During the most intense fighting for Bakhmut in the winter and in March 2023, the author spent days and nights with Ukrainian infantrymen and artillerymen, medics and chaplains, rescuers and children who remained in the city and its surroundings, where artillery shelling and street battles were a constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a story about the anti-aircraft gunner who has just shot down a Russian fighter jet, father and sons fighting side by side, and a member of Wagner who cherishes Nabokov. It\u2019s a journey to places where dogs feast on the dead, where you are petrified by fear and desolation but also stunned with courage, resilience and even love. There, you see everything with a clarity as sharp as that from new spectacles. This vividness begs a question of whether there is room for nuance. Or is the pursuit of nuance merely the privilege of those who don\u2019t fight for their very life and existence here and now? But also whether the survivors are obliged to pursue this nuance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his stories, the author opts for the fixation method, \u201cphotographing\u201d with the text. The word \u201cfixation\u201d will be used in different meanings throughout the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Myroslav Laiuk was born on 31 July 1990 in the Carpathians and now resides in Kyiv, Ukraine. He holds a PhD in philosophy and literature, and is a lecturer at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. As a war documentarian, he works on a frontline and in de-occupied territories. His texts and essays from Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia regions have been published in Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech and US media such as Gazeta Wyborcza, Eurozine, LitHub, Reporters, and Los Angeles Review of Books. His poems and prose in English translations have appeared in The Dial, The New Statesman, Agenda, Common Knowledge, and Poetry International. Myroslav is the author of three novels and three poetry books, with his works translated and published in Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Belarus. In 2018, the KyivPost media recognised Laiuk in its \u201cTop 30 Under 30\u201d ranking as one of the most innovative young Ukrainians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What people say about the book<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlending a poet\u2019s skill with committed war reporting, Myroslav Laiuk illuminates the details, images, personalities of war the way only a poet can. He re-discovers Ukraine for the reader, making the neglected loved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter Pomerantsev<\/a>, British journalist and writer, author of the books Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible<\/em> and This is not Propaganda<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMyroslav Laiuk\u2019s Bakhmut is a gripping, granular account of what Russia\u2019s war means for eastern Ukraine. The author has a superb ear for stories and a superb eye for detail. The laconic net of his prose captures the stories of stubborn old women who refuse to leave beloved homes, as well as the heroism, banality, and black humour of soldiers\u2019 lives. The wounded beauty of the cities and landscapes of the Donetsk region \u2013 a landscape of shell holes, seared crops, and star-filled skies \u2013 is beautifully observed. All of these stories and details are complemented by Laiuk\u2019s profound essayistic talent: this is a writer who knows not only how to observe war, but also how to think about it. There exists no better tribute, in any language, to the world of Ukraine\u2019s frontlines \u2013 a world that is fast disappearing under Russian shells.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Uilleam Blacker<\/a>, Associate Professor in Ukrainian and East European Culture, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot just the definitive book about the bloodiest battle yet of the Kremlin\u2019s evil war against Ukraine, but also a window into Russia\u2019s dark soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Sweeney<\/a>, British writer, author of the book Killer In The Kremlin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEach participant in the war forges their own path. Frequently, these paths are off-road, marred by potholes and rough asphalt. Myroslav has succeeded in gathering and conveying the profound anguish embedded in the stories of each of his characters. It is through books like this that entire generations will come to understand the monumental struggles of the Ukrainian armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press photojournalist, Pulitzer Prize winner<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book is available in Ukrainian<\/a> and English<\/a> from the Ukra\u0457ner Publishing, in Polish<\/a> from Ha!art Publishing House, and in Czech<\/a> from Pavel Mervart Publishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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