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The resistance Ukrainians put up, and continue to put up, in the face of brutal and relentless attacks by Russia is “extraordinary”, journalist Oz Katerji says – and that’s exactly why he had to document it.
“It’s something that should be remembered and talked about and taught in history classes for generations to come,” Oz told Byline Times of Ukraine’s fight to expel Russia from Kyiv and its ongoing battle against the invaders.
With the support of Byline Media, the British-Lebanese reporter is set to release, The Battle of Kyiv, which premiers at Prince Charles Cinema, London, on April 29. Tickets are available here. It will soon be available on Byline.TV
It was filmed in Kyiv during the first few months of the invasion that began on 24 February 2022 – in what was the largest attack on a European country since World War II – and tells the story of Sviatoslav Yurash, the youngest parliamentarian in Ukraine’s history, and a group of volunteers, including his parliamentary assistants Kateryna and Yurii, as they take up arms to repel the Russian invaders and defend their city.
In a Q&A with the filmmaker below, he explains he came across Yurash, “a sort of cross between a Shoreditch hipster and an Islington goth” who was “armed to the teeth” and how he had to put aside his opposing political views, to follow him, and in doing so formed an indescribable bond: “We nearly died together. We survived together.”
The Battle of Kyiv documents the entire fight for the Ukrainian capital, from the days leading up to the invasion until its final liberation on 2 April 2022. As the Russians begin to circle the city, on 25 February 2022, Sviatoslav and his team hastily gather aid and deliver it to the embattled areas surrounding the capital, crossing active frontlines, and witnessing ordinary life descend into chaos.
When Russian troops are finally expelled, the volunteers discover the devastation left in its wake and the full horror of their crimes against humanity.
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Paul Niland argues that those calling for a negotiated peace in Ukraine fundamentally misunderstand how Russian torture, rape, and other war crimes make such a peace impossible
Oz explains below what life is really like in Ukraine and how he went about making the documentary as hundreds of thousands of people died around him. More than half a million people have been killed or seriously injured as the war reached the two-year mark in February, according to Western intelligence estimates
US officials, in August, put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed at 70,000, and as many as 120,000 injured. Russia is said to have lost 180,000 soldiers and tens of thousands more have been injured.
Q: What is the situation in Ukraine at the moment?
“I just got back off the frontline. I was on the Eastern Front for a few days, seeing the Ukrainians digging a new trench line, seeing the morgues, the fresh soldiers and the soldiers’ corpses that have been brought off the frontline. And I got to understand some of the ammunition shortages. Ukraine is in a bad state at the moment, and it’s in a bad state for one reason, it’s not because they’re prosecuting the war badly or because their soldiers lack the will to fight or because they lack manpower, it’s because they’re being starved of ammunition by Western political issues that have nothing to do with Ukraine.
‘People Die Because Aid is Delayed’: How Indifference is Killing Ukrainians
As Ukraine is outnumbered 7 to 1 on some parts of the frontline, volunteers explain the dangers they face as right wing politicians in the EU and the US stifle aid
This is all domestic stuff happening, particularly in the United States. That lack of ammunition coming here is costing Ukrainian lives. And this is happening because Russia is not having these problems with ammunition. They’re relying on North Korea and Iran, places that they can find all of the ammunition for their ex-Soviet equipment. Whereas Ukraine is struggling to get both ex-Soviet shells and NATO standard shells. So it’s not going great for Ukraine. That said, they may lose some territory, but I don’ think there’s an imminent danger of what happened in Kyiv at the beginning happening again in terms of the Russians getting so close.
“What happened in Kyiv is really a once in a lifetime scenario, which is why I’m hoping that the film will go some way to telling that story for people and to remind people just how extraordinary the the resistance that the Ukrainians put up here really was. It’s something that should be remembered and talked about and taught in history classes for generations to come”
Oz Katerji
(Over the weekend the US House of Representatives finally approved more than $61 billion worth of military assistance to help Ukraine fight Russia. The Senate is set to begin considering the bill this week and final passage is expected next week, which would clear the way for Joe Biden to sign it into law.)