Roman Shakhmatenko: Voice from Ukraine

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview Roman Shakhmatenko, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, via Zoom. I cannot tell you his location, nor can I show the video of our conversation, but I can share with you some of what he said. These are his words: 

I will tell you my brief story. I was born in Kharkiv Oblast, near Kharkiv, the main city, which was brutally bombed today. I grew up there until I was 13. Later, I moved to the United Kingdom, where I got my law degree. And then I came back to Ukraine. 

Since then, in one way or another, I’ve been working in environmental protection. I’m an attorney at law at the moment, Ph D, a legal drafter, a father, a brother, a son…sorry… I’m not used to telling my C.V.

Right now, I am in a shelter. This is where we have to sleep during the night because of the bombs. So I am here, with friends. At the moment, I’m not able to get back to my house. And I am separated from my family. 

It was at five o’clock in the morning when a friend of mine called me and said: the war has begun. I didn’t want to believe it. And then I heard a boom. (I lived at the time in Bucha.) It was really scary to be honest. First there is this panic. But then, you know, you’re the man in the family – you have to get yourself together. 

Soon you get tired of being scared, and you have to get positive. Because there’s not much we can do without being positive. It’s not about sadness. I’m not sad. I’m angry. I’m scared that I’m never going to see my family again. 

What Putin is doing, I don’t get it. I don’t get it emotionally or rationally. For example in Kharkiv half of the population has relatives in Russia, the city speaks Russian, and today, in residential areas, there were people being bomed, burning in cars, dead civilian people. I don’t get it. We don’t get it. We don’t understand it.

People are still working here, by the way. All of the Ukrainian government, each of us are still doing our jobs, nonstop. There is still work discipline, even with the bullets. Even the garbage is still being taken out, at least in the part of Kyiv where I am. 

I have started to love my people even more during this time. Although everyone is afraid, we are strong. People are helping each other, getting together, sharing food. We’re calling each other. We’re trying to find out whether someone is alive or wounded. 

And we’re proud.

We are proud of our President, and I am proud of our people. People are risking their lives, giving away what they have willingly for our future. We didn’t capitulate. Putin wanted that. That’s what he was expecting. But it didn’t happen. And it’s not going to happen. 

We differ from Russians, we have different relations between the state and the citizens. You’re not going to arrest us for a peaceful protest. You’re not going to beat our children up with special forces on the main square. You’re not going to do this. We’re not going to allow this.

What would I want for US people to know? Well, first of all we are very grateful for the support we are getting at the moment from the US, UK, Canada and other friendly states. Please keep doing what you are doing. Don’t stop. Please don’t put our war news on the second place and please don’t get used to the fact that there is a war in the middle of Europe. 

I guess that’s what Russians want from the US and from the world: to cool down in time, so that the world would eventually accept our tragedy and live on. Please remember that Russia attacked us today, but who can guarantee that they will not attack someone else tomorrow. 

Ignorance, I believe, is one of the most serious diseases of the human kind in the 21st century, the comfort of simple decisions. I’ve seen this in environmental law – people will always try to postpone environmental decisions: they’re too difficult, they’re too costly, et cetera. 

Climate change is being ignored by many politicians worldwide – some even don’t believe in it. Other states are using Russian fossil fuels, ignoring the fact that they are fueling insane dictators, who later on bomb residential houses, destroy natural heritage, and even put the nuclear safety of Europe at stake. 

We have been creating our natural reserve fund for decades, carefully, step by step, and now- they are being brutally destroyed. Moreover, we have fought pollution, trying to find the necessary balance between business and state. Just ten days ago, we talked about the future of hydrogen energy in Ukraine, how it could minimize the air pollution in our cities. Well, now Russian missiles are shooting into the oil depots and creating immense soil and air pollution on the scale Ukraine has never seen. So what I am trying to say is that people all over the world shouldn’t ignore our tragedy, not now and not in the future!  

There are certain things we’re asking, and it’s not much: just, close the sky, sanctions for Russians and Belorussians. Support our army, because right now it is the army of the whole civilized world. We will fight. And we will win. In many ways, we already have.