Olesia Mamchych, especially for Ukrainska Pravda Life

January 28th is my birthday. I’m 33 years old. I am a writer, I write poems for children and adults. I have two daughters, Ivanka, who is 7 years old, and Varvara, who is 3 years old. Galya Tkachuk, also a writer, is sitting here with me now. She recently published a book about Kyiv for kids called Tempori.

And guess what we’re doing now? Are we reading Galyna’s book? Are we baking a cake and decorating the room with flowers for a birthday party? Are we citing modern poetry?

Actually, Galya is consoling me after I was intimidated by an investigator, after I finally saw my lost car that had been totally destroyed by the Berkut. She is distracting me from the thoughts that my husband, my dear husband, Oleksandr Kravtsov, has been beaten and unfairly convicted and is now in Lukyanivskiy…