Andrey Yuriyovych Kurkov (1961), Ukrainian writer who writes in both Ukrainian and Russian. Author of about twenty novels, among which he became known to me Death and the penguin, and nine children's books. He is also the author of about 20 scripts for documentary and television films. It has been translated into about 37 foreign languages and published in 65 countries.
29.12.2021
Goodbye Delta! Long live Omicron!
Goodbye Delta! Tung Omicron! This could describe the pre-New Year mood in Ukraine and put us on a common trajectory with Europe and the world. Shared values and enemies are the best tools against geopolitical loneliness. But Ukraine would not be Ukraine if the New Year mood of its citizens was not enlivened by some wise and chaotic political decisions. The “orchestra” of state power – the cabinet of ministers – has released new posters into the sky like fireworks, making everyone look up in amazement at the spectacle of joy.
Ukrainians always have something to talk about, discuss and disagree about! When the Ministry of Defense decided to register almost all women aged 18 to 60, the topic of a possible war with Russia came to light with renewed vigor and penetrated every kitchen. Apparently this was the only way to revive Ukrainians' fear of war – people are already tired of being afraid of it.
They were frightened in 2014, when, during the annexation of Crimea, the Russian State Duma voted to allow Russian troops to fight on the territories of other states. Since then, the Ukrainian-Russian war has been de facto waged in the Donbas.
Another piece of evidence of the Russian military presence in Donbass came to light when a fighter from there, under the influence of drugs, ended up in Ukrainian army positions. During interrogation by the Secret Service of Ukraine (SBU), he complained of being bullied by his Russian officers.
Needless to say, the Defense Ministry’s announcement of women’s registration for military service has alarmed Ukrainian men. Women themselves don’t like the idea either, especially since it has become clear that even pregnant women and mothers of young children will have to register by the end of 2022. Moreover, women who fail to register will face heavy fines. In short, far from producing a new consolidation of Ukrainian society against its enemies, this bill has provoked fierce debates about the competence of the country’s military leadership.
It was probably with the intention of causing these discussions that the authorities decided to confuse citizens even more with another draft law. It came from the Ministry of Ecology and increased fines for damage to protected natural resources. The decree specified the amount of each fine applicable for each possible damage, including killing an ordinary frog (14 hr., for a frog), taking a mushroom without a permit (75 hr., per mushroom), and illegally collecting wild nuts (1.154 hr., per kg).
Defenders of the decision regarding women’s military registration based their arguments on the example of Israel, where women serve in the army at an equal rate to men. It is a pity that defenders of protected frogs, mushrooms and nuts have not pursued similar tactics – for example, citing the “mushroom policy” in Switzerland, where it is legal to measure the amount of mushroom pickers in the forest and issue fines if the collection exceeds the limit allowed under Swiss law.
Overall, I would prefer Ukraine to follow the Swiss example rather than the Israeli one. That is what I would wish my country for the New Year.
Meanwhile, I'm looking back and thinking: what do I want to transfer from 2021 to 2022? Yes, of course, I would like to transfer the old gas and electricity prices. But experience has taught me that the New Year always brings new prices for everything. So, staying realistic, I would like the quality of coffee in Kiev's coffee houses to remain the same.
Not wanting a decline in the selection of available French, Italian and Spanish wines, I would like to see wines from Ukrainian Transcarpathia and Bessarabia continue to delight us with their taste and quality during the New Year. I would also like to wish new successes to cheese makers and all small artisan producers of delicious products. For Ukrainians, the taste of food is very important. Delicious food allows Ukrainians to come to terms with political reality. This is our history and mentality.
As a writer, I can only share a special part of the New Year's joy. A small but high-profile "book lobby" has convinced the government to include books in the list of goods and services that can be purchased using the 1.000 hryvnia aid given to every Ukrainian citizen who has received all the vaccinations. Some eight million virtual bank cards with those "Covid thousands" have already been distributed, and vaccinated Ukrainians have flocked to virtual stores to spend their money on literature. This has saved half of Ukrainian publishing houses from bankruptcy and created some pretty nice new problems for publishers. They urgently needed to reprint books that had already been sold. The only problem is the limited amount of paper and the few printing houses. This is both a problem and an incentive. Moreover, another 18 billion has been included in the 2022 state budget for gifts of “Civid thousands” to vaccinated Ukrainians. It will soon be safe to say that vaccinated Ukrainians read more than unvaccinated ones.
So, aid for the vaccinated will continue until 2022, as will the wearing of masks, the fight against carefully selected oligarchs, promises to protect foreign investment, and QR codes – confirming our right to travel in international airspace and in permitted restaurants.
Let's enjoy 2022 to the fullest and may God bless us all!
/Andrey Kurkov 'DIARY OF AN INVASION', MOUNTAIN LEOPARD PRESS, 2022
/Translation: Gazeta Express
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