Why we should talk to victims - with Dutch writers visiting Ukraine

Yahidne is a Ukrainian village where the Russian army forced over 300 Ukrainians into a school basement and kept them for almost a month. 10 people died from suffocation and a lack of food and water. It was just one of Russia's countless war crimes during this war. A group of Dutch writers visited Yahidne in December 2023 as part of a trip organized by PEN Ukraine with support from the Ukrainian Institute and the Prague Civil Society Centre. We organized a discussion with them afterward to talk about war crimes, compassion, and solidarity. Speakers: Lisa Weeda – Dutch writer of Ukrainian origin, author of literary programs, screenwriter, and VR director. Florian Jacobs – Dutch writer, director of the publishing department at the International School of Philosophy. Jaap Scholten – Dutch writer and journalist. Author of a book about his journeys across Ukraine (Three Suitcases of Women’s Clothes and a Sniper). Founder of the charitable organization Defend Ukraine. Manon Uphoff – Dutch author, screenwriter, and artist. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, chief editor of UkraineWorld and president of PEN Ukraine UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld. We provide exclusive content for our patrons. You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: [email protected].