Palianytsia means bread. In classical sense, it means large-sized round wheat bread, baked in an oven.
At the start of the war Russia unleashed against Ukraine, the word "palianytsia" became a symbol, since Russian occupiers are unable to pronounce it correctly. It became a shibboleth, distinguishing friend from enemy without mistake.
In addition to conventional troops, Russia sent groups of saboteurs to Ukrainian cities in advance of the invasion. The saboteurs’ task was to spy, inform Russians where our armed forces were stationed, where checkpoints and infrastructure facilities are located. They also left identifying marks to help aviation and landing forces navigate and so on. These people moved around the city in civilian clothes but were armed. The project was inspired by the Transcarpathian region where we now live with my co-author Denis Ruban.
When the second week of the war started, our whole family was forced to leave our hometown, Kyiv. My mother, sister and aunt are now in Germany, and we continue to live here and hope to return.
The villages here are protected by the Carpathian Mountains and there are many mountain rivers; their waters run fast and polish the stones. There are no strategic sites such as airfields, military bases and weapons depots here, so we think we are safe. Even though sometimes there are air raid sirens. Upon arrival, we stopped at an overcrowded expensive hotel in the district center. Trying to find our own place, we walked and traveled a lot around the area, and that was