"Ukraine on Fire 2" is not just a series about Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. It's a kind of war diary about the most tragic moments in Ukraine's recent history. Each episode is a separate story of a city, village, personality, subject which is, at times, presented under a metaphorical title. There are also blocks of episodes (united by a subject). For example, episodes about Chernihiv summarize the idea of the city with a profound historical heritage and legends. Leitmotifs here are images of a stork's nest, church, the "Ukraina Hotel", ruined Gagarain stadium, a ghost bandura player with a yellow-blue ribbon on his musical instrument. They present civilians and civilian targets killed and destroyed by Russia.
So, importantly, the series is a kind of collage composed of short videos made by eyewitnesses. Besides its factuality, there are also references to history, philosophy and character of Ukrainians. They are about steadfastness and courage, humanity and optimism, loyalty and mercy of people who suffer from the war. "Ukraine on Fire 2" is for the outside world instrumental in discovering Ukraine in a new way and, unfortunately, in such a dramatic way.
The series is presented with English subtitles, so for the world it is a first-hand source of information, reflections on what is happening in Mariupol, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Mykoayiv, Irpin, Kherson, Kramatorsk, Starobilisk, Trostianets, Chernihiv, Bucha, Volnovakha, Izium... Many of these places have been occupied, damaged or even destroyed by Russia while the west is having a peaceful life.
One-minute episodes are ultra-short but at times they consist of 10-20 eyewitness videos, conveying a sense of reality and emotional effect, with some episodes causing impressive visual and sound resonances long to be remembered.
One of the episodes is about the Lithuanian film director and scholar Mantas Kvedaravicius. He came to make a film in Mariupol and was captured by Russian soldiers in March and later shot dead. His fate is reminiscent of the city as presented in his film "Mariupolis" which is about the value of life in war... It is this episode about Mantas that seems to narrow the mind to one thought: you have to survive. The smell of bread and its crunch, these everyday things seemed to break all known pyramids of human needs and become a sign of life in the occupation.
As for the series title ("Ukraine on Fire 2"), it is not only allegorical and profound, but also historically determined. The allusion to Dovzhenko's "Ukraine on Fire" makes sense, as it is right to the point in time. The oft-repeated warning "never again" has unfortunately turned into a lonely "again". Ukrainians are dying in their land in the hands of new fascists, or, as it is now conventional to call Russians, Rushists. This is not a tag for them, this is their ideology supported by 80/90% of the population, as per sociology centers. The historical parallel is evidenced by Dovzhenko's diary (entry dated November 6, 1943), as if it is about the present situation:
"Ukraine is destroyed like no other country in the world. All cities were destroyed and looted. We have no schools, no institutes, no museums, no libraries. Our historical archives perished, painting, sculpture, architecture destroyed. All bridges and roads were destroyed, the war destroyed the national economy, perished people, hit them, hanged them, and drove them into captivity...".
What do we learn from the killing of Oxford-educated European Mantas Kvedaravicius and thousands of Ukrainian civilians (by the way, most of them were Russian-speaking), tens of thousands deported Ukrainian children and civilians in new Russian concentration/filtration camps for Ukrainians in Europe? Does it ring a bell?
The series' value is undeniable. Based on eyewitnesses' videos, it represents the reality (which cannot be overcome by any Russian propaganda that so easily was able to corrupt Oscar-winning but as ever naïve university-uneducated Oliver Stone whose team was turned into what appears to be a Western escort-service for the new Hitler, in a typical propaganda fashion exploited the same - sacred for Ukrainians - title in previous films). After all, the demand for quality video content, reliable and artistic representation of the war in Ukraine has increased.
"Ukraine on Fire 2" is a living and pulsating art project that breathes in unison with time, the wartime of Ukraine, the new reality of this world.
