‘It’s my frontline and I won’: the chef putting Ukrainian cuisine back on the map

Ievgen Klopotenko preparing food in his restaurant, 100 Years Back to the Future, in Kyiv. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Guardian

In a war, there are many different fronts, and many different forms of resistance. Ievgen Klopotenko, a Ukrainian chef, is fighting his war with soup.

In defiance of the Russian cruise missile and drone attacks that have hit Kyiv recently, Klopotenko, 35, was last week presiding over his bustling city centre restaurant. On the menu were dishes such as beetroot and herring salad with smoked pear from the Odesa region, venison from the Carpathians, and a dessert named “Kherson is Ukraine”.