Local administrative building in Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine. Photo (c): Nika Perepelitsa. Used with permission. For the people of Slavyansk, “How do you live here?” is not an uncommon question. Given the tragedies this eastern Ukrainian city has endured — economic collapse and occupation by pro-Russia separatists in 2014 — you can't blame those who ask it. But that they still do so in 2020 betrays some ignorance: life can be hard, but Slavyansk is no longer a warzone. While hardships endure, its residents have rebuilt a semblance of normal lives. Those young people who remain in Slavyansk are eager for their city to thrive, setting up several new cultural and civic initiatives in recent years. One of them is Nika Perepelitsa, the communications specialist for the civil society centre Drukarnia. Perepelitsa saw this question as an opportunity to change outsiders’ narratives about her home town. It has become the title of her podcast, Как ты здесь живешь?, which she launched in February. Perepelitsa has since released eight episodes, in which she interviews residents of government-controlled eastern Ukraine — from young people at the forefront of its cultural life to foreigners who have unexpectedly made it their home. Her interviews paint a picture of a region which is far from monochrome and passive. Her interviewees are those might answer that question, perhaps cautiously, with the words “with hope”. I interviewed Perepelitsa about her inspiration for the podcast and her plans for its future. The interview has been edited for brevity. Maxim Edwards (ME): Why did you choose such a striking name for your podcast? Have you been asked this question often? Nika Perepelitsa (NP): The idea to name the podcast ‘How do you live here?’ did not come at random. For the past few years, people I met from other countries and other regions of Ukraine have always asked me that question upon finding out where I live. At some point, I heard the question so often that I could see the misunderstandings in their eyes — the misunderstandings of people who only know about Slavyansk from news reports of 2014 and continue to associate it with the war. But six years has already passed since the liberation of the city. Despite the fact that armed conflict still continues in other cities in eastern Ukraine, Slavyansk has changed for the better since 2014. That's how this project was born; the podcast unfolds around this very question. I speak with people from cities across eastern Ukraine about their life before and after 2014, asking why they planned to stay on, or whether they plan to return to their homeland. ME: And what are the biggest misconceptions and prejudices about Slavyansk and eastern Ukraine in general? What hope is there that they can be changed? NP: People don't fully know what the situation here is right now. Many are still too scared to travel to Slavyansk, where I live, or to Kramatorsk or Severodonetsk, believing all belong to a single, unsafe region, without looking more deeply into the local context. Everybody is used to hearing “Donbas” and thinking of war and danger. But that's not the case. There's a lot of prejudice: this is a depressed region whose people are unfriendly and never smile. I'm trying to shatter those stereotypes with my podcast, so I talk with engaged young people who work and live here, living by changing their city and other people's ideas of it. It's important for me to show that side of the city, focusing on its history (in Slavyansk there are many 19th century buildings; the city has always been mercantile rather than industrial, as people often assume about cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions). There are no mines here, there is no heavy industry. But there is a wonderful lakeside resort in Slavyansk which, sadly, is inoperative right now. So how can these stereotypes be fought? By saying more about the good things happening here, the initiatives which are underway, helping develop cultural life in Slavyansk and other cities in eastern Ukraine to national standards (that potential certainly exists). Nika Perepelitsa in her hometown of Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine. Photo (c): Nika Perepelitsa, used with permission. NP: I produce stories about people, about their personal journeys and experiences in these cities. That's why somebody's personal outlook is important to me — why exactly he or she moves here or comes back. And that's why I find artists and cultural figures the most interesting; they take a clear position and are very proactive and open to new things (as opposed to the stereotype that people here are largely passive). The problem of active young people leaving for the big cities or heading overseas is no less relevant now than it was before 2014.