a year of information at the heart of the conflict

On February 24, the first Russian troops invaded Ukraine. The next day, franceinfo relocates its antenna to be live in the field. And for a year, the editorial staff has been telling and deciphering this war.

Emmanuelle Daviet: Florent Guyotat, how are journalists and technicians organized to cover this news every day?

Florent Guyotat: First, it is a permanent presence. For a year, there has always been at least one franceinfo special envoy in Ukraine. Usually two or even three people. So they are reporters from franceinfo, and also from the international editorial staff of Radio France since you know that franceinfo is part of the public Radio France group.

We take turns so that there is always someone there. And there is also, let’s not forget, the presence of the reporting technicians. Since you don’t go to Ukraine alone, it’s a war zone, it’s dangerous, it’s sometimes just as difficult to bear. So, always a technician to accompany the reporter, to help him establish the technical link during the live broadcasts, or the reports that are made, to also sometimes produce videos that you can see on our website.

There is also something important, we are of course trying to relate the military situation, but also to show that life goes on with reports like that of Omar Ouahmane, last week on franceinfo, where we heard people who continued to dance in a tango club in the capital, Kiev.

What device is planned to mark this first year of war in Ukraine?

Reports, throughout the next week, starting with the choice of franceinfo every morning at 8:10 a.m. We will try to understand, in five episodes, the consequences of this war in Ukraine. Obviously, we are going to talk about the military situation, but not only. We will also see the consequences in the field of agri-food, the rise in prices, with a choice made by our agriculture specialist, Guillaume Gaven.

We will also go to Poland, a country bordering Ukraine, which has welcomed thousands of refugees for the past year. We will see how all this is managed on site. And then next Friday, February 24, we will relocate our antenna to Ukraine with Marie Bernardeau, who will present many sequences, live from Kiev, throughout the day, from the morning until 9 p.m./12 a.m., accompanied by all our reporters and Agathe Mahuet, our reporter who lived for two months in Kiev, at the Radio France news office in the Ukrainian capital, and who will bring us her expertise on what has changed in this country over the past year.

There is a part of this population that is also very important to hear, it is the Ukrainian youth. Franck Ballanger, you come back from Ukraine, you met these young people. So how do children, adolescents and young adults live?

Frank Ballanger: They live more or less normally, let’s say. With Thomas Sellin we spent a fortnight in kyiv. It is important to specify this, because life in kyiv is not life in Bakhmout or Kharkiv. So in kyiv, in the capital, young people try to live between power cuts and restrictions, curfews. She tries, and she succeeds anyway, because we realized, we, by trying to stick as close as possible to this youth, that they manage to live. She manages to love, to have goals, hopes, desires. And that’s what upset us a little during the fortnight we spent in kyiv.

They manage to project themselves into the future by continuing their studies, their schooling normally?

Yes, with a compulsory passage, it is to beat Russia in this war. So yes, they manage to project themselves. But first, there is this objective, which comes up everywhere. We feel a visceral attachment to the Nation, now in Ukraine among the youth, because those who do not fight at the front, they participate in the war effort by working in associations, in addition to their work. We saw young people concerned about the future of the country.

So this youth, you handed him your microphone. Very concretely, what will the listeners be able to hear?

Five podcasts, with themes as varied as love, death, school. 10 videos also on social networks. And then, a long format on the franceinfo site. So a lot of material. With a particularity. Here, we are talking about digital in fact. This is the first digital mission that franceinfo and the international editorial staff of Radio France have sent to Ukraine, in war territory. And now, we are absolutely delighted to have participated in this adventure.