“The most important thing is that we have broken the ‘brotherly bonds’ that chained us to Russia”

Yevhen Hrytsiak, the leader of 1953 Norilsk uprising in the camps of GULAG, an intellectual and moral paragon and a longtime friend of Den/The Day, has been awarded the commemorative medal “25 years of Independence of Ukraine.” The ceremony took place during the Independence Day celebration in Sniatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. Despite his poor health, Hrytsiak visited the city, accompanied by his grandson Taras Romaniuk, in order “to see the comrades and take part in joint celebration of the Independence anniversary.”

“Frankly, I don’t feel well. But I went to the district center anyway. I wanted to take part in the Independence Day celebration. I arrived by car. Then I walked a little and then immediately sat down on a chair. The festive performance took an hour. The awards were presented on stage, but I could not get up. The head of State Administration went down from the stage and handed me the award where I was sitting,” replied Yevhen Hrytsiak on The Day’s greetings. “I am very grateful for this award and for the country’s attention to me. It is a great honor. Perhaps I don’t deserve it. In our district we have only two award holders of such level. I am proud of it. Indeed, I am sincerely grateful for the attention.”

You have received the medal “25 years of Independence of Ukraine.” What has changed during that time in the country, and what hasn’t?

“I believe that we have succeeded in many things. First of all – we managed to save the country, to keep its independence. And most importantly – to break the ‘brotherly bonds’ that chained us to Russia. And I hope for good. Today, every Ukrainian – whether they live in the east of the country or the west – feels in union. The grief united us; it helped Ukrainians identify themselves better. People have begun to understand themselves deeper, to cherish the culture, to learn history. This is an important achievement. It is a pity that such ‘enlightenment’ has taken a great price.”

Do the people that have been in power all these years bear responsibility for this?

“First of all, yes. The problem in our government is that for the entire 25 years the country’s vector of development has been changing and blunders were made in choosing strategic allies. Our presidents had not had a clear understanding of this ‘Russian factor,’ of the fact that Russia can yet go to war against Ukraine. Everything was moving in that direction, there were individual warnings. But the blind desire of momentary gain, the focus on so-called ‘big brother’ – it was a crime. And the country is now paying dearly for it. Only now we are coming to understand the real state of threat.

“I am very afraid of open war against Ukraine. And it, I mean a full-scale invasion, is real. I heard the news that Donbas has more Russian tanks now than Germany and Britain taken together. We are encircled. Donbas is occupied, Russian troops go there in reinforcements, they are building barracks. Crimea is annexed and, according to some, Russian troops there have increased in numbers several times; they say that even an atomic bomb is based there. Transnistria and Moldova remain an unresolved issue. The Kremlin also regards Belarus as a springboard for the attacks on us. We are going to be beaten at all fronts. Only on the wisdom and sensibility of our government, especially on that of President Petro Poroshenko, depends the country’s future for decades.”