Yury gudymenko considers himself a humanist to the core. After graduating from the Kiev school, tried to follow in the footsteps of parents — power engineers, decided to explore energy management, but it only lasted for three months. Leaving school, the following year he joined the history faculty, no regrets by the end of training for individual pictures, names and dates formed into a single chain, from ancient times to the present. This knowledge allows you to better navigate in the current realities.
Gudymenko a journalist by profession. In the end the zero was an active Ukrainian nationalist, because of this, through specific experience. In 2010 in Kiev near the office of the Communist party erected a monument to Stalin. Soon it blew up. “It was a terrific picture. New year’s eve of 2010, for 2011 I’m proposing a girl: romance, Sinatra plays, she agrees. Half an hour later the door knocks, because after the explosion started to catch around the city all Ukrainian patriots to take on the daily interviews, — says Yuri. — Ten days later I was arrested and identified by two months in jail. When I realized that the monument was blown up not me, I have an alibi, was given two years probation for what he described paint of the monument to Dzerzhinsky several years before this story. Released. And here I stand in an open field with a criminal record, no job and no money,” he laughs. He was offered a job in the newspaper, over time Gudymenko opened with fellow regional news site. However, the profession of the historian does not forget, writes the blogs, which talks about what has survived Ukraine, draws Parallels.
Yuri is sure that the understanding of the logic of historical processes will be useful to every Ukrainian. However, buying one of the history textbooks for high school, I became convinced that even he, the professional, it is difficult not to lose the thread of the narrative. “Remembering what I thought in high school realized that children are categorically uninteresting and unclear — smiles Gudymenko. — Decided to write “newcent” history, don’t know how to say. Everything I write in blogs the last half a year, fits in well with this period. Should be written clearly, with humor. It is important that, first, the guys knew the history of the state, and secondly, I am annoyed by the myth that the Ukrainian nation — sorry, the nation suffers: we have suffered, suffer and will suffer. But what are you?! — exclaimed Yuri. — We have an amazing story, full of victories our troops gave the enemy the ears right and left, we centuries to calm down, no one could.”
Focus: What periods of our history’s most mythologized?
Yury gudymenko: All (laughs). For example, Pers vizualni zmahannya. We are talking about the fact that one of the main and still relevant Ukrainian heroes — the Nestor Makhno. This is a very beautiful image of a young black-haired anarchist a native of Zaporozhye region, but this ignores the fact that Makhno and his chieftains, in fact, collaborated with the Communists and had a hand to those in the early 1920-ies killed Ukrainian statehood. In all that happened, is their fault. But there is a beautiful myth, beautiful hero. Although now the same “leader” we consider negative because comes the understanding that without a single intuitive control system will not stand. The whole history of Ukraine — a set of myths, but this is as it should be.
Why?
— For example, of Kievan Rus, known to very few. It is not clear the origin of the word “Rus”, the origin of Askold, dir, Rurik. We offer a myth, saying that, most likely, it was the Vikings who came to Kyiv land, conquered neighboring tribes and began to rule, it was proposalsto from which the result is the current Ukraine. This is a good correct the myth that you have to live like this, because it’s the first link in the chain of Ukrainian statehood. Now we say that the Trident of Volodymyr the Great — our coat of arms, Kiev — the capital, and went along the chain. Next, we turned to the Cossacks as soldiers who defended the Ukraine. By and large, Cossacks is more like sire Ukrainian voinstvo, and the pirates of Tortuga: they had fun, robbed, raided — this was the original cause of their appearance. They, of course, built and protected their state, and this is what we say, and forget about the rest a little bit. And well.
But there are myths that separate us. This is evident in the myth about the UPA (extremist and banned in Russia organization — approx. ed.), which does not take many people, brought up on Soviet mythology. You can once and for all agree that the past does not interfere with our future?
Once and for all to agree, of course, possible. But for this, since the UPA must pass three hundred years, that the subject has ceased to be acute. Now, in principle, correctly say they went too far — this is really bad, we were wrong, in every army there are good people and bad people, this organization is no exception, the times were difficult, we apologize. The poles from their side did the same. They said, here, and here, we are not right, sorry. However, now this process is inhibited, but in the end we will come to what will draw conclusions from our common history and move on. The problem is that we are still a very young country, does not know how to negotiate, but well able to argue and fight among themselves.
— Why did you come for debunking myths of the war?
— For us it’s a painful subject. I am 29 years old. When I started reading, got to children’s books about the war, there was a lot of information about “young guard” young heroes. I’ve absorbed. Then, when he grew up, opened files, read the story have the facts and realized that it was all based on lies, and for a specific purpose. If it was necessary that the children become “meat”, another one word for it, here’s the feat Zoe Kosmodemyanskoy: she went on a mission, the Germans caught her and killed. But the problem is that Zoe is not the Germans were harmed, she went into occupied territory to carry out “order on the scorched earth” by Stalin, set fire to the house of peasants. The peasants were not too happy about it: winter is coming, and some young fool running around with a torch and sets fire to the house. So they took active part in the decision of the unenviable fate of Zoe Kosmodemyanskoy.
— The country that so program the children are always fighting? I mean, in Russia we are now seeing a cult of Victory, the children still in infancy dressed up in camouflage and caps.
— They are always preparing for war, and in any territory. It’s not programming, it’s really a religion. If a war begins NATO, Bandera, Jewish Freemasons — underline, you, dear child, take a gun and go to war and we you for it consigning to the ranks of the heroes. So they do and will do. Look at all these “DNR-LNR”, they are proud that they have kids fighting, shoot TV spots about fifteen guys who take up guns and shoot at Ukrainian troops — be it what you sit at home? Then this kid the projectile will fly, it will make an icon, I will gain another 10 or 100 such as the children brainwashed. But this is impossible, we can’t do it, we cherish their children. And they can. For me it’s a different world.
— In recent action with the “Immortal wolf” what was more trolling or desire to pay attention to such moments?
— Any of Putin’s campaign is about two things. The first task is to unite the Pro-Russian activists, to give them some idea, the flag under which they may gather, not having problems with the Ukrainian legislation, for the hammer and sickle or Russian flag will give them the cap. Is mimicry: a noble goal — we remember their ancestors. These people are going through all the cities of Ukraine, see how many of them there are leaders, and there is a consolidation before breaking the kernel Pro-Russian separatists. The second goal is Medika: you can say that the fight against Bandera continues, and if the participants something happens, say, for example, that Bandera trampled upon the relics of the Victory. Russian propaganda any option is good. But if it’s to mock, interrupt message his message, next time for such an action, no one will. There was quite a lot of middle-aged people. Here’s a forty-year-old man comes home and says to his wife as stood against Bandera, and his wife replies, “Well, you’re a sheep, you have the entire Internet laughs, come and see.”
— After that, say, the performance in Zaporizhia many of you offended?
— No. At the local “wool” there is no leader, she poboril and calmed down.
The role of one person
— What period of Ukrainian history are you most like what is happening now to the country?
Is just Perch vizualni zmahannya (Ukrainian revolution 1917-1921 — approx. ed.) — from 1917 to 1921. Sometimes it’s just a blueprint. Begins a wild political struggle, schism, revolution, this time from Russia comes a kind of army, the government is trying to coordinate, to unite against this threat, but inside, there are centrifugal processes: there are the “chieftains”, committed by the coup attempts.
— That is, history teaches that it teaches nothing.
Yes. Maybe next time get her to learn. Now really units draw Parallels and alert you to where it may lead. We live in historical time. One man we saw on the Maidan, and war can influence the story, to expand it. He POPs up, says “follow me”, and people will go. It’s scary actually, because we can’t go there. The problem is that a hundred years ago, these people were many, each pulling in their own direction. As a result, we lost hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians lost the state, this resulted in famine, internal terror.
— Remember a period of euphoria when it seemed that finally something will start to happen. Understanding of the historical process didn’t diminish the optimism?
— Remember how the poles were told, in some of euphoria they were in at the time of independence, but soon realized that it would be very painful, hungry and will probably have to travel to Ukraine to trade the tape as it actually happened. I understand that for a few years nothing will change. Will inevitably be bad. Now a key task of the nation — not to make a civil war — the most comprehensible to Ukrainian way to solve the problem.
Often the causes of division in the country due to the choice of civilization, which, in my opinion, many do because of age. Who will win?
— We. It sounds harsh and rude, but we just talk them through. I have hope that if the Ukrainian state will hold at least another 25 years, the process will become irreversible. In my generation — those who are about thirty, “wool”, for example, 25%. Among those who are now fifteen, “quilted jackets” two times less, because other books, programs, values. “Vata” is not going anywhere, it is in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and even Finland and Poland, but the number stabiliziruemost on the level of statistical error, it cannot influence the processes. However, there is one difference: the Baltic countries, Poland in the early twentieth century managed to fend off communism and to 20 years of independence, while their again captured. They then recovered quickly because they were not killed by famine, not knocked out all the elite. From Central and Eastern Ukraine this was not possible, we are more pressured during these 20 critical years. Well, we are still standing.
— Now it is often said that Russia is using something new — a hybrid war. Is it really a fresh her methods.
— A hybrid war, invented a very long time. The Communists in 1917 was no different from Russia today. They had a good slogan “land to the peasants, factories to the workers”. It is clear that no one got it, and many peasants saw the land just on the other side, from a depth of five feet. Methods run-in. Fill up a good slogan, include massive propaganda, the enemy partially overlap the side, partially decomposed, people do not know where to run. The story is a classic, and now with the addition of electronic technology.
— Where is the stool that you need to knock out that Russian propaganda has not worked?
— Yes, there is a layer of people that susceptible to propaganda. But the Russians failed to create a clear, unified propaganda myth that they are defending. Their ideological predecessors — the Germans operated a simple myth: there are Aryans and subhuman to come happiness, you need to keep the Aryans. The average person can understand. And Russia confused. Russians and Ukrainians are one nation? Probably not, because the Russians have to shoot the Ukrainians, something doesn’t add up. Maybe there are good Russians and bad Bandera? Well, Yes, but how then to explain why we want “the new Russia” at the Kiev, if you live there, bad Bandera? Such inconsistencies they have maneuvered themselves into a corner, and now only grumble about the fact that in Ukraine everything is bad, and a clear concept can not offer. This concept was the Customs Union: let us be like the European Union, only different, we will restore a little bit different of the USSR. They could offer the concept of the return of the Soviet Union, but do not want to talk about it openly, because it sounds too aggressive, tense, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In the end, the supporters of Russia have not received a response to the question for what it was, where the goal is.
The stool itself had escaped. Ukrainians — the people Thrifty. If Russia took Crimea, didn’t do a hell of occupation, the country would be half of her supporters. But after the annexation of the Crimea people began to regret that they took something they owned. Here it is — the stool: on the annexation for a huge number of people Russia is over, the propaganda has ceased to apply to them.
“We have a really poor country”
— Ukraine was for many years divided into “fiefdoms,” which are controlled by various oligarchic power. The inhabitants of these regions, Zaporozhye, in particular, began to realize that the problems with Donbas and Crimea emerged including?
— Of course. Many people understand that was the chaos that such a system could not exist, but not everyone understands what it is now replaced with where we’re going. We have no common values. For example, a lot of talk about decentralization, but I don’t know what exactly happens. I live in the city, which she touched. Someone maybe knows that as a result the budget has more money, but few people aware that this is a global process which changes the entire country, its government.
That is a matter of propaganda, which we practically are. This is one of the downsides of democracy: we do not impose their point of view. You need at least to provide information. Analyzing Newspapers in Zaporizhia region, I see that the rating policy is very beneficial to criticize everything that happens. At the same time people don’t know anything about positive reforms, it seems that all is lost, all is bad, but positive more than enough. Not enough explanation about the purpose of the reforms, what they will lead.
— Which see the country in ten years?
— Free. I am sure that the country wide problem. We need to decide what to do — we are farmers, Industrialists, pros? We have a catastrophic problem with the staff, the people with abilities go abroad, there is no one to manage. Everyone thinks that if you stop stealing, everything will work out, we live very well, receive large salaries. Will not. We have a really poor country that don’t trust external investors, where people do not trust banks, the government. We have a good education. Even if we click to join the European Union, NATO, a quarter of a century will need to reach the level of present Poland, which during this time will go a long way. I hope that in ten years we’re just going to live in peace and develop, which will return your site. Don’t want people lied and gave them false hope.
— Tried to formulate a Ukrainian national idea?
I have already formulated Les Podervyansky, I will not quote. In American history was the famous Gadsdens flag, which depicts a curled rattlesnake, and under it the motto “don’t tread on me”. While you just look at this snake, it won’t hurt you, go around and be whole. That is, do not touch us, then you’ll survive. It is worth repeating the Pskov paratroopers, which are buried with the numbers on the graves, they stepped on the snake.
