One day with two Fedorovs, Timothy Snyder in Zaporizhzhia — a city that went underground. A report

February 10

At 12:45, Fedorov’s team and I enter Zaporizhzhia. His team consists of six people: two security guards (one of whom is driving), three people who take photos, videos, and texts for social networks, and press secretary Snezhana Rakcheeva. Fedorov himself will arrive late in the evening. Immediately, at 12:47, notifications start coming to our phones one after another: “Zaporizhzhia — to shelter!”, “One more missile at the Zaporizhzhia region from TOT”, “Launches of guided aerial bombs (GAB) by enemy tactical aircraft at the Zaporizhzhia region”. Zaporizhzhia residents know places where shells usually fly. But we don’t, and we think if we are in this “usually” area now. We go to a gas station. Nothing about the young saleswoman shows that she’s afraid of GABs.

“Don’t you have shelter?” I ask, more out of inertia.

"No, but if it doesnʼt hit in a few minutes, it wonʼt hit at all," she says calmly.

On the way to the hotel, we drive past a completely destroyed medical center, which was hit exactly a month ago, on December 10, 2024, by a Russian “Iskander” missile of North Korean production. Then 11 people died and 22 were injured. Directly across the road is the “Sich Collegium”, an underground school that Fedorov will open tomorrow. Our hotel is less than three kilometers away.

Before the full-scale war, “Khortitsa Palace” was the best hotel in the city. Now there is no heating in the huge lobby, which was designed to impress. The guy at the bar is sitting in a warm jacket. Andriy, who gives us the keys to the rooms, is in a black classic suit and a white shirt. Underneath this is a thermal underwear. Heating the lobby is expensive, and there are five times fewer guests than before 2022. “Khortitsa Palace” is an echo of Zaporizhzhiaʼs rich and peaceful past.

By evening, Fedorovʼs team has been to all the locations where the minister will be tomorrow, checking their readiness: an underground school, a youth center, another model school, the “Motor Builder” vocational school, the Khortytsia Island, and the “Orbita” Palace of Culture, where Fedorov will communicate with schoolchildren and students. At each location, except for “Khortytsia”, we go down into the dungeons. There is one more item on the program — opposite it is a sign "Military Track. Secret". This is what Fedorov has been promising to show Timothy Snyder for several months and why he will come to Zaporizhzhia for a few hours tomorrow. I will go there too, but no one says what it is and where it is located.

Almost all locations are preparing for the arrival of the vice-premier. The underground school is being cleaned, washed, and things are being arranged. While the team is talking to representatives of the education department, Fedorov appears in the corridor. Not Mykhailo, but Ivan, who is the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration(RMA). Unlike most regional officials, he is known in Kyiv, Poltava, and the West of Ukraine. In March 2022, then still the mayor of Melitopol, Fedorov refused to cooperate with the Russians who occupied the city in the first days of the full-scale invasion. On March 11, the Russians kidnapped him. And almost a month later, after the rallies of Melitopol residents, he was exchanged for Russian prisoners.

“Will the article be positive?” Fedorov asks almost immediately, smiling, when we are introduced.

Entrance to the "Sich Collegium". There are three of them in total.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

From the floor to the surface of the underground school is 6 meters of earth and concrete. Ivan Fedorov says the structure can withstand an S-300 hit.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Director of the Regional Department of Education Lyudmila Bukharina and Ivan Fedorov on the eve of the school opening.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Shortly after his appointment in February last year, Fedorov quickly concentrated all power in the city and region in his hands. With his resignation in March 2024, the parliament transferred the powers of the regional council to the RMA. And Fedorov’s person, Regina Kharchenko, became the secretary of the City Council and acting mayor in April of the same year. Due to the scandal associated with her election, Kharchenko was expelled from the “Servant of the People” faction in the city council, which she headed. Both local councils did not meet for months and years. Fedorov insisted that the region would not survive this way during the war. Now everyone runs like clockwork that Fedorov winds up.

The inspection of locations ends late in the evening. In short crossings, the almost empty streets of Zaporizhzhia rush past the window. Most of the passers-by are women and middle-aged men. Sometimes teenagers. City officials say that thanks to the IDPs, the population has not changed significantly, but Zaporizhzhia seems empty. The military is also nowhere to be seen. They are forbidden to gather in groups or park their cars nearby. The Russians track and shell such gatherings.

The cold lobby of the “Khortytsia Palace” is empty and dimly lit late at night. The rooms are heated by air conditioners. The tap water is lukewarm. The reception says that there is actually hot water — there are just a lot of free rooms, you just need to turn it down for ten minutes and the water will be hotter.

February 11. Breakfast

Breakfast is taking place in a small hotel room. Mykhailo Fedorov is already there. His advisor and now closest ally Heorhii Tshakaya is with him. He is a former member of Mikheil Saakashviliʼs team and the former head of the Georgian customs service.

Ivan Fedorov at breakfast is with his team — acting mayor Regina Kharchenko, head of the regional council Olena Zhuk, and deputy mayor Mykhailo Semikin.

Timothy Snyder arrived from Kyiv by train in the morning. He was supposed to be accompanied by journalist and good friend Natalia Humenyuk. When everyone sits down at the table, Mykhailo Fedorov gets up and leaves. A few minutes later he returns and laughs. He didn’t know what Humenyuk looked like, and almost dragged the hotel administrator behind the table. He once celebrated a wedding at “Khortitsa Palace”.

Ivan Fedorov takes on the role of toastmaster and tries to strike up a conversation with Snyder. He recalls how they met in Davos, talks about the city, jokes, laughs. Snyder barely reacts and either shakes his head or answers most questions with a few words. When the minister Fedorov addresses him, the reaction is about the same.

"Timothy, are you tired from the journey? Are you feeling unwell?" asks Ivan Fedorov.

Snyder looked surprised.

“You just seem a little detached,” Fedorov says.

Snyderʼs look makes it clear that the question is strange, and this seems to be his normal state. The attempts to entertain the guest end there. Everyone breaks up into groups. The one closest to me is Heorhii Tshakaya.

“How did it happen that Saakashvili’s team carried out successful reforms in Georgia, but little has happened here?” I ask him.

“The system resisted here. They thought we were a tumor, although in reality they were the tumor,” Heorhii answers briefly. In 2015-2016, he worked as an advisor to the head of Odesa Customs Yulia Marushevska. At various times, he helped reform customs in Albania, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Laos, and Azerbaijan.

“Customs reform is an Everest for Ukraine. What is the most important thing that needs to be done?”

“When I came, I fired 95% of the customs officers. And when I was later asked what I regretted, I said that I should have fired 100%.”

Heorhii has quick answers to all the following questions. Where to get new staff to replace those who were fired? To hire young people. What to do so that corrupt people donʼt return after being fired, as they always do? Donʼt let them steal — theyʼll leave such a job themselves.

We are interrupted. Someone says that in 3 minutes according to the schedule, the departure to the first object is military. The press secretary of Minister Fedorov, Snizhana, says not to rush — we have 5.

“That’s generous of you, not 3, but 5! We can relax,” says Heorhii with a standard Georgian accent and laughs. It’s noticeable that regulations, protocol, and official events are not his thing.

Secret Object

This part of the program is secret. Mykhailo Fedorov says he wanted to show Snyder what he is working for as an ambassador for UNITED 24 and is raising money for weapons. There are only 4 of us going — Fedorov, Snyder, Tshakaya and I. Before we leave the city, Fedorov shows us familiar places. Then there are empty spaces. Snyder just looks out the window.

Taking photos at the facility is prohibited. Writing is also almost impossible. Snyder is introduced to the achievements of the NEXT project, a unit created by the Ministry of Digital Affairs to test the latest weapons and technologies. Among other things, Snyder is shown how AI analyzes thousands of photos taken in the occupied territories and searches for hidden equipment. All suspicious places are marked, with percentages next to them indicating how confident the AI is that it is. NEXT constantly works with manufacturers, tests weapons at the front and sends them back for refinement. The unit’s sleeve insignia features an alien. This is Heorhii’s idea — he saw a sculpture with its image in Fedorov’s office.

Heorhii tells Snyder about the main achievements of NEXT. He speaks fluent English. Snyder listens calmly and without emotion, although the things he is shown are impressive. He asks questions, writes something in a notebook that he will not let go of all day. The most interesting (of the questions) for me concerns perhaps the main problem of the rear regions — Russian “Shaheds”. What exactly (this problem with Russian Shaheds) is — also a secret.

Fedorov is most excited by the e-points system developed by his team in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). When he tells Snyder about it, he can’t sit still. Its essence is quite simple: for each destroyed unit of Russian equipment or manpower, the unit receives points. The more valuable the trophy, the more points. Then the fighters exchange the points for drones — from simple to the most expensive. The more targets hit, the more new weapons. Since everyone is chronically short of drones, gamification works — the number of points on the accounts is constantly increasing. It is not without bugs. Due to the fact that they didn’t give much for a killed Russian, their statistics were low for some time. They threw in points — and now everything is fine, but not for the Russians.

“This is really a game-changer in war,” says Fedorov and shows a rating of the most successful units. There are “Birds of the Magyar”, “Third Assault”, “Phoenix”, “K-2” and others among them.

In one of the rooms, between the parts and the router, a book by Snyder’s colleague and comrade Serhiy Plokhiy, “The Russian-Ukrainian War. The Return of History” stands prominently. Fedorov notices it and shows it to Snyder. He seems to like it, but that’s not certain — Snyder keeps the same expression on his face almost the entire time.

On the way back to the city, we talk about the US, Trump, and Musk. I ask Snyder what he thinks about recent events, Muskʼs statements, and USAID.

"This is a disaster for my country," he answers in his traditional short voice, grimacing slightly. Itʼs clear that heʼs in almost physical pain.

“Do you believe that the war will end soon? Or rather, that Trump will end it?”

“I think that only Europe can be the main one in the future. Because if there is a ceasefire, the US will immediately turn its head in the other direction. Only Europe will be able to guarantee Ukraineʼs protection. This includes joining the European Union and its troops on the territory of Ukraine. Without this, Putin will wait until the US is finally distracted and launch a new offensive.”

“Do you think Europe can become a responsible adult in this situation? That it will realize in the third year that there is no one but it?”

Snyder shrugs. This is the third time weʼve spoken in the past year, and this time heʼs the least optimistic. It seems heʼs gotten used to Putin in Ukraine, whom he hates, but not Musk at his own home.

"Sich Collegium"

On the opening day, the school looks completely different than the day before. A bunch of people, cameras, Ivan Fedorov with his team, representatives of the local education department, many children, parents. Two Fedorovs and one Snyder walk between classes. The children tell them something, sing songs. Snyder is embarrassed by all this attention. Fedorovs, on the contrary, are cheerful, joke with the children and communicate with the teachers. In the hallway, on pillows on the floor, a group of children and a teacher are studying. On the monitor above them, the topic of the lesson: "The Benefits of a Meaningful Life".

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

“Do you know what meaningfulness is?” one of the students in the delegation asks with an intonation. It seems like this is the last thing a teenager could ask strangers. A philosophical and somewhat artificial dialogue ensues.

“What tools of meaningfulness do you know?” asks Fedorov. He constantly tries to turn the conversation into something substantive — both with children and adults.

Another Fedorov tries to push children towards the right theses.

“When was the last time you got together? And why didn’t you get together? And where is safer: here or on the 10th floor?” he asks in turn. The answers are obvious, and they are all about the efficiency of local authorities and caring for children.

There is a sound of air raid alarm, and everyone leaves. I stay to understand what the children will talk about next, when they will be alone, and whether “meaningfulness” was a staged performance for the guests. No, it wasn’t — they find out why a meaningful life reduces the level of experiences, they discuss it, and it sounds interesting.

The super-new and modern “Sich Collegium” is an exception. Zaporizhzhia schools look different. You can only study offline in school shelters. There are 142 such schools out of 317. Approximately 11 thousand students study offline every day. All the rest have been online for many years, since the time of Covid. By the end of May, according to local authorities, there should be 10 underground schools, and by the end of the year — 20. In total — 100 across the country. On September 1, 30-35 thousand students should go offline in Zaporizhzhia. Educators in front-line cities and officials in Kyiv say that they started building underground schools too late. The central government was afraid to publicly admit for a long time that the war was long overdue — children lost another year or two.

After a brief approach to the press and mostly "parquet" questions, almost at the exit, the director of the college Valentyna Yershova comes to Fedorov. She looks to be in her sixties, and she has been working as a director for 32 years.

“Thank you for looking at my children with such admiring eyes,” she says, hugging Mykhailo tightly. It sounds very sincere.

Already on the street, on the way to another location, I ask Ivan Fedorov about the salaries of teachers in the region. He says that they have some success here — since September they managed to raise salaries by 25%, then they paid another 13th salary, and then an additional 1000 hryvnias. For Zaporizhzhia, this is an achievement. In the end, it turned out about 15 000 hryvnias per month.

“How can we reform education if, after all the efforts and allowances, we end up with less than $400?” I ask Minister Fedorov. He says that no way to do it. We will postpone this difficult topic for an interview, which will be held in the evening after all the events.

"Mriya"

After a short visit to the youth center and getting acquainted with the youth movement "Baida", both Fedorovs with their teams and Snyder go to Gymnasium No. 94 to meet with representatives of other schools who were testing the beta version of the Ministry of Digital Affairsʼ application for students, parents and teachers "Mriya". It includes a schedule, journals, grades, chats, a content library and a bunch of other functions.

This is also an exemplary gymnasium with a reference storage. There is new furniture, a bunch of classrooms separated by acoustic curtains, interactive whiteboards. The official delegation is met by an unofficial one — children, parents, and teachers. It is clear that everyone was preparing for the speeches, but the teachers and children really tested “Mriya”, and they answer Fedorov’s specific questions quickly and to the point. Snyder moves closer to the two students and quietly asks them how they like the application, what they do in it. It seems that the presence of local authorities is holding the teachers back, but they communicate freely and cheerfully with Fedorov. They have a lot of feedback about “Mriya”. Fedorov asks if parents use the tracking function for important subjects. They say there do, and usually these are the ones where children are falling behind [in the program].

In the shelter of gymnasium No. 94, instead of doors, classrooms are separated by acoustic curtains.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Teachers tell how they tested "Mriya".

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Meeting with the local youth movement "Baida".

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

To get out of the school shelter, you have to go through a bunch of classrooms where lessons are in progress. In one of them, a young teacher emotionally and interestingly explains the difference between a quarrel and a dispute. Natalia Humenyuk, Snyder, and I stop. This is the second topic of the day after meaningfulness, which we were not taught in schools. We listen to the explanation and regret it.

“And this is a very important topic for people in Ukraine. And for the world too,” says Snyder, filming a fragment of the lesson on his phone.

The Khortytsia Island

Fedorov, Humenyuk, and Snyder are on a bus with me on a tour of the Khortytsia Island. Of the four of us, only Fedorov has been there before. Snyder was booked on an English tour. The tour guide is worried, Snyder suggests switching to Ukrainian, which he immediately does with pleasure.

It is frosty, beautiful on the island, and there are almost no people to be seen. Fedorovs are talking to each other. We go into the “Zaporozhian Sich” complex — there is a school, kurins, Koshevyiʼs house, the office, and the Pokrovy Church.

Snyder is listening to the tour. Some things in the tour guideʼs interpretation sound strange. You donʼt have to be a world-famous historian to understand this. He asks Snyder if he knows the greatest artist of all time. It turns out that itʼs Adolf Hitler, whom the tour guide mistakenly calls Schicklgruber. Another story that Snyder asks to be told in detail turns out to be a legend about a woman with the body of a snake. On the one hand, itʼs embarrassing to hear, on the other — Snyder knows that the history of tour guides around the world differs from the real one.

Leaving the Sich, we approach the Museum of the History of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. It was restored on the eve of the full-scale invasion. They didn’t have time to finish it, the funds were taken away. We walk through the cold hall, go down into the shelter and find ourselves in a small room flooded with bright red light. In the center stands a woman in a Japanese kimono. There are a dozen photographs on the walls. It looks surreal. There was nothing like that in the program.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Woman in a Kimono is an artist Vera Blanche. This is her exhibition. Before the full-scale war, Vera studied to be a stylist in Britain, collaborated with a famous Ukrainian glossy, and in 2022 began filming and talking about the war. Immediately after the de-occupation, she went to Bucha and Borodyanka, to the Zhytomyr highway. She filmed in Slovyansk, Bakhmut, and Kramatorsk.

Vera talks a lot, with an incomprehensible accent, about her works, remembers how she saw the bodies of the murdered, shot cars and broken churches. The exhibition and these stories are more for Snyder. The artist thanks him, speaks sincerely, with emotions. But almost towards the end, trouble happens.

“You could have stayed at home and been almost a nobody, but you came to Ukraine and became famous all over the world,” Vera says, looking Snyder in the eyes with gratitude. Everyone else covers their eyes.

Lunch

Lunch is planned at the Zaporizhzhia Sich restaurant, right in Khortytsia. At the table is Ivan Fedorovʼs team — four people, the minister, Snyder and Natalia Humenyuk. Having understood Snyderʼs temperament in the morning, almost no one communicates with him at lunch. There are already a lot of cold snacks on the table, they bring borsch and garlic pancakes. Behind them — fried patties with potatoes and cabbage. Mykhailo Fedorov eats one after another.

“Do you know where the most delicious pies in the world were? An old lady sold them at the market in Vasylivka. I have never eaten anything better in my life,” noted the deputy mayor Serhii Bilov.

Mykhailo Fedorov asks a few questions and it quickly becomes clear that the grandmother is his great-grandmother. Vasylivka is his hometown, now occupied.

The second revelation of the dinner was that in the past, Ivan and Mykhailo Fedorov were enemies. Of course, everyone here knows about it. In the 2020 local elections, Mykhailo headed the campaign headquarters of the “Servants” in Zaporizhzhia and actually lost to Ivan, who became mayor. They didn’t just not communicate — it was a cold war.

"They just tald his ear off and told him things a different sorts of," says Ivan.

Relations began to improve only after the full-scale invasion. Ivan wrote when the Russians came, telling how the tanks were pointing their guns. Then Mykhailoʼs father ended up in intensive care in Russian-occupied Vasylivka, Ivan took him out and saved his life. Now they are friends with Fedorov. There is a certain Zaporizhzhia vibe in their communication — a bit street-tough.

After the borsch and pies, which everyone had eaten, they brought a lot of fried potatoes, fish and meat barbecue. Then there was a dessert. They were not feed so generously anymore in Kyiv.

After lunch, Snyder leaves. He needs to go to Odesa, and from there — to Vienna. UNITED 24 is filming a video with him.

Vocational school "Motor Builder"

The penultimate location is the “Motor Builder” vocational school. A renovate studio is opening there, with modern equipment for future machine operators. The revival of vocational technicians is one of the priorities that Fedorov often speaks about.

The delegation is met by the management of the vocational school — Oleksandr Baz and his deputy Larysa Savinska. We were here last night. A lot has changed overnight. A huge banner with the name of the vocational school has appeared at the entrance. There are nice new signs on the doors of the offices. Yesterday we were asked not to step on the freshly painted lines on the floor — these are safety barriers, and today they say that we can already.

Director of the vocational school Oleksandr Baz and his deputy for educational work Larysa Savinska.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Baz shows the machines, says that there is a great demand for graduates, that they are expected at the factories. The deficit at “Motor Sich” only is 800-900 people per year. A representative of the factory stands nearby and confirms. Fedorov says that if this is their cadre forge, let them give him money: five to ten million hryvnias. They agreed.

Everything happens very quickly. The director and his deputy donʼt have time to show their main pride and passion — the shelter, which they recently renovated, and the dormitory. We were there the day before.

"We laid this laminate with our own hands. And we also have nice washing machines, and what kitchens, look," says the director, his eyes burning. I want to say again that we are not a real delegation, but only a beta version. But they understand this, they just want to share what they are very proud of.

For example, handwritten thanks from people who came to the dormitory from the occupied territories or from the same Huliaipole, which is constantly being shelled. Savinska says that when there are new people, they will be immediately settled in ideal conditions. Conditionally ideal. There is a crack on the wall in one of the rooms after the arrival next to it. There is a mattress in the renovated storage room. Savinska says that this is a woman who came to Zaporizhzhia from the region and survived the shelling at the factory. Now she is afraid to sleep in her room, so she goes downstairs. In two days, not a single person in Zaporizhzhia complained about the constant shelling.

On the windows, refrigerators, and furniture in the dormitory are stickers from various Western funds, including USAID. Baz and Savinska, who are looking for money for irons and refrigerators for IDPs wherever they can, would be called “typical grant-hungry” on social media.

This is what the dormitory looked like before the vocational school started the renovation. Part of the dormitory is still in this condition.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

This is what the rooms look like now.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

USAID stickers on the refrigerators in the kitchen.

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

As a farewell gift, the professional and technician presents Fedorov with an embroidery made by local craftsmen and several chess pieces made by himself. Despite the formality, prepared speeches and questions, most of the people who meet with Fedorov all day are absolutely sincerely happy about it. For them, the minister from Kyiv is a recognition of their work and a distinction.

Students

Before returning to Kyiv, Fedorov and his delegation stop by to talk to students and schoolchildren. Initially, a meeting was planned with members of the newly created supervisory board of the Zaporizhzhia National University (ZNU), but it fell through. The meeting with students, like almost everything these days, is in a dungeon. For the best question, Fedorov promises one of his favourite books — “My Vision” by the ruler of the UAE Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. It is about how people with vision built one of the world’s centers in the middle of the desert. The first question is asked with a well-placed gloss by a first-year student of the Faculty of Journalism of ZNU.

“The pilot project ʼMriyaʼ for schools has been launched — it is an interactive platform with a diary, task completion, etc. This is a very interesting project, I would dream of trying it at school, but it is already a university. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declared this system for universities as well. So, in your opinion, can universities count on a test pilot project of “Mriya” specifically for universities in the near future? We are glad to welcome you to Zaporizhzhia.”

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

Daniiar Sarsenov / Мінцифра / «Бабель»

The question in an audience full of teenagers and young people sounds strange, but Fedorov answers briskly, at length, switching from topic to topic. Hearing another similar question, he does not hold back.

"Who wrote you such questions? Ask what youʼre really interested in."

Then the discussion goes much better. In fact, the young people with whom Fedorov communicates all day are smart, witty, and cheerful. The minister is asked to sign a book — there is no time for that. Everyone quickly says goodbye.

Heorhii arrives at the place where two minibuses start to Kyiv. They discuss military issues with Ivan Fedorov — it’s about the “Drone Line”. We have an hour for the interview with another Fedorov. In order not to waste time, we decided to do it in the car.

“You remember, we agreed that the material would be positive,” laughs Ivan Fedorov, shaking hands in farewell.

"It will be," I say.

“Is there some trick here?”

“Nope, but good for you and good for us — different things.”

All day long, local officials speak two languages. They used Russian language among themselves. But in the official part, they use only Ukrainian language.

Interview (that wasnʼt)

Fedorov was almost silent for the last hour before the interview, just like he had been all day before. Iʼll start with a question about the cool military development that everyone has been waiting for for a long time.

“What can we say about this?”

“Nothing.”

Letʼs move on to the "Drone Line". I ask about the details of the implementation. It is also secret. The question about how the GABs are being shot down over Zaporizhzhia — and I was told that they are being shot down — Fedorov redirects to Ivan, who is no longer around. A few more questions about the prospect of raising teachersʼ salaries are also left without concrete answers, cause itʼs "hype" [topic].

The Cambridge Dictionary has chosen “manifest” as the word of the year 2024. The word of our interview with Fedorov has become “sensitive”. It seems that the answerʼs a lemon on all topics. After another 15 minutes, it becomes obvious that the conversation will not work. Fedorov does not want to talk about war, difficult and unpopular things. I do not want to talk about the popular and well-known ones. At the first gas station stop, Heorhii and I switch places in the buses. Fedorov buys his daughter a soft toy. He does not seem tired. It is midnight in Kyiv.

Exactly 24 hours ago, in Zaporizhzhia at this time, we were talking with my military friend, who has been fighting on the Zaporizhzhia direction for several years. He was born in Russia. He lived and worked as a journalist in Kyiv. Now, every time we meet, he tells me and other friends about how cool the people in Zaporizhzhia are.

“You know, they are all Russified, but they are no less patriots than those in the West,” he says. We stand on the bank of the Dnipro River and try to see “Khortytsia”. He assures us that it is there, but we can’t see anything.

Last fall, when we talked about the front, he said that everything in Zaporizhzhia was uncertain. Much better than in the east, but uncertain — the ground zero is too close to the city. The Russiansʼ plans and forces are unknown. There are more and more shelling of civilians.

“Whatʼs now?” I ask.

“You know, we defended Zaporizhzhia, and everything will be fine here,” he says calmly.

As we drive through the empty city, there is an air raid alarm [again], they write about the threat of UAVs, cruise missiles, and later — ballistics. That night, nothing there were no strikes into Zaporizhzhia, but the region was hit 481 times by aircraft, artillery, and drones. One person died.