KHARKIV: Math teacher at the front

 

For months the Ukrainian army has been fighting hard in and around Kharkiv. They have succeeded in driving the enemy away from the city. But at night the rockets still fall. So what do you do when your area is struck almost every night? You quit your day job and join the army.

  

Volodymyr (36) - Volodymyr was a math teacher before the war. When the first bombs fall on his city he thinks about fleeing but he can’t.  Now he has been fighting in the Ukrainian army with the Territorial Defense in the city of Kharkiv. 

 

SCRIPT:

 

Soundbite: rumble

 

Q: Volodymyr 00:04:00 - 00:08:05 Doesn't sound too far away, actually.

Reporter: - Not too far?

00:09:20 - 00:12:01 Rather close, actually.

 

Q: V 00:15:05 - 00:20:11 I do not have a lot of experience

to estimate what the distance will be.

Q: V 00:22:06 - 00:26:03 How far from here is the front line,

you think?

 

Other soldier - 00:26:06 - 00:29:04 Around ten kilometres.

 

Q: V 00:30:08 - 00:32:24 Not far from the ring road.

00:35:02 - 00:40:19 It's difficult, but we have to stand

our ground here. We have to defend.

00:40:22 - 00:43:22 And we need heavy weapons. A lot more.

00:44:00 - 00:50:19 We want to inflict a heavy blow on them.

 

Other soldier - On them, not on ourselves.

 

(projection)

00 50 22 - 01 02 03 He never expected to end up in the trenches as a soldier. University graduate Volodymyr had just begun his career as a teacher, when war broke out.

 

 

Q Volodymyr 01:03:10 - 01:07:23 Just after the invasion, I was afraid.

01:08:01 - 01:14:15 For any normal person

war is extremely scary.

01:14:18 - 01:19:05 But after a while I regrouped...

01:19:08 - 01:23:17 ...and I realised I had to do something.

 

Soundbite: 01:26:02 - 01:28:20 (explosion) Dammit.

 

Q Volodymyr 01:28:23 - 01:32:04 My city was bombed heavily.

01:32:07 - 01:38:03 After a few direct hits,

I decided I had to leave.

01:38:06 01:40:18 It was really dangerous.

 

Soundbite: music, few sec

 

Q Volodymyr 01 43 10 - 01 51 09  I went to the train station thinking:

I do not want to leave the country.

01 51 12 - 01 58 20 But as I was queueing, I thought:

I do not want to leave the city.

01 58 23 - 02 02 18 I just wasn't able to leave the city.

 

02 02 21  Volodymyr is a  reservist nowadays.

 

Q Volodymyr 02 07 08 - 02 13 21 The territorial defence force

is a unit of the Ukrainian army.

02 13 24 - 02 20 24 In these challenging times, extra units

are needed to defend the country.

02 21 02 - 02 25 22 Because no country is ever ready

for a war like this one.

 

02 27 06- 02 38 19 We can't film at the headquarters but we can travel with him to an outpost. (graphic Kharkiv to ???) The exact location remains unknown. In the car Volodymyr tells us he was quite happy being a teacher. 

 

Q: volodymyr 02 39 03 - 02 46 03 It was my dream to be in the classroom

and teach children.

02 46 06 - 02 50 06 To help them learn.

That dream had come true.

02 50 09 - 02 56 09 Not the way I expected, but it was

a personal victory for me.

 

02 56 12 - 03 00 18 I had to work hard for it...

03 00 21 - 03 05 23 ...but I succeeded.

 

03 06 01 - 03 09 14 Even during the war he tries to stay in touch with his former occupation.

 

 

Q Volodymyr 03 09 17 - 03 13 24 I love maths and physics.

They are great subjects.

03 14 02 - 03 18 11 Absolutely for me. I'm also interested

in computer science...

03 18 14 - 03 22 19 ...but my knowledge in this area

is really poor.

03 22 22 - 03 28 09 I want that... Now, I also want

to improve, improve, improve.

03 28 12 - 03 33 07 Despite of the war

and all these horrible things...

03 33 10 - 03 38 03 ...I try to take a little time every day

to read some pages...

03 38 06 - 03 43 14 ...and to just solve some problems.

It makes me feel better.

 

03 45 04 - 04 00 03 He lives in the North part of Kharkiv, in Saltivka. Here, Volodymyr witnesses the devastation of these bombardments on a daily basis. A colleague of his showed us around earlier that day.     

 

SoundBite :Come on in.

 

04 12 04 - 04 20 14  After a half an hour drive out of the city Volodymyr stops the car. We have arrived at the second defence line of the city of Kharkiv

 

04 20 14 -04 22 04 SoundBite: walking in trench

 

 

 

04 22 05 - 04 41 18 Volodymyr is mainly responsible for strategic issues at the headquarters but sometimes goes outside for consultation. Here Ukraine has been holding the line for months now, with an army of professional soldiers but also with 10.000 Territorial Defence volunteers in the city of Kharkiv and more than 100.000 in the whole country. 

 

 

Q Volodymyr 04:42:16  04:44:18 Hello

04 45 14 - 04 48 17 Did you ever think

you would end up here?

04 48 20 - 04 50 14

In this situation?

04 50 17 - 04 57 01 I tried to repress that idea

as much as possible.

04 57 04 - 05 01 00 Up till the last day, I could not believe it.

05 01 03 - 05 06 08 Only when I heard the explosions,

I realised it was war.

 

 

05 10 00 - 05 16 21 Of course the bombardments in his neighbourhood are dangerous, but moving so close to the frontline might be even worse.

 

Q Volodymyr 05 17 12 - 05 22 06 Of course my mother is worried.

All mothers worry.

05 22 09 - 05 28 14 But to be honest, I never consulted her

about doing this.

05 28 17 - 05 31 22 I never asked my parents' permission.

05 32 00 - 05 35 09 It was my own decision.

05 35 12 - 05 40 24 So yes, like every mother she worries,

but she's also proud of me.

 

SB: shelling

 

Q Reporter - 05 47 08 - 05 52 23  I almost can't imagine you

sitting behind a desk...

05 53 01 - 05 55 20 ...with a book and a computer.

05 55 23 - 05 58 05 It's far away, yeah?

 

Q Volodymyr 05 58 08 - 06 03 19 Yes, but as time shows, not so far away.

06 03 22 - 06 09 14 You will be back.

- Every man has to be prepared...

06 09 17 - 06 17 13 ...to defend their families, their houses

and their country as well.

06 17 16 - 06 20 11 And the neighbourhood.

- Neighbourhood.

06 20 14 - 06 26 01 So, you have got to do this?

- Yes, of course. No doubt about it.

 

 

06 26 19 - 06 34 15 Later that night, we see that the battle

for Kharkiv is still raging. During the filming, we already heard the shelling.

 

06 34 17 - 06 38 00 SB: shelling

 

06 38 18 - 06 46 13 And a few hours later, Saltivskyi district

is targeted again.Resulting in six deaths

and at least thirteen wounded.

 

Endtime 06 49 12

 

Music:for tc see: edl file

   -  SOCIAL NETWORK OST - TRENT REZNOR AND ATTICUS ROSS

-             BMGPM-CET9013-TR05-BEYOND_THE_GALAXY_MAIN_-DELGADO.AIFF

-           ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY.MP3 000027  SFX_NUSMEDIA.WAV

 

Program: EenVandaag

Network: Avro / Tros

Camera: Roel van Hees

Editing: Thijs Nusmeijer

Reporter: Simone Timmer 0031 6 22 49 52 32