Iryna Guley: “The war took my emotions away”

“We have been through many shocks: the beginning of the war, then bombings, explosions, sirens, the tragedies of Bucha, Mariupol, of the many cities from which we receive shocking news every day. With everything we have been through we have become hard on emotions ». Iryna Guley is a Ukrainian journalist of the television channel 1 + 1. Since last February 24 you have been telling Vanity Fair his life in war. She never even thought of leaving his land. Today, almost two months after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the outbreak of the war, she Iryna continues to tell, even if she hurts and is often forced to do so from underground shelters.

“After almost two months of war, we are able to see with our own eyes what we did not imagine before: death. We have become hard and we have understood that we cannot stay away from our homes, our cities for long ». Immediately after February 24, Iryna left her home in Kiev, her family, her closest friends, to move to a safer area with her fellow journalists and continue broadcasting the news live on television.

“Fifty days have been removed from our life. Now we are on hiatus, we are not living, we are unable to make plans. The life we ​​lived before is as if it no longer existed. It is a great pain to look at the photos in the phone that I took before February 24th. I dream of reliving the spring in Kiev, the hot spring with the flowers that perfume the air and returning to hear the song of the swifts that I love ».

But we are on the 53rd day of the war and peace is difficult even to name. The Russians escalate attacks and violence. Putin threatens America and as analysts say it could be a first sign of weakness.

“It’s scary to realize that maybe this war won’t end even in a week or maybe a month. And when it comes to years of conflict: it’s a new shock. There is a beautiful thing that has happened in these fifty days: I have started running again and it is the only thing that makes me feel calm ».

Since the beginning of the war, Iryna has traveled several times, always looking for a safe place. “It was nice to see how wonderful the Ukrainians are. Now, here in the west, I live in an apartment that was offered to me by a girl I met and didn’t know before. We talked and she offered me her apartment. We help the military, the wounded, anyone who needs food, medicine. We are united as never before ».

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-Iryna Guley: “Glory to Ukraine, the greeting to recognize us”

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