Viktoriia Grivina
@brams884.bsky.social
Writer, researcher of Kharkiv, PhD student at St Andrews University.
Pinned
Viktoriia Grivina
@brams884.bsky.social
· May 30
Kharkiv—A War City
Kharkiv—A War City - This unique collection of essays offers a glimpse into life in and around Kharkiv during the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A Kharkiv native, Vikoriia
www.ibidem.eu
You can now order my book via Ibidem. These are stories with a bit of humor and history, and I hope they are saying more about Kharkiv than my ever-modest self 😅. Big thanks to @maksymeristavi.com and @victoriadonovan.bsky.social - my first readers & inspirations. www.ibidem.eu/en/Topics/So...
This Kharkiv cat wishes all a productive last Monday of the year (he knows it won’t be).
December 29, 2025 at 6:37 AM
This Kharkiv cat wishes all a productive last Monday of the year (he knows it won’t be).
Reading stories from Sloboda Ukraine on a long train ride.
December 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reading stories from Sloboda Ukraine on a long train ride.
Beautiful book of recipes and stories of gardening from across Ukraine, result of a workshop at Jam Factory in Lviv.
December 28, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Beautiful book of recipes and stories of gardening from across Ukraine, result of a workshop at Jam Factory in Lviv.
Carol singers, snow, bombs, Ukrainian Christmas.
December 27, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Carol singers, snow, bombs, Ukrainian Christmas.
The detail of the old doors and a privilege to have something that wasn’t destroyed. I really appreciate the rustic vibes of Lviv.
December 27, 2025 at 9:39 AM
The detail of the old doors and a privilege to have something that wasn’t destroyed. I really appreciate the rustic vibes of Lviv.
As a kid when I heard the stories about the Soviet Union my grandparents told, I thought they were imagining that country, so bizarre its ideology and habits sounded. To think I could actually live there 😳. So happy USSR collapse day.
December 26, 2025 at 12:38 PM
As a kid when I heard the stories about the Soviet Union my grandparents told, I thought they were imagining that country, so bizarre its ideology and habits sounded. To think I could actually live there 😳. So happy USSR collapse day.
For some reason it is my holiday habit to be running out of airports coughing my lungs out and calling bus drivers to wait for 5 minutes (thankfully, Ukrainian bus drivers can take pity on you). Sorry, Europe, but you won’t stop me, I’m coming home! 😁🐈⬛
December 25, 2025 at 5:44 PM
For some reason it is my holiday habit to be running out of airports coughing my lungs out and calling bus drivers to wait for 5 minutes (thankfully, Ukrainian bus drivers can take pity on you). Sorry, Europe, but you won’t stop me, I’m coming home! 😁🐈⬛
On the darkest days, I always write the most optimistic texts. This one is called “What Ukraine Should Do with Russia”. open.substack.com/pub/vika4goo...
What Ukraine Should Do With Russia
I originally wrote this essay in November 2024, when the destruction of my home city by the Russian military felt particularly brutal. It needed time to rest till the next big dark time, till now.
open.substack.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
On the darkest days, I always write the most optimistic texts. This one is called “What Ukraine Should Do with Russia”. open.substack.com/pub/vika4goo...
Graham Greene lived through London Blitz, and his descriptions of the feeling of the world was approaching, and details are very on point to what I have seen in Kharkiv.
December 25, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Graham Greene lived through London Blitz, and his descriptions of the feeling of the world was approaching, and details are very on point to what I have seen in Kharkiv.
Christmas is the time to thank everyone who’s been with us! Don’t give up, the good will prevail in the end 🫶🫂. Just don’t lose empathy and attention.
December 24, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Christmas is the time to thank everyone who’s been with us! Don’t give up, the good will prevail in the end 🫶🫂. Just don’t lose empathy and attention.
Christmas Eve and the kind russian people hit power and heating stations in Kharkiv, a cemetery in Chernihiv, destroy the Black Sea ecology with oil spillages, and kill energy workers.
December 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Christmas Eve and the kind russian people hit power and heating stations in Kharkiv, a cemetery in Chernihiv, destroy the Black Sea ecology with oil spillages, and kill energy workers.
The only thing that the russian state built in the city of Donetsk in 12 years of occupation have been filtration camps. They recycled former Ukrainian art centres for this purpose at that.
December 24, 2025 at 8:10 AM
The only thing that the russian state built in the city of Donetsk in 12 years of occupation have been filtration camps. They recycled former Ukrainian art centres for this purpose at that.
Graham Greene as always understands war cities. From “The End of the Affaire”.
December 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Graham Greene as always understands war cities. From “The End of the Affaire”.
In every airport always 😂. Even if you think he’s not there, a western writer is already working on a new romantic putin face book for the travelers
December 23, 2025 at 8:28 AM
In every airport always 😂. Even if you think he’s not there, a western writer is already working on a new romantic putin face book for the travelers
A global assault by big states on small ones will not end the way big states think it will.
December 23, 2025 at 7:56 AM
A global assault by big states on small ones will not end the way big states think it will.
Language is important. When a war of aggression is called “[victim’s name] + conflict”, the focus on the aggressor is lost. Make sure to always remember and pronounce the name of the aggressor. It should not be “they-who-not-be-named”. Justice starts with small steps.
December 22, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Language is important. When a war of aggression is called “[victim’s name] + conflict”, the focus on the aggressor is lost. Make sure to always remember and pronounce the name of the aggressor. It should not be “they-who-not-be-named”. Justice starts with small steps.
Found this book by accident at the university giveaway. Haven’t read it yet, but feel that it might be something on EU politics 😅.
December 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Found this book by accident at the university giveaway. Haven’t read it yet, but feel that it might be something on EU politics 😅.
In 2017, the architect Nina Furmanova recalled how working on this 1970s Kharkiv hotel, saying “I, a small woman, defended the project in front of men and secured approval for a high-rise!”. Says a lot about being a woman in the male-dominated skyscraper architecture 😅.
December 18, 2025 at 7:31 PM
In 2017, the architect Nina Furmanova recalled how working on this 1970s Kharkiv hotel, saying “I, a small woman, defended the project in front of men and secured approval for a high-rise!”. Says a lot about being a woman in the male-dominated skyscraper architecture 😅.
Besides being an important linguist, Yuri Shevelov was a fantastic essayist, and left an important very honest memoir, “My Meetings with Roman Jacobson”, that elucidate dual colonial lens and oppression of non-russian scholars in the US Slavic studies in 1950-1960s.
December 17, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Besides being an important linguist, Yuri Shevelov was a fantastic essayist, and left an important very honest memoir, “My Meetings with Roman Jacobson”, that elucidate dual colonial lens and oppression of non-russian scholars in the US Slavic studies in 1950-1960s.
On the day of Yuri Shevelov’s birthday I’m sharing my translation of his essay, the Fourth Kharkiv. It’s more than a text about a city, as the essay shows layers of colonial violence and meditates on what makes a city. viktoriagrivina.medium.com/the-fourth-k...
The Fourth Kharkiv by Yurii/George Shevelov (English Translation)
I often feel powerless seeing how little is translated from the vastness of Ukrainian classics. The conditions were never equal. It seems…
viktoriagrivina.medium.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
On the day of Yuri Shevelov’s birthday I’m sharing my translation of his essay, the Fourth Kharkiv. It’s more than a text about a city, as the essay shows layers of colonial violence and meditates on what makes a city. viktoriagrivina.medium.com/the-fourth-k...
A beautiful ethnographic article by a brilliant young anthropologist Hanna Dosenko from Irvine university: americanethnologist.org/online-conte...
December 16, 2025 at 9:43 AM
A beautiful ethnographic article by a brilliant young anthropologist Hanna Dosenko from Irvine university: americanethnologist.org/online-conte...
Yesterday was the day honoring the liquidators of Chornobyl disaster. One of them is Oleh Veklenko. He was a young conscript in the Soviet army sent to Chornobyl in 1986. His sketches started an exhibition and then a festival of eco poster. I deeply admire Oleh’s activism.
December 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Yesterday was the day honoring the liquidators of Chornobyl disaster. One of them is Oleh Veklenko. He was a young conscript in the Soviet army sent to Chornobyl in 1986. His sketches started an exhibition and then a festival of eco poster. I deeply admire Oleh’s activism.
While a linguist turned US left messiah Noam Chomsky is in the news again, I want to just remind that Chomsky has never displayed a single drop of empathy for the victims of war crimes, be it in Bosnia, Syria, or Ukraine. And that’s how he should be remembered.
So not only Chomsky thinks while Russia is erasing my people in Ukraine it does it with ‘restraint and moderation’ but also he has questionable ties with Epstein ?
Paint me surprised
Paint me surprised
December 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
While a linguist turned US left messiah Noam Chomsky is in the news again, I want to just remind that Chomsky has never displayed a single drop of empathy for the victims of war crimes, be it in Bosnia, Syria, or Ukraine. And that’s how he should be remembered.
Doing some fascinating reading, work of the brilliant Aimee Joyce.
December 14, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Doing some fascinating reading, work of the brilliant Aimee Joyce.
Saturday morning vibes, books and syrnyky.
December 13, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Saturday morning vibes, books and syrnyky.