Marina Shulikina has to flee from the sirens into the basement at least ten times a day. There, she and her mother are a little more protected from possible bomb attacks. It is quiet for a moment during our interview. “We are now living in times of war”, Marina says on the phone seven days after Russia invaded the Ukraine. Marina Shulikina actually lives in Kyiv. But because her father was drafted and her mother lives alone, she moved in with her in central Ukraine – about 200 kilometers from Kyiv. Marina Shulikina is 24 years old and now also a warrior – an information warrior. She has been writing for Ukrainian Vogue for over four years, actually about fashion, art and the local creative scene. But now Marina writes about bombings in her city, how to care for the wounded and how to help the Ukrainian army: “The whole Ukraine woke up on the 24th of February early in the morning and all plans aside no one cares about fashion anymore and we just do what is needed”, says Marina about her work. And even if luxury goods and beautiful things really don’t interest anyone right now, when people are fighting for their lives, the industry, as absurd as it sounds, plays a role in the war.

Screenshots taken from Maryna Shulikina’s Instagram account

Carmen Maiwald: Marina, we wrote before the interview, you are safe right now. Can you tell us how you are doing right now?

Marina Shulikina: Every day is just super stressful, and it is kind of hard to keep all the emotions to myself. But in general, I am just trying to work and distract myself from my feelings and emotions and just trying to help. I am an editor at Vogue here but obviously at this point we are not writing about fashion at all, mostly about stuff that can be useful to citizens in the Ukraine.

CM: In an essay about the first hours of the war in Ukraine and how you woke up to the horrific news, you wrote: “We have become soldiers of the information war”. Can you describe what that means to you right now?

MS: As we all know there is an actual physical war with all the bombing and shelling and all the killing but also there is an informational war which is also really like a battlefield as well. We in Ukraine are fighting for free speech, for spreading right and correct information, for spreading the truth. So, what I meant by saying that I am a soldier of the information war is that I really feel like me and all the other journalists are fighting the propaganda and lies spread by Russia. Russian media has been spreading lies for a long time, but it is hard to see that they are doing it currently when their soldiers – children of Russian mothers – are dying here and they keep saying that it is not true and that everyone is all right. They keep hiding information about their soldiers here. They keep saying that it is not war. That is why we have all been trying to fight this misinformation. We try to tell the whole world and especially people in Russia that they have been fed with lies.

CM: What do you wish the industry could do besides an embargo?

MS: There are a lot of refugees from Ukraine right now and they are all going to Europe. Maybe providing people with jobs could be helpful. For instance, the Polish brand MISBHV posted on their Instagram that they are offering jobs in their atelier in Warsaw for Ukrainians. Which is great because that is really helping them not to be only refugees and dependent on the help of others, but they can actually earn money and take care of themselves.

CM: Even though Russia just invaded Ukraine over a week ago, the war has been going on for much longer, at least in Eastern Ukraine, after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Has this annexation and the oppression by Russia influenced the creative and fashion industry?

MS: As we all know the fashion industry basically reflects on the social life so the war in Ukraine that started eight years ago has definitely been influencing our designers and creatives and pretty much everyone in Ukraine. A lot of designers clearly show in their collections their national Ukrainian heritage. And with their work they are encouraging others to be proud of their Ukrainian heritage as well. It was super awesome to see that a lot of designers from Ukraine got really popular in the last years throughout the world. Like Anton Belinskiy, Baginskiy and a lot more. And that is super cool because these brands represent Ukraine and our culture, and they have been sharing it with the whole world. I don’t think the Russian invasion and aggression within the last years influenced Ukrainian’s fashion and art industry in a bad way. It did the opposite because it made people proud about the fact that they are Ukrainians.

CM: What makes you proud to be Ukrainian, what do you love most about your homeland?

MS: At this point I love everything. Of course, each country has good and bad sides. In Ukraine to be honest we were trying to go abroad to find jobs there to stay there and we were aiming to live in other countries. But now we have this inside joke here: At this point we all have this opportunity to get out of Ukraine because all the European Countries and Canada and USA basically everyone is waiting for us with open arms because we are in this kind of situation. But right now, none of us really wants to go because we love our country, we want to stay here and protect it and want to make it rise again. Right now, you just see really clear: We have super great musicians and artists and that we have a very long history, and that we have a lot of things to be proud of within our history. We have amazing architecture and amazing sights that have been famous all over the world because of their history – and we have great food of course. But I would say right now the best thing that Ukraine has is its people. Because we keep showing our strength, our devotion, our loyalty – and still even in this time of war we are remaining kind and hopeful and optimistic about our future.