PUNE: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has hardly made any difference to the lives of two middle-aged women — one a Ukranian and other a Russian — who are also next-door neighbours in the city.
Thousands of kilometres away from their own native lands, they bond over shared language, culture and laugh at their common yearning for “grecha” or buckwheat.
Since the war started, the Ukranian woman has spent many sleepless nights worrying about her family, only to be comforted by her husband, an Indian, and her friend, a Russian woman.
Both the women are hesitant to say much, lest their statements find their way back home and lead to alienation of their families. But one thing they do emphasize is that they are the same people, with the same ancestors, the same history and the same culture; and that their countries’ stories would have been of friendship and love, just like theirs, if politics and political egos not played spoilsport.
The Russian woman said that back home, the sentiment towards the war had changed. “Earlier, there were people who were against the war. But since the western countries placed sanctions on the country, people were getting united. More and more people want to support Putin against the West. There was never any hatred against the Ukrainians,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Ukranian woman is worried about the safety of her parents back home. “They are senior citizens. They have lived their whole life there. They don’t want war,” she said. Her entire family now sleep fully dressed, with a bag packed, just in case they need to move out to a shelter. She met her family last before the pandemic. She was supposed to travel to Ukraine last year, along with her family, but could not since they had taken Covaxin, which was not recognised by many countries. They had plans to go this year, but they fell through because of the crisis.
Like these two women, the rumblings of the war haven’t created any divide among a close-knit group of people in the city who share a common thread — they all speak Russian.
“We are from different countries — Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine etc. But we all share the history of the USSR, we know what happens when a foreign power tries to meddle in our affairs. Wherever the US goes, destruction follows,” said one of them.
This group of people used to meet regularly, especially during the New Year, and also during the Russian Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7. However, Covid-19 forced this group to meet online. While a meeting was supposed to happen this year, once restrictions related to Covid-19 were lifted completely, the Ukraine-Russia crisis has put a dent in their plans and now they feel they would meet once the war ends as they don’t want the meeting to be ‘uncomfortable’ for anyone.
A senior officer with the intelligence agency told TOI, “The local police authorities have been requested to look into the issues of the Ukraine citizens staying in Pune and adjoining areas. Nine Ukraine citizens stay in Pune city and all of them have come to Pune on business or tourist visas.”
