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Yevgeny Reznichenko, 24 years old. I was born in Kherson. At the age of 17, I entered the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University, the faculty of drama theatre direction, in the workshop of Sudin Volodymyr Mykolayovych, and came to Kyiv.

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I lived here while I was studying for a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. I started actively working since the 4th year. I created my first graduation play in my native Kherson theatre. I returned home. And then, in the fall of 2021, I united my life with it. Now I am a full-time director of the Kulish Kherson Theatre. I put on [plays] in Kherson,

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in Mykolaiv, I work in Odesa in the theatre laboratory "Theatre on Chaina". I finally moved to Odesa in September. I live in 2 cities – Kherson and Odesa. The South beckons me. I was in Odesa for six months and arrived in Kherson on February 14. My girlfriend and I celebrated Valentine's Day. And on February 15,

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I started rehearsing a new play at the Kulish Kherson Theatre. And so, 10 days before the full-scale invasion, I ended up in Kherson, where I was stuck until April 15. Only on April 15, I was able to leave for Odesa with my mother and grandmother, where we are now. It was a certain test for me. I was not searched, detained, etc. there.

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But it is the realization that you have limited freedom, you can't allow yourself something... You can't allow yourself to communicate there, carry the flag, express your position. And it was very stressful. I had the feeling when I went outside that the air was sticky, it stuck to you. For the first month of the full-scale invasion,

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we stayed in the bomb shelter of the theatre with my mother and grandmother. We went there on the second day of the war. And after the rashists broke into the bomb shelter the next day, we returned home. At that moment... This is probably one of the most difficult moments of my stay in Kherson,

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when most of the men who were with us went to fetch water, and my mother and grandmother, some women, and several children remained there [in the storage room]. Most went outside. And 4 cars arrived. There were 2 armoured personnel carriers, which pointed their muzzles at the facade. And they surrounded the theatre.

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We were outside, and there [inside] were my mother and grandmother. It lasted about 1.5 or 2 hours. You can't influence anything, you can't go in there, and they [relatives] can't get out. And you don't understand whether you will see your relatives again. Thank God, everything went well. Their [russians] stay in the theatre,

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their conversations with those who were inside is a separate kind of shit. I don't even want to mention or talk about it. Those were narratives of the category "Kherson will not be bombed, because our air defence is working at its maximum." And so on and so on. "You are probably hiding here from local Ukrainian fascists?"

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And my mother is a candidate of philological sciences. She studied russian and worked as a russian language teacher at Kherson University. She has now changed her specialty. For me, the biggest paradox is that a person has studied this language, is familiar with this culture, and is a person with a super pro-Ukrainian position.

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It seems to me that it is very revealing now that I am from a russian-speaking family, I communicate in russian most of my life. My mother is the same. And now we are gradually switching to the Ukrainian language. I started it earlier, during my studies. And now I communicate freely in two languages.

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Sometimes I don't even realize when I'm switching from one language to another. Depending on the interlocutors. So here is such a moment. Yes, this search in the theatre was one of the most difficult moments. During the war, there was another situation. I have a friend, a person very close to me. She is the editor-in-chief,

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editor-playwright of our play. Ksenia Shvets. She worked at the Young Theatre, and there was also an actress Kseniia Shvets, [now] deceased. And in one day, several people sent me a screenshot that Ksyusha Shvets died. Unfortunately, it was about the actress. But I didn't think about it, I thought it was about my friend

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I start calling her, but she doesn't pick up the phone. I was in that state for 10 minutes, when you suddenly realize that a very close, very dear person to you has died. And I know that she is in Lviv. And in Lviv there were hits at that moment, a few hours before. And you think, "Wow!" Thank God, everything was fine.

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But those 10 minutes seemed like an eternity to me. In general, being under occupation was a very strong test for me. I wanted to leave from the first day, but I could not leave my mother and my grandmother. They were very afraid to go, because there was no evacuation, there were no "green corridors." In other words,

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leaving Kherson was a personal risk, your responsibility. There was no guarantee that you would get to controlled territory. But when armoured personnel carriers passed by our house and staid in the sands of the Ostriv neighbourhood... Our house is the last one. There is a private sector, and a railway bridge nearby. And so the russians drove there, dug in there.

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And when you already see armoured personnel carriers from the window of the balcony, you understand that you have to go. I’m in Odesa now. I am very grateful to my friends from "Theatre on Chaina," my colleagues, who were able to find an apartment for my mother and grandmother. They live apart from me. And I live in the apartment I rented.

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Thanks to my landlady, who allowed me to live now and not pay rent. The world is not without good people. And that's fantastic. For me, for example, the war showed a lot of very cool and fantastic people who are ready to give you a shoulder for support. It is very important when you understand that you are not alone, that there are people who can help you.

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There are a lot of people who are helping me now. I am very grateful to all of them. We are currently working on the documentary play "You can't (not) stay." These are our stories, our artists who were under occupation. We talk about what happened there, about leaving the occupation. The main goal of this project, of this performance,

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is to tell that it is not so easy to leave, and to convey that now about 70 of our colleagues from our theatre remain in Kherson, and in general – a large number of people who cannot leave due to various circumstances. These are not supporters of the "russian world," but [people] simply have certain circumstances.

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I have one grandmother staying in Kherson at the moment. Finally, we have reception, and we can keep in touch via the Internet. This is the most important thing I want to say. Because sometimes you still come across such thoughts that the East and the South were waiting for the "russian world." Like, you called it, etc. They say there are traitors.

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Yes, there are traitors. And a small percentage of our team, our former employees went to cooperate with the occupation authorities. And this is a very annoying moment and it’s infuriating, because you cooperated with these people, communicated with them, you respected them as professionals. And so, it turns out, they have such a position.

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And this is also a test – not to lose your cool, etc. In short, I don't want to talk about it. And we will talk about the fact that people remain there and they need our support, they need our faith in them. Because Kherson is waiting for liberation, waiting for deoccupation. Because Kherson is Ukraine. Of course, I believe in victory.

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Because we are on our land, this is our land. Our land is Ukraine. It cannot be otherwise. I realize that it will not be as fast as it seemed in the early days. I have a large number of acquaintances and friends who are currently at the front. I am very worried about them. I believe in them,

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I believe that thanks to such men of steel as some of my friends who went to the front, we will be able to win. But I think our country will pay a very high price for its freedom. However, it probably cannot be otherwise. This is how steel is being hardened.