of course-of course. These are such markers that appear like spots of sun in foggy weather, it breaks through the fog, and some beacons appear that give you hope. I've been here for 3 months already. I periodically jump out on business trips somewhere, sometimes you leave for a day or two. But still you get used to it. Suddenly you read, but thank God it's not often, but it exists, on social networks someone complains, someone whines, someone there, someone scolds someone... This is unacceptable to me. I am, for example, a person of action. Well, why complain? If a window was blown out, then you need to go and put it in. No one will come and put it in for you. Either you have to find it yourself, or ask for help from some friends. So when such things appear, even the very fact that I'm in the city, that the theater does some things, that we go somewhere to people and do something for them... This is like social therapy, you know. The medical effect of art exists. And I've been working in theater for many years, I know that it works. Especially in difficult times. I saw how in Kyiv the same Kherson residents were received, they came to a performance as if to touch Kherson. There they are far away, they've been in some city for several months already, and here their theater came. And they buy tickets, they go, they cry, they stay after the performance, they hug the actors. The same thing happens in the city. You see: transport runs, you can call a taxi before curfew, please, taxi works in the city. Cafes work, and there are quite a few of them. Not just this one near the theater. They're scattered around the city in different places. The market works, and there are a lot of people at the market. Despite the fact that the market has been hit several times already, the market still works.

About a month ago MLRS [editor's note: Multiple Launch Rocket System] hit the market, hit the city center near one of the stores, people died there too. I needed to buy something the next day and prepare food. And I tell the driver: "I somehow don't want to approach the place where a rocket hit yesterday." But still on the second day I drive there. The windows that were in the store are blown out, the glass windows, they're boarded up, and the store is working. And there are lots of people in the store. And this also works as: "well no, there's no danger." Well, it hit, well, okay. But not today, today everything is fine. This is such a hard to explain thing, it calms you. That yesterday you were still afraid to approach this place, and today you go, you think, you need it, and it's working. These are also fearless people, sellers and everyone else.

КА: So the townspeople themselves create such nezlamność [editor's note: Ukrainian term meaning "unbreakability" or "indomitability"]?

АК: Yes. Kherson confirmed this during the occupation, when with bare hands they went at tanks, at APCs [editor's note: Armored Personnel Carriers], at these standing and shooting upward soldiers. There was such, you know, artists tell that here we're going, and back then transport didn't run at all in the first days of the war, there was nothing at all in the city. And they go to this rally in the city center and hear shots, and they say, people don't stop to avoid going, but "Let's go faster, why are you dragging? It's already started there," — you understand? And what started there, they're already shooting there, and we haven't arrived yet.

КА: Yes, this is certainly so. And by the way, how is the situation with electricity in the city now?

АК: There's electricity. Periodically, when there's shelling, wires get torn somewhere. They repair them, and there's electricity again.

КА: And communications?

АК: And there are communications. Here we're talking ourselves.

КА: Well, yes-yes-yes. So they don't cut it off for long?

АК: No-no-no. We provided everything just in case, both the state and sponsors. We have everything equipped with generators, in any case, and with heating, with everything, because people help from all over the world.

КА: You said that in coffee shops, for example, only coffee is sold. Is this because some products are still impossible to deliver now or how is it with this?

АК: No-no, there are products, it's just that there's no demand. Well, first, there's prohibition in the city. Alcohol isn't sold anywhere, neither in stores nor in cafes. In cafes it was just the first days when I was there, there was only coffee. Now they already have some small pastries. It's just that people don't really go, you drink coffee and leave, but if it's a cafe to eat, that's to eat. There are no such places to eat in the city, but like a cafe where you can sit, drink coffee, there's wi-fi and something sweet, that exists.

КА: So people don't sit in cafes because it's not a very safe place, right?

АК: You know, I had a day off, I think, I'll take a walk here... I mean, I'm not a resident of Kherson city, so I'm also discovering some things for myself. I only worked in Kherson, went to sleep in Oleshky. I walked here along the street, a cafe is working, such a glass one. I went in — girls are sitting, military are sitting, people are sitting, talking, drinking coffee.

КА: The city is under shelling, but still revives, lives. Can you try to convey what the general mood of people is, what state people are in now?

АК: You know, the mood is expectation. Every day — expectation and faith that just a little more, well, just a little more. They'll drive them away, and that's it. And we'll come out on the streets and won't just walk, but we'll celebrate on the streets. I tell you, it's warm here now, we had even plus 15 in February periodically. And I live here in the private sector. And I come home from work, there are mainly grandmothers there, elderly people remained, not much youth. But they've already cleaned up in front of their yards, already prepared flower beds, there's not a single leaf there. That is, the city doesn't sit waiting for something terrible, but the city is waiting for spring and for us to drive them away, and it will be better and everything will be good.

КА: Yes, everything will definitely be good, the main thing is for it to be faster. You travel periodically, you went to Odesa, to The Hague, as I understand. How accessible is entry to Kherson now, how open is it?

АК: It's open, please. To exit you need to pass filtration, and at stations, and everywhere police check.

КА: From Kherson or from Ukraine?

АК: From Kherson, from Kherson. This is because there are collaborators, and someone fled, and someone stayed, so this so-called filtration, it exists at stations. The same on entry. They check passports and everything, there are no other restrictions.

КА: And how is this arranged? I just don't know at all about Ukrainian filtration, all the horrors were told about Russian, naturally. And how does the Ukrainian side conduct this check?

АК: At the station you go into a special hall like that, like a waiting room. A person sits, for example, there, 8 of these guys. Everyone approaches them, gives their passport. They ask some questions, look, check according to their database, and that's it, you go sit down, you have a ticket, you get on the train or bus. When I was going to Odesa yesterday, just before the bus they also check you, check documents and then they don't even stop the driver at checkpoints. And we, the route bus, they checked us at the station, that's it, and you go.

КА: I'm now starting to understand and imagine Kherson a little more. I also want to ask about such everyday details. For example, have all medicines returned to the city? Because I know that when there was occupation, naturally, literally everything disappeared, insulin couldn't be obtained. Are all medications now available in pharmacies, do pharmacies work?

АК: Yes-yes: pharmacies work, more and more of them open every day. There aren't such crazy queues in pharmacies. I mean, very big help is coming, both volunteers and we all receive medicines from friends, from various institutions. We try to provide for our employees first, and help people who need it. There are old people who stayed, there are people who don't leave home at all. Especially closer to the Dnipro, to the water, we have such neighborhoods there, it's called Voyenka [editor's note: "Military" neighborhood]. There people generally try not to go out, because they're under shelling every day, and they're the lowest, and they get it the most. We help with products, medicines. Now friends from Lithuania sent us a whole bunch of heaters, we were just distributing them, blankets, warm coverlets. Because districts from Korabel can't restore heating in any way, because it's under shelling every day, so there's no heating in houses. And it's winter, people are heating. And we distributed sleeping bags, also received, sent. A lot, and warm clothes there. Now I'm also waiting for cargo from Rotary Kyiv, they send warm clothes, food products.

КА: Do I understand correctly from what you're telling that the harshest, scariest shelling is there, where it's closer to the Dnipro, and in the center there's also constant shelling, but not with such frequency?

АК: Well yes, there what hits far, that's MLRS. And mortars, they shoot across the river. They very often hit the water. There a lot of fish swims dead, and it reaches Kherson by water. So flora and fauna also suffer.

КА: You and theater employees try to walk the streets in bulletproof vests. Do many townspeople walk like this? Or is this rather an exception?

АК: Most of all volunteers walk like this, who have to get into hot spots. Services, electricians, gas workers — those who are forced to be on the streets for work. People, of course, don't walk in bulletproof vests to the store or to the market, they walk just like that.

КА: So this is rather an exception than a rule?

АК: Yes-yes-yes.

КА: When you were telling about how the theater works, you said that you have this bunker room that you try not to advertise too much so as not to clog it [with people]. You also said that on the 23rd, for example, you had a performance in the 300-seat hall. Can you try to tell a little how the daily life of your theater is arranged now, how its work is organized for a person who doesn't see your internal work during the war?

АК: Work is conducted, first, economic, primarily. Theater isn't just performances. Every day we do repairs, while there are no spectators, we're renovating bathrooms now, cleaning. Our invincibility point also works, we need to provide for it. We even bake pies and provide for people. Cargo comes every day. We bring, unload cargo, immediately distribute or deliver to people. That is, such work is conducted. And creative work periodically. We had several performances so far, but people are mainly in other cities, but nearby. We call them, we play, we try to play during the day. You understand that the city dies out by evening and people leave, I try not to keep them. If they come, then maximum for a day, well one night they stayed somewhere. But I say, we're preparing everything so that as soon as it's possible, we immediately launch full-scale work on all platforms and start supporting Kherson residents morally even more productively.

КА: So now, mainly, it's this bunker room and periodically this 300-seat hall, right?

АК: Yes-yes-yes.

КА: You also told that you put on performances for children. As I understand, this isn't only some New Year action, but you sometimes entertain children. They need it even more than adults, some fairy tale in all this.

АК: Well, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, the eyes of children who stayed here during occupation, who are now under shelling, these aren't children's eyes. And you have to make some efforts to see some spark, light or smile in a child.

КА: And for example, what can cause a spark or smile in a child who survived such horror? In terms of theater?

АК: You know, even when they see bright costumes and hear music, this also works. Not immediately, but they thaw out, like little ice cubes. At first they react even somewhat restrained. And then gradually they get drawn in-drawn in, we start playing with them, and they already open up. This is gradual work. We want now to also [bring in] child psychologists, somewhere after the 12th a creative landing party will arrive. Like through play, through drawing, through song... So that we can work with children as much as possible and liberate them little by little.

КА: You observe children in the hall, how does this process of children thawing out, how does this generally feel, how do you see it, what does this process represent?

АК: I'll give you such an example. When I broke away and reached Lviv, and we had just settled somewhere, I went to the theater immediately to friends. They allocated an office for me there. And the director tells me: "Tomorrow we have a performance, come watch with your wife." My wife refused, said: "I won't go to any theater, we just escaped from a nightmare, and plus these alarms all the time." Well, I think, I'll go, I'm just interested. I come to the hall. 300 people are sitting in the hall. I sit in the back, I like to watch the hall and the performance simultaneously. This performance is "Chasing Two Hares," this is our Ukrainian classic, a musical performance, cheerful, funny. At this time I feel tension in the hall. The hall is like deaf, doesn't react. And gradually-gradually, about 15 minutes of the performance pass, the hall starts to stir a little bit. The hall starts to laugh, the hall starts to applaud sometimes. And by the finale the hall was completely released, you know, it's like there was a block in a person, it released him, he starts to clap, he stands up, he applauds. This is that catharsis. That is, actors with their effort over an hour and a half-two hours of performance, they stirred people up. They forgot about the war. They got involved in the game, they started to play.

КА: The same probably happens with children?

АК: Yes, I had a case. We're playing a performance in Kyiv. During the performance, somewhere the performance just started, and it's about Kherson, there are shots of our resistance, these stories, and a woman in the hall starts crying. And not just crying... A spectator usually is embarrassed, someone usually silently wipes away tears, someone sits, but this woman just sobs. She just starts up and she sobs through the whole performance. This, on one hand, spurs the actors on, on the other hand, it's, you know, such a trigger. And after the performance a woman approaches me, says: "I'm so grateful to you, Alexander Andreevich, you can't imagine, our mother was..." — they were in occupation for 6 months, they escaped. Mother didn't talk. Just, she says, just sits and is silent. "We ask her questions, she doesn't react, she [says] nothing." And at this performance she breaks down. She cried it out, and she started communicating with the family, she started talking. And the woman then called me, they came to performances again and just thanked [us]. That is, you understand, this is what it is...

КА: The power of theater.

АК: Yes.

КА: Did they return?

АК: Not yet, not yet.

КА: Wow, very powerful story, of course. This was that same performance that you came up with after you left, about...

АК: Yes-yes-yes, "You Cannot Stay," yes.

КА: I read in another article that you play several children's performances a day so they don't gather in too large groups. Can you also tell a little about this, how you try to keep children safe?

АК: We brought children through volunteers, that is, they brought them in small groups, up to 30 people. We worked this way, scheduled the whole day so there wouldn't be crowds near the theater, nor cars, nothing, and worked like that.

КА: This wasn't just for New Year, this is some kind of practice...

АК: Well, and now the same, and now the same. If we have a performance, if we have some programs, then they only happen this way.

КА: And what other children's performances did you put on?

АК: Now there practically aren't performances per se. Now there are more game programs, because there are very few actors. In our theater repertoire before the war there were 67 performances. Of these there were about a dozen children's performances. We just have many stages, each stage has its own repertoire. For example, cafe-theater, there are 6-8 performances there. That is, cafe-theater is also a unique thing, there's definitely nowhere [like it] in Ukraine. I saw such a thing only in Italy in my time. You sit at a table, drink coffee or cognac and watch a performance. Musical programs go there, where orchestras and soloists, for example, theater and cinema music, or some classics, or dramatic performances. We had, I think, 5 performances in the repertoire. And this was always in demand, because such a form is unusual. That is, you sat in a cafe and watched a performance. The stage under the roof — this is experimental, youth projects went there. Stage under the stage — there were monoperformances about female loneliness, about teenage problems, about drug addicts we did a project. That is, some social categories. Big stage — these are musicals, big dramatic performances. That is, people chose. We arranged it so that simultaneously three stages could have performances. Cafe-theater, Stage under the stage and Stage under the roof could work autonomously, three performances at once.

КА: But now, of course, not in such volume.

АК: Now, of course, yes. Now we have 4 live performances in repertoire. This is one big one and three monoperformances. Although they, the monoperformances, are such serious ones, with sets, with everything. This doesn't mean they just stood by a microphone and told something. These are great performances, dramatic ones.

КА: And what are these performances?

АК: This is "Judas" based on "On the Field of Blood" by Lesya Ukrainka, this is Judas's monologue. There's very interesting work there, we also toured Europe with it, were in many cities and countries. There Judas reads, tells his monologue. And the director came up with the idea that with the 30 pieces of silver he bought himself a business. He has this machine that makes pots. And throughout the whole performance he molds a pot, he tries to make it, he doesn't succeed. And only in the finale, when he asks the cross for forgiveness for his betrayal, he succeeds. It's very interesting to watch this, when this potter's wheel, and he makes this pot and tells this story, very interesting.

КА: And what other performances?

АК: "A Cat in Memory of Darkness," "You Cannot Stay" and one musical program.

КА: Aha. And children's these game ones, right?

АК: Yes-yes-yes. These are such variations, there are many. As soon as it's possible, we'll start bringing actors back, we'll start restoring the repertoire. And for now we've agreed with all theaters of Ukraine, literally with all, that as soon as we give the green light, they're all ready to come and show a performance for free. The first two months we want to launch this flywheel of our powerful work. Because before the war we played up to 40 performances a month in the theater.

КА: Yes, I understand, of course. And these children's game programs, I don't really understand what this means, how is this generally organized?

АК: These are costumed actors, and thematically some fairy tale characters. They conduct contests, activate children, quizzes, they sing songs with them, they dance with them, they draw pictures with them together. In general, this is such an interesting thing. This is also from the field of psychology, because I mean, to liberate a child, he needs to want to do something together with you.

КА: Do parents participate in all this? Or do they wait somewhere, or do they leave?

АК: No, they also participate. Usually, they participate. We had many such matinees when with parents. There were times when public organizations brought children, there were only accompanying people. Parents also let loose, and they also for a second tried to feel like children. We're all children. Once a famous director from Hungary told me: "You know, we have a unique profession. Because when do we play? Only when we're in childhood. Yes, when a child, we play. And we have a brilliant profession, we play all our lives." We try to draw the city, other people into this game.

КА: How many people work in the theater now?

АК: In total I have a staff of 250 people.

КА: No, I mean, at the moment of shelling...

АК: Now about 40 people.

КА: How do you cope with such a chamber composition, that is, how do you work with such a reduced...

АК: For now there's still minimum work. This is, you know, when the theater is already launching, when you have two performances a day, rehearsals, they're constantly scheduled on different stages. There the orchestra rehearses, there — dramatic performance, there — choir-vocal, there — ballet practices, — this is completely different life. Now, of course, it's minimized, so it's enough for now.

КА: And I still have a question from the beginning of our conversation. You said that you don't publish [posters] not only to avoid creating a crowd, but also, correct me if I'm wrong, so that rashists [editor's note: derogatory term for Russian fascists] don't see [information] about your performances, so they don't start targeted fire?

АК: Yes-yes-yes.

КА: What horror. And how do people find out that there will be a performance in such a case?

АК: Through phone, through social networks, through our groups, we have groups. And here volunteers are all connected among themselves. Today I'm driving: "Do your [people] need potatoes?" — someone brought potatoes, — "Yes, we need them," — I called, called people, they came for potatoes. Yesterday they brought me warm clothes and heaters. I call the mayor of the city, I say: "We have heaters, we provided for our own, we can give out more." Today I'm driving, museum workers write to me: "We have 30 people, do you have food products?" — I say: "Just now got army rations, now waiting, cargo should come with canned goods." Cultural workers have small salaries, especially now. There are small restrictions, the year just started, so we try to support people with such things too: give out food packages, something else.

КА: And you told about very important impressions, how a woman started crying at your performance in Kyiv, how in Lviv you saw the hall. Can you remember the brightest memories precisely after returning, precisely in Kherson, when you saw something in the theater and felt this insane power of theater?

АК: Again, no need to go far. On Unity Day, that was December 18, we held a concert program. And actually it was for such a circle, so that workers of various services, administrations would come. They came, shelling there, maybe they were even forced to come here. We work for free for now. And at the beginning this was felt. But then, as soon as our artists came on stage, first, the artists were shaking. They came on stage for the first time in a year. And I saw what their eyes were like, how the presenter's hands were trembling, as they never trembled. And I looked at the audience, how they just... A violinist came out, she just plays a melody, and people sit and cry, because there hasn't been this for so long. For so long there hasn't been, and here they came to their own, they know them. And at the end they didn't want to leave, everyone hugged, everyone exchanged some stories: and you, and when, and when did you return, and I'm here, and I was there, and I... And you know, this is very important, this works. I mean, I even go into a store to buy bread, I spend an hour, because at least 3-4 people approach me, and they start talking with me. I don't know these people, they know me. I don't know them, but I communicate with them, I say: "Yes, we came, we're already quietly working. Yes, wait for advertising." I already ordered, theaters helped us, the Union of Theater Workers of Ukraine, they promised us advertising. I can't plaster the city with it yet, I don't want to attract attention. But as soon as there's an opportunity, we'll plaster the whole city with posters, because we have our own billboards. And the city will immediately feel that the theater returned. We even have such posters: We returned, we're home. We work with the audience, we got them used to it, we have a very theatrical city, it loves its theater. And we love them and feel them, so despite everything, we came and do everything for them.

КА: And generally, how visible are physical destructions in the city itself? It's hard for me to assess, I'm not in Kherson, I see many photos with destroyed houses. Can you try to describe this to get the most accurate picture from a person who lives in Kherson now?

АК: Look, I'll give you such an image. You're walking, you have a familiar person, he's handsome. You parted with him yesterday, and you meet in the morning, and his whole face is covered in scars. And you: my God, what a handsome man he was, and he has a torn cheek. That's exactly like the city. Beautiful city, cozy. You walk in the morning and see that today [something] hit this building. No glass, destroyed. [Something] hit the maternity hospital right in the window, right in the ward. Yes, not the whole building is destroyed, but you see this scar on the face of this building. The next day another scar appears. You drive to work again, again there's no glass in another building. The Regional Administration has been hit twice already. The first time from one side in the roof, now half the wall on the side fell out. So every day: you see something, and it hurts from this. And you understand that, well, people, damn, you'll have to pay for all this. It doesn't happen that you broke all this... You'll still [pay], your children will pay. Germany paid. We had a grandmother who died, my wife's grandmother, she raised her, and she died literally before the war. She was a deported girl at 12 years old, Germans then took them out, and she worked somewhere there in Germany. And they paid her [reparations] until the last moment. Germany paid money. Grandmother received, I think, 50 euros every month to her account. Russia will have to pay. They don't think about this. They destroy-destroy-destroy. We'll build. We're angry now, understandably, we'll never communicate with them, well, at least in the coming decades. But we're angry, we'll build everything. We have hands, we have heads, we'll make all this even more beautiful, even better. But they'll have to pay for this, they'll understand. Enlightenment will come sooner or later.

КА: Yes. By the way, about restoration, generally in conditions of such constant shelling, does anything manage to get fixed or is there no opportunity for this yet?

АК: Yes-yes, now many volunteers have already arrived, guys from other cities. Brigades have already been created, the administration brings OSB, boards, plywood, film. As soon as something gets destroyed somewhere, the next day everything is already boarded up, everything is nailed down. I just arrived, tomorrow Slovaks are coming to us, I stopped by the hotel and arranged, there's one hotel. I took bulletproof vests for the guys who will come. I'll meet them at the station, just in case. And the brigades just returned, they were boarding up the Blood Center. All windows were blown out there and they just boarded them up. We help our workers. Yesterday, they left, and neighbors call, say that [something] hit the house, windows were blown out in the apartment. I send my brigade, the guys went, boarded it up there. So there's enough work. Not so much creative as other, but nevertheless.

КА: So some part is probably taken by the city administration, but the bigger part people do themselves?

АК: Yes-yes-yes. Neighbors help each other. The administration, for example, gives OSB, plywood, provides all this for free, and if there aren't enough hands, brigades, then neighbors come, help, board up. That is, we help each other very-very powerfully.

КА: How all this service that deals with cleaning and so on continues to clean Kherson...

АК: Yes-yes-yes. Trash is taken out, streets are cleaned, parks are cleaned out. We do everything. Despite the war, despite everything, we want it to be, unlike those Buryats who came to us and hadn't seen a toilet, and steal our toilets. We still want it to be clean, neat, even if it's old, but it will be clean and tidy.

КА: Uh-huh. In conditions of such constant shelling, the city is clean, yes, I'm trying to picture this. Do people walk at all? That is, not just move from point A to point B, but walk in parks...

АК: No, you don't see people walking. Sometimes in the morning those who are bolder run, I see such athletes' jogs quite often. But such walkers or mommies with strollers, this isn't seen at all.

КА: So people try to move from point to point.

АК: Yes-yes. Minimize being on the street, if you walk, then from the side where a building can protect and so on. There's already such an algorithm — when you go to work, you determine where we'll go today, through which street.

КА: I'll now ask a very banal question, but very important just on the topic of our interview. I know that you definitely know the answer to it, I'll still ask you. Why was it important for you to return to Kherson, do theater and stay in the city, despite daily shelling? АК: Because I want... for it to be faster... I'm already 64 years old. They took away a whole year from me, you know. I'm saying, besides my work in the theater, my family and I were building our business, we started it from scratch, simply once someone advised me: "Get involved in green tourism," - I gathered my family, I say: "Let's try it?". And we spent 15 years, I grew a dendropark with my own hands, planted these magnolias, and they were already starting to bloom. Now I just don't know if they survived in that desert during this year or not. And so I want to restore all this as quickly as possible, because I have little time. I want, as soon as it's possible, to do everything to return to normal life as quickly as possible. And for it to become even better. I'm saying, we've traveled around Europe now. Yes, it's good there, it's beautiful there. I came from the Netherlands - a beautiful country, very comfortable, it's warm there, by the way. I somehow didn't check the internet and went in a warm jacket, and it was very hot for me there. I think, oh my lord, and Russia was saying that Europe froze. Yes, they already have flowers blooming on the streets there, tulips and everything else. It's good there, they have a different life. I also immersed myself for two days in a prosperous life, when there's no shelling, no sirens, people aren't worried, they sit in restaurants, it's their day off. It's a country of bicycles. There are a million bicycles on the streets there, they ride to work. Cigarettes aren't sold openly in stores there, for example, they're covered with curtains, and all the packs are black, so as not to attract children's attention. I understand that this is a healthy nation, it thinks about the future. We've lived everywhere, yes, my workers are living in France today, in Bulgaria, in Romania, in Hungary, in Poland. And everyone said, no-no, home, that's it, we saw that it turns out our internet in Ukraine is better than in Czechoslovakia, rather, than in Czech Republic. And some things are simpler for us, we have DIA [editor's note: Ukrainian government digital services app] on our phones, we can request any service from the government without leaving home, any certificate. But to connect internet, for example, in Prague, my accountant had to spend a week going to various offices. Well, and so on, and so on. Yes, Europe is beautiful, we go there as guests, but I want to have Europe at home, for it to be better. And I already have something today that's better than what I can be proud of. And that's why I'm here, and that's why we're trying to do everything to shorten this... Not to forget this year, to draw some lessons from it. It also made us different. It introduced me to other people in my own Ukraine, yes, I had many friends, there became even more. I understood how much we can support each other. Completely unfamiliar people brought me to their apartment, and I lived there for three months. And they told me: "If you need money, here, please." It's good that the state supported me, we worked, we preserved the theater, we paid salaries all this year. And to those people who were in occupation, sometimes it was difficult, yes, there were delays at first. But nevertheless. We supported people, that is, the state didn't abandon us either. We tried to do everything. But now I want to quickly return to this normal life, because I have little time. I want to do this and that, and go there, and do this. That's why I'm here. And that's why I'm already trying to do something today in my country for my country's victory.

КА: This is very important! And those employees, for example, who you communicate with, will they return when such massive shelling ends, yes?

АК: Yes-yes-yes. Many are already returning. Some guys have already come, they say: "What are we doing here? The apartment is here, well, shelling." Moreover, they came with children and are working in Kherson today. These are the more hardened ones. Some say: "No-no, we're waiting, as soon as you tell us to come, we'll come." But I also spare people, so those services that directly must, I try to make people feel their necessity, and so they work for full salary, because now the year started with it being somewhat difficult. Those who are abroad, we no longer have the right to pay salary to. Those who don't work at all and not even remotely or by correspondence, I pay only two-thirds to them. And those who participate and go on performances, on tours... We're still trying to work somewhere besides Kherson. Now again there were performances in Odesa recently. Now in Kropyvnytskyi, in Mykolaiv they asked us, well, and this way we're trying to preserve everything and establish further work.

КА: Well, God grant that all this ends faster! I want to summarize everything. If I heard you correctly, understood, felt, then now the city lives in such literal expectation of when such frequent shelling will end, and it will be possible to live a full life, as much as possible during war...

АК: Yes-yes-yes-yes.

КА: With all my heart I want to wish that this happens sooner. Now I'll ask you the last question, it's very general, but sometimes some important things come up in it, sometimes nothing comes up. And then I'll ask a couple of technical questions. And my last question - is there something about the war, about Kherson now, about reopening your theater again in the city, that you would like to tell me, but I didn't ask you about it?

АК: No, you seem to have asked everything.

КА: Good. It was terribly pleasant talking with you, this is just such an uplifting story. I'm so grateful to you for agreeing to talk with me. I truly wish with all my heart that sooner...

АК: We'll be glad to see you in Kherson. Come to the festival. There will be a festival...

КА: I'll definitely come.

АК: The 25th, anniversary one. So as soon as you hear, come. Georgian theaters will definitely be there.

КА: Oh, how awesome. As soon as possible, immediately. As soon as it's possible to come, immediately, right away-right away.

АК: Good.