I grew up with books by Harry Potter. Among the teachings they passed on to me, there is one that is fundamental even when it comes to Ukrainian refugees in Italy: no one saves themselves. Harry would have died in the first book if it weren’t for his friend Hermione Granger. Ginny Weasley would not have survived the basilisk in the second if Harry and Ron hadn’t intervened. And the least promising wizard, Neville Longbottom, is the one who ultimately kills Voldemort, thus helping to restore peace.
In the last months I made a short film Dodomuwith the intention of giving voice to some Ukrainian refugees in Italy. As I listened to them, I realized that unconditional solidarity does not only belong in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, but can also exist in real life.
When Svitlana Ikachuk ran away with her children (5-year-old Dmytro and 7-month-old Yeva), she relied on two volunteers she did not know. “I was scared, I didn’t know what to expect from them,” she says. Her hope, however, got the better of her fear, and the volunteers didn’t just help her get to Italy, they found her a home. “I didn’t expect all thehospitality that I received. When we arrived, the neighbors cooked us lasagna and gave my son a bicycle».
Liuba Lysenko, Svitlana’s sister, was also struck by the generosity of the Italians: “A friend wrote to me: ‘Know that you will always have a home here'”. Liuba had to give up an important tender, her job in Ukraine and the closeness of her husband: «We are young, we traveled, we thought we would have children. Now I don’t know what will happen.”
Even Oxana Havrylovska misses her life: “My husband and I have been married for 28 years, in Kiev I worked as an architect and had a rock band with my friends”. If it wasn’t for her daughter Margo she would never have escaped. Margo is 13 and she draws from her when she learned to hold a pencil. «She drew everywhere: on the floors, on the walls, even in the bathroom!», Her mother recalls amused. «We left with only two backpacks», continues Margo, «Mum had all the practical things, clothes, linen, food. The? Only brushes, pencils, notebooks ». Art, in this case, really saved her. At the end of 2022 you exhibited your works in a gallery in Via Gesso, in Milan. Oxana will return to Ukraine when the war is over, but see Italy as an opportunity. Not only to learn something, starting with some useful programs for architecture, but also to expose Margo to a world of artistic possibilities: «I’d like you to learn Italian to study art in Milan».
The desire to Dodomu, to go home, belongs to all these women. There are those, however, who will no longer be able to do it. This is the case of Anna Budakyan, a Russian dissident who supported me in collecting these stories by acting as a translator. Anna has a degree in languages and feels ashamed of the war: “It is made in the name of the Russians, paid for with our taxes but there are many of us who do not want it”. Why don’t you protest then? “We often forget that Russia is a dictatorship: we are not allowed to express our opinion freely.” An example? ‘A woman who worked in the municipality protested against the organization of a children’s party. She argued that the holiday was hypocritical, as Russia is killing thousands of Ukrainian children. The answer? Seven years in prison.” As of March of 2022, the independent civil rights site Ovd-Info reported over 4,500 arrests in about 60 different cities and a survey of the Cnn he claimed that 65 percent of the Russian population was against the war. Anna left her country, her parents and her brother who she misses very much: “It is important for me to show that there are Russians against the war: for this we demonstrate in Piazza Duomo alongside the Ukrainians”. However, their presence is not always welcomed. “I was holding up a sign that read ‘Mafia Occupied Russia’ when a Ukrainian girl gave me the middle finger. She did not want the Russians to be present at the demonstrations ».
Unfortunately, the rift between Ukrainians and Russian dissidents is widespread. Many Ukrainians argue that the Russians are responsible for Putin’s actions and are not moved by those who voluntarily leave their country when they are instead forced to leave destroyed cities and upended lives. Sharable sentiment or not, however the fact remains that there are people, like Anna, who demonstrate an implacable desire to atone for their sense of national guilt by helping the Ukrainian people.
There are also many Italian men and women who are giving their contribution with affection and determination. Not a day goes by in which Clelia Lucenti and the many volunteers of Don Orione in Milan do not work to welcome and integrate Ukrainian refugees. “People like Clelia have helped us in any situation, for small things or emergencies,” says Liuba. «It often happens that, together with the other girls, we say to each other: “We’d like to find a soccer course for a child or a part-time position for a mother”, and after two days Clelia comes up with the solution».
Andrej Rebesco, on the other hand, is a boy from Trieste who, together with his family, hosted Angelica, a 19-year-old Ukrainian. At first there was some tension: “I remember being angry with my parents because they didn’t trust me to give her the alarm code or the house keys.” After just a week, however, Angelica had become part of the family, which she won over with her rampant optimism. «For me this is a period full of thoughts», says Andrej, «But when Angelica greets me in the morning with her true and sincere smile, her good mood overwhelms me. It seems that she helps us more than she does us».
Like Andrej, Elena and Federico Bertola, in Narzole in the province of Turin, also opened the doors of their home to Diana and her two children. Agnese Gallarati, an Italian who moved to London, gave her room to a family of four refugees. Federica and Emilia Quaranta, in Milan, welcomed two women aged 65 and 87: «The support received from our neighbors moved me», Emilia recalls, «They gave us clothes, books, food and, above all, time».
I was proud of the welcome my country was able to demonstrate on this occasion. But I can’t help but wonder: do we do the same towards Syrian refugees? What about the Afghan ones? If a Pakistani knocked on my door, how would I behave? Sirius Black, in the fifth book of Harry Potter, says: “We all have light and dark within us. What matters is the part on which we choose to act». I hope these stories and short film help everyone cultivate the light within and keep the darkness at bay.
Other articles by Vanity Fair that might interest you:
– War in Ukraine: the woman who helps other women escape from Kiev
– Russian soldiers in Ukraine: «They knowingly send us to the massacre»
– Zelensky in the USA: «Invest in democracy. The struggle will define which world our children and grandchildren will live in.”
Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
