Kharkiv publisher champions cultural resistance amid war

With eyes closed, Oleksandr Savchuk plucks the strings of his bandura, a lute-like Ukrainian folk instrument, delivering a gently melancholic performance in the frontline city of Kharkiv.

The 41-year-old publisher has spent years promoting Ukrainian language, history, and culture, unearthing manuscripts once censored or forgotten during the Soviet era.

"My family history prompted me to start this cultural resistance as early as 2005," Savchuk told AFP, recalling how both his grandfathers suffered repression under the Soviets. His mission gained renewed urgency after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which ignited a surge of cultural revival across the country.

In March, Savchuk opened "Book Shelter," a bookshop that quickly became a hub for literary and cultural activities, despite Kharkiv frequently facing Russian airstrikes. He has also worked to preserve the centuries-old tradition of wandering kobzars, blind bards who performed religious and folk songs and accompanied Cossacks on military campaigns.

These performers, long symbols of Ukrainian identity, were persecuted by Soviet authorities, with many executed during Stalin's regime. "Kobzars were blind. It was believed that blind people were closer to God," Savchuk said. "They left only a dozen alive and taught them to sing a piece about Lenin," he added with a bitter smile.

On a recent October morning, Savchuk performed a poem by 18th-century philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda, whose historic home in Skovorodynivka was destroyed in a Russian missile strike in May 2022. "Different worldviews are at the root of Russia's war against Ukraine and our centuries-long struggle for freedom," Savchuk said. "It is about different types of thinking."

Savchuk founded the Oleksandr Savchuk Publishing House in 2010 to protect Ukraine's national heritage and revive forgotten voices. Over 15 years, he has published around 200 titles, with a total print run of about 60,000 copies. "It's just a drop in the ocean," he said. "But with the demand that has emerged since the invasion, we realised we are giving people answers."

Despite Kharkiv's proximity to the Russian border, many residents continue to speak Russian. However, Moscow's cultural influence is waning, particularly among younger Ukrainians. Fourteen-year-old volunteer Varvara Fomenko said she is increasingly rejecting Russian music and literature in favour of Ukrainian works, even if her peers have yet to follow suit.

Savchuk has also commemorated figures persecuted by the Soviets, including art scholar Stefan Taranushenko, installing a plaque in 2020 at the site of his 1933 arrest and publishing books with 3D models of destroyed wooden churches.

Last month, he placed flowers at the plaque, drawing appreciation from passers-by. Local journalist Slava Mavrychev praised Savchuk's work, saying: "It is just as important as the work being done by the Ukrainian armed forces."

Through music, publishing, and commemoration, Savchuk continues to fight what he calls a "cultural resistance," ensuring that Kharkiv's heritage survives the turmoil of war.