A Ukrainian actress living in the USA talks about the theater in bomb shelters and how the war changed Ukraine

Ukrainian actress theater and cinema Elena Sikorskaya, like many of her compatriots, met the beginning of a full-scale war in Kyiv. In the first months after the invasion, she managed to leave for the United States, but soon Elena returned to Ukraine. The actress shared in an interview with ForumDaily about how the people of Kiev met the first bombardments, which helped to maintain good spirits, and about the performances during the war.

Photo from the personal archive of Elena Sikorskaya

"GRADs are flying!"

Elena recalls: she learned about the war before the bombing of Kyiv began.

«My sister lives in the Kharkov region, not far from the border with Russia. She called me at night, around 03:30, and said that they were being bombed. At first I couldn’t believe it and told her that this could be an exercise at a neighboring training ground, to which she answered me: “Lena, which training ground? HAILWAYS are flying! Pack up and leave"", - says the actress.

Still not recovered from the shock, Elena got dressed and went to walk the dog. Explosions were already heard in the distance. She rushed to the parking lot to the car, when the sounds of explosions were heard very close - the Russian army began to bomb Vyshgorod.

«At 04:30 the shops were still open, people were rushing to work, and I had a performance scheduled that day"She recalls.

By the way, an actor from California took a great part in the production of the play. Alexander Litovchenko - a former classmate of Elena, who has long been living in the United States. Alexander himself returned to the States in connection with urgent matters 10 days before the start of the war. Of course, the performance had to be canceled, but Elena did not know this - she could not go to the theater anyway, because on the first day of the war she, like many others, had to hide in a bomb shelter.

«In the first days, Irpen and Bucha were already bombed. We all felt that death was very close, literally one step away from us, and something needed to be done. But no one knew what exactly to do. Russian troops reached Kyiv very quickly. Our theater was in the basement, and we used it as a bomb shelter. But in the following days I was mostly in the apartment. When the panic from the first explosions and “arrivals” passes, you begin to quickly find your bearings: what weapon is being fired from, in what direction; Over time, you figure out where the rocket should hit. This was especially accurately defined by migrants from Donbass”, – Elena Sikorskaya shares.

Regardless of language

Elena notes that there was no panic in the city, on the contrary, some kind of drive appeared - the desire to survive at all costs.

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«As soon as the bombing ended, people returned to their houses, quickly prepared food and immediately carried it to the basement to share with others. Earlier, before the war, I do not remember such active mutual assistance. Interestingly, the majority of activists and volunteers began to react more harshly when they heard the Russian language, but ordinary people, on the contrary, began to help each other, regardless of language and origin", - says the actress.

Finally, Elena's family decided to leave for the west of Ukraine in order to at least temporarily wait out the constant bombing.

Photo from the personal archive of Elena Sikorskaya

"ПI remember how at one of the checkpoints representatives of the defense forces asked why we were leaving, in the style of “Are you saving your skin?” But these were still isolated cases. Basically they wished us a safe journey and asked: “Get there alive.” In Vinnitsa, local residents shared their food supplies with us. Initially we thought that we were leaving for a few days, but it quickly became clear that it was impossible to return to Kyiv - the roads were constantly under fire"She recalls.

On the way to America

Elena felt that something had to be done. There was no money, and it became embarrassing to live at the expense of other people. Meanwhile, friend and colleague Alexander Litovchenko constantly called her and persuaded her to leave for the United States. In the end, he flew to Poland and told Elena that he was ready to meet her.

«Then I got into the car and drove towards Ternopil. The traffic jam was huge, we were driving very slowly. There was not enough gasoline, gas stations were only allowed 15 liters each, and there were also huge queues for them. There was no connection, the toilets did not work, and people had to relieve themselves right on the street, which at first was a shock to me. This is not accepted in Ukrainian culture, but in this situation, people simply had no choice. I drove 300 kilometers in two days. In front of my eyes there was an explosion at the Vinnytsia airport", - recalls the actress.

Then, through Krakow, Elena reached Warsaw.

«I left on March 12, and there were not so many people at the border as at the very beginning. At least we stood there for about 12 hours, but not for days, as happened at the end of February. I received an American visa already in Warsaw', she shares.

Elena recalls how Ukrainian men said goodbye to their families, whom they sent to Europe.

«It was terrible to watch the men weep as they parted with their loved ones. No, they didn't sob, they just covered their eyes with their palms, but it was clear that inside they were shaking with sobs.", - says Sikorskaya.

In the United States, Elena, together with Alexander, staged several performances at the California Russian-language theater "Yu", but her heart was restless. In Ukraine, there was a lot of unfinished business: it was necessary to help elderly parents with a vegetable garden, leave them money, fix their communications and car, and also get them international passports so that in case of danger, the parents could immediately go to Europe. As a result, Elena went back in the summer.

Happy Kyiv

Leaving for Ukraine from America, Elena admits: at first she took a one-way ticket only, not being sure that she would survive and be able to return to the United States. Returning to Kyiv, according to Elena, was much easier than leaving. Airplanes still did not fly to Ukraine, but there were no longer huge queues at the land border.

Elena Sikorskaya and Ksenia Kirillova. Photo from the personal archive of Elena Sikorskaya

«I drove through the already liberated Bucha and Irpen, and it was very scary to see the mangled foundations of buildings. It looked like the scenery for some kind of creepy movie: next to the surviving buildings and green trees lay the ruins of completely destroyed houses. This combination looked especially terrifying. In Irpen perished my friend is an actor Pasha Lee. Even before the war, we starred together in the feature film “It’s good that mom didn’t know”, and just managed to shoot all the scenes with Pasha. The film is not finished yet, but we are promised that it will definitely be completed.", - Elena shares her sore.

Nevertheless, military Kyiv unexpectedly pleased her.

«I was surprised to see people smiling at each other. If before the war, many were divided and survived as best they could, now everyone found themselves in the same situation, facing one common misfortune, and this very united people. We hugged and met as if it were the last time we saw each other. Of course, those who lost loved ones were not in the mood for smiles, and, on the contrary, they regretted that the rocket did not hit them. But in general, the atmosphere in the city has become much warmer than before the invasion. Many returned from Europe and realized that there is nothing better for them than Ukraine", - sums up the actress.

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Performance during the war

Arriving back, Elena saw that the theater in which she played was continuing its performances. Since many actors were in forced emigration, not full-fledged performances were staged on the stage, but excerpts from plays combined with songs and reading poetry and prose.

"ПI called the director and said that I would come to the performance as a spectator. But when I came to the theater, the director told me: “No, Lena, you will act.” However, the fact is that this performance was originally staged in Russian. While I was in the USA, it was translated into Ukrainian, but I, not participating in the preparation of the new production, remembered my role only in Russian. They decided to take a risk and allowed me to play in Russian. There were also military personnel in the hall, and I did not know what reaction my monologue would cause. Surprisingly, after the performance, our Ukrainian soldiers came up to me and thanked me - also in Russian. They told me that they speak it themselves in the trenches on the front line", - shares the actress.

All actors played for free, because people were not able to pay for tickets. In Kyiv, there was a total lack of money, but even this could not break the spirit of the townspeople. Nevertheless, Elena has already decided for herself that she is returning to America. According to her, it was much easier to leave the country for the second time. Now she is working on new performances, but at any moment she is ready to come back to war-torn Ukraine and support people dear to her.

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