In a gallery in the Kharviv Literary Museum, its usual contents now packed and evacuated for safety, a group of women sat in a row, smart and eager. Behind them, leaning back in his chair, arms folded, was a tall, gaunt figure in a military jacket and high-laced boots.
It was the first meeting – modest in scale but enthusiastic in tone – of a new bi-monthly Ukrainian language club for Kharkiv’s Russian speakers.
