Yevheniya Virlych, the editor-in-chief of one of the most famous Kherson publications, Kavun.City, together with her husband Vladyslav Hladkyi, continued to work in occupation until September. They hid from the FSB, changed apartments and invented codes, but in the end had to leave their hometown.
For Yevheniya Virlych, November 11 was like a second birthday. Together with other temporary immigrants from the south, she celebrated the liberation day of her native city of Kherson as a big holiday in the center of the capital.
Yevheniya’s husband, Vladyslav Hladkyi, a journalist and a public activist, celebrated the liberation of Kherson together with his wife. He says that it was extremely dangerous to stay in the occupation, although they did not intend to leave for a certain time and worked underground for almost half a year – writing the truth about what was happening in occupied Kherson.
Kavun.City is one of the most popular publications in the Kherson Region. People wrote to the editorial office even during the occupation, shared information, so Yevheniya believes that to stop supporting the publication they trust would be a betrayal. But the danger grew every day. Readers, colleagues, and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) helped to hold on.
And danger was there for Yevheniya and Vladyslav almost every day. They knew that they were wanted, so they had changed their place of residence several times. There were enough collaborators who simply turned people in.
One day, the time of adventures began for the couple. They had to live the life of underground partisans, invent codes, and often change locations.
At that moment, even though everything was fine, Vladyslav finally understood that it was time to leave the city. Because the couple was not going to cooperate with the occupiers, so staying in Kherson meant exposing themselves to abuse and death. They prepared for the departure really carefully, as there had to be a story behind the reasons for the necessity to evacuate.
After the evacuation from their hometown, Vladyslav and Yevheniya ended up in Kyiv. Now they are gradually getting used to life in the capital. They already have a favorite place – a park near their new home. They say that they fell in love with Kyiv. The couple is in no hurry to return to their native Kherson, because they need constant communication and the Internet for work, and there are huge problems with this in the newly liberated territories. But Kherson journalists know for sure: the day when they will breathe the air of their native city to their full chest will surely come.
JOURNALISTS ARE IMPORTANT. Stories of Life and Work in Conditions of War is a series of materials prepared by the team of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) with the support of the Swedish human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.
