Ukrainalaisen taiteilija ja queer-feministi-aktivisti Tonyan puhe 25.2. Rauha Ukrainaan – Venäjä ulos ja vastuuseen -mielenosoituksesta

Ukrainalaisen taiteilija ja queer-feministi-aktivisti Tonyan puhe lauantain 25.2. Rauha Ukrainaan – Venäjä ulos ja vastuuseen -mielenosoituksesta. Puheessaan hän pohtii muun muassa ukrainalaisuutta, rauhanaktivismia ja sen vaikutusta sekä etuoikeutettua asemaansa ollessaan valkoinen turvapaikanhakija Euroopassa. 

Helsingissä 25. helmikuuta 2023

In Helsinki 25. February 2023

Greetings to everyone! I am an artist and queer-feminist activist from Kyiv. For the past 10 years, I have been actively involved in left-wing, feminist, anti-war and queer activism in Ukraine. Together with my comrades, we protested against the patriarchal system of society, criticized the conservative, discriminatory actions of the Ukrainian authorities, the nationalist turn, militarization because of the war, which, in fact, has been going on since 2014. As representatives of LGBTQ+ communities in Ukraine, we saw queerness in much more political and radical context than otherness due to sexual identity. For us, this meant to be feminists, anti-racists, anti-militarists and anti-capitalists. We supported demos with appropriate slogans and organized activities on topics close to us. I took part in various feminist initiatives, in particular RoR Kyiv.

Criticism of the imperial policy of many states, especially of neighboring Russia, reflection and study of the past of colonized Ukraine was a very important topic for us. I had the opportunity to live in St. Petersburg for some time and I personally watched how democracy in Russia was dying step by step and Europe did nothing in response. I caught the time when my friends were imprisoned for fake cases and how Russian authorities implemented the laws about foreign agents.

Already in a state of severe burnout, my comrades and I painfully watched how the remnants of civil society in Belarus were destroyed. What was also not followed by any effective reaction from the countries of the so-called first world.

Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine set back all the achievements of queer feminists in our country by decades. Against their will, people in society were militarized almost instantly, they were faced with a choice whether to leave their homes or not. We found ourselves in such a situation, the experience of which we did not have before, and we were forced to somehow act and survive. I, together with my queer and feminist comrades, experienced a new experience of self-organization of Ukrainian society, solidarity and support of more vulnerable, volunteering, which is done just like that and for which you do not expect words of gratitude. If we were not fighting, then we were collecting money for the army, for the people, for our community, we are buying, delivering, cooking and doing a lot of small and big things.

My life has changed, the identity of a person from Ukraine has been added to my many identities. This identity is about solidarity and mutual aid, and about the fight against the colonial past and the consciousness that the Russian repressive machine instilled in us for decades, and about the feminist things that we fought for before the full-scale war.

Some time after February 24 last year, I had to leave Ukraine and become a refugee. At that moment, I also gained a new experience as a person with a Ukrainian passport, but I did not immediately realize how much it differs from the experience of refugees from, lets say, Afghanistan, Syria, or Kurdistan, how much it differs from the experience of Roma refugees or a persons from the Caucasus region. Being a white person with relevant documents turned out to be a considerable privilege, and even more so to be a Ukrainian artist – is a privilege.

I am currently under temporary protection in Finland in an artist residency. My residence is in Värtsilä, a few kilometers from the border with the aggressor-state Russian Federation. Just yesterday, on the anniversary of Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I did a performance in the field, actually almost on the border: I dug up the inscription ”stop the war” in different languages.

Before the performance and now, I constantly ask myself the question: can my action really stop the war? and I answer, ”No.” It is impossible. I consciously understand that currently only more weapons to Ukraine, the return of all territories of independent Ukraine, more support, more sanctions imposed on Russia and countries that help the Russian Federation can stop the war.

I am afraid of these thoughts, because I still consider myself an anti-military activist. I am afraid of the fact that this is a closed circle: in order to defend ourselves, we need weapons – the supply of weapons – the production of new weapons – the enrichment of the countries that produce them – war, murders, ecological catastrophe – the need for protection – the production of weapons and so on. But at the same time, there is a terrible understanding that we, Ukrainian society, will not be able to defend ourselves without military and humanitarian support. If we surrender, we simply will not exist, Ukrainian society will be destroyed.

At the same time, the question of the importance of providing the opportunity to protect themselves for other peoples who want their independence and the opportunity to live freely arises? ”Give weapons to Ukraine! give weapons to Kurds and Palestinians! Help refugees from Syria, Iran and Afghanistan in the same way as you help refugees with Ukrainian passports!” – such chaotic thoughts swirl in my head, which can be questioned and criticized. But among all these rather emotional fluctuations, I want to find some rational grain. I cannot speak for the representatives of other peoples who are fighting for their independence and freedom, but I can speak from my identity, from the identity of a person with a Ukrainian passport. 

Therefore, I want to call not for the conclusion of peaceful agreements in accordance with some international memorandum, not for ending the war peacefully and condemning the aggressor in accordance with the UN charter (unfortunately, from my observation, it works very rarely…) but for supporting the queer-feminist voice in Ukraine, to support anti-authoritarian leftists, anarchists and feminists who are currently fighting imperialism, to the deconstruction of the repressive regime and revival of a democratic society in Russia, and the development of effective strategies for stopping the production of weapons, the enrichment of individual countries from it, and war as such.

Tonya