tell the war, “it’s a way of resisting like some soldiers take up arms”explains Alexander Query, French journalist based in kyiv, member of the editorial staff of the Ukrainian newspaper Kviv Independent. He publishes with New Worlds editions Logbook of the Ukrainian resistance which brings together the articles of the journalists of this editorial staff. A direct testimony on the war in Ukraine, on the behavior of the Russian army, the abuses it commits and the way civilians try to survive.
>> Follow the latest developments in the war in Ukraine in our live.
“Many experts agree that we are finding more and more traces of a potential genocide of Ukrainians”, adds the 34-year-old journalist. Alexander Query criticizes Emmanuel Macron’s position “in view of the processions of atrocities and horrors that Russian soldiers are inflicting today on Ukrainians and Ukrainians, not humiliating Russia is a speech that is absolutely incomprehensible”.
franceinfo: At the start of the war, you hesitated to return to France. Why did you stay in Ukraine?
Alexander Query: The hesitation arose above all from the point of view of my companion and to get her to safety, but the idea was precisely to stay there because today, European history, world history is written in Ukraine. For a journalist, it was the only place I could decently be. This is also what I owed to this country which has welcomed me for six years. I had to return this. It is a matter of duty, of mission.
Telling the war, is it a way of resisting?
It’s a way of resisting like some soldiers take up arms. We have a colleague, in particular, who joined the territorial defense force in Ukraine. In this way, I also think that journalists have their role to play in this story.
How do you remain as objective as possible when you are a journalist, today in Ukraine, when you are afraid every day for yourself and your family?
I think it’s important, precisely, to make the difference between this neutrality and objectivity. Today, the common cause, the important cause, is that of supporting Ukraine and that Ukraine, in the end, manages to win. We cannot necessarily speak of impartiality, that’s for sure. On the other hand, being neutral simply means respecting journalistic standards and the journalistic ethics of fact-checking and keeping a critical eye.
Your collection of articles documents the behavior of the Russian army: machine-gunned civilians, assassinations, mass rapes. Is there anything systematic?
There is something systematic. Conversations have been intercepted, in particular of Russian soldiers who clearly say that they have received orders. What shows that it is systematic or in any case that it is accepted, is when Vladimir Putin decorates the unit which was in Boutcha, responsible for these absolutely abominable massacres. It is a desire to terrorize the population. It is also a desire to create a myth of brutality around the Russian army. There is also this aspect of psychological warfare which plays a huge role. Many experts agree that there are more and more traces of a potential genocide of Ukrainians.
Several articles evoke the setbacks of the Russian army. Was she prepared for this war?
It’s not just that they were ill-prepared. Some explain that they had been sent just after their training and that it was in the continuity of the training. They didn’t necessarily know they were going to Ukraine. From the moment there are massacres, like Boutcha, like Mariupol, this argument no longer holds because it is also a way of discarding oneself by saying, we did not know what we were doing. Today, we also realize that one of the major problems of the Russian army is indeed the systematic corruption which means that their equipment is failing today. These are important components to understand at the level of the Russian army.
Emmanuel Macron could go to Ukraine this week. Is it an important visit?
What would be important, above all, is that he adopts, at least publicly, a less ambiguous position vis-à-vis Vladimir Putin. This is a speech that is absolutely inaudible today in Ukraine. Quite simply because in view of the processions of atrocities and horrors that Russian soldiers inflict today on Ukrainians and Ukrainians, not humiliating Russia is a speech that is absolutely incomprehensible for Ukrainians. It’s true that France, even if it hasn’t said so publicly, has helped Ukraine by sending arms. But today, Ukraine is simply calling for a tougher public stance on Vladimir Putin.