“Moschun” Director Interview

Ruslan Gorovyi “Moschun” Director

Translation by Olha Morhunova

“Moschun: The Diary of Liudmyla Oleksandrivna,” is a powerful new film by Ruslan Gorovyi.  It tells the story of an elderly woman who, in February 2022, suddenly found herself on the front line in her own home. This intimate portrait reveals what many long to understand but rarely dare to ask of those who have witnessed war up close.

DAWN spoke with director Gorovyi prior to the film’s screening in Portland, Oregon.  Besides his documentary filmmaking, which includes 2024’s “Just Below the Sky,” about the defenders of the Donetsk airport, he is a Merited Journalist of Ukraine and his work as an author includes the “Children’s Search Service” TV show.    

How did you choose this current project? 

In the life of every director, there comes a moment when they realize that this is their film and they must tell the story. This was the case with the film now called “Moschun: The Diary of Lyudmyla Oleksandrivna.” When I arrived in Moschun, the battles for Moschun were just ending. Our forces, the 72nd brigade, had finally pushed the enemy back to the river’s floodplain. Moshchun was covered with the bodies of enemies, Moschun was destroyed, and we were going in and searching for people, physically searching. And then I met Ms. Lyudmyla, who was alone in her half-destroyed house. And I heard her story. The story was striking, and I told her that we would definitely make a film about it. And that’s how this film came to be. I waited for some time for the person to recover. I didn’t want to hype it up and do everything fresh, because it’s very cool from a documentary perspective, but very hard for a person. But after some time, when the person allowed herself to talk about it, I filmed the movie about Moshchun and her during the events of February-March 2022.

The residents of Moschun stayed during the invasion and supported Ukrainian soldiers.  The Sydney Herald called The Battle of Moschun “representative of a larger trend in Ukraine’s defensive strategy: a 21st century people’s war.” Do you agree, and if so, how do you see that defensive strategy happening in Ukraine today? 

I truly believe that the battle for Moschun is one of the most important battles that took place near Kyiv, because, in fact, it is already the suburbs. If our guys and girls hadn’t held the line in Moschun, everything would have moved into the streets of the city: War. And of course, the local population was very supportive. In Moschun, there were several casualties even in the first days, when there wasn’t even a decree about the creation of the Territorial Defense, which were later equated to military personnel, to territorial defense, the guys who died in the first days. Moschun fought to the last; Moschun, through its destruction, held the people. Of course, the 72nd brigade and many others, those who blew up the dam on the river, thank God, that they couldn’t advance with the forces they had, but all of this is part of one main task – to hold Kyiv, and undoubtedly, our army, our people, the volunteers who participated, are true heroes.

Of all the residents who stayed and supported Ukrainian freedom, what made you choose Liudmyla Oleksandrivna as the focus of the film? 

I don’t know how it is for other directors, but for me, it happens like this: I hear a story and realize that I must tell it, that no one can tell it better than I can. So, upon seeing Ms. Liudmyla, I understood that this is my story, I must tell it, and I hope I told it in a way that resonates with a large number of viewers and provides an understanding of what people like her have experienced. How did all this happen? And in general, they will understand something about our war.

You’ve experienced many areas of Ukraine that have suffered in the invasion. Was there anything you found that was unexpected in Moschun? 

A huge number of settlements have suffered from the actions of the russians in Ukraine, but no matter how devastating the destruction is for cities and towns – it’s just stones, wood. The most terrible thing is what happened to the people. And in every region, in every city, it was a terrible tragedy. You can’t compare one tragedy to another and say that this tragedy is bigger or that one is smaller – everyone has suffered in one way or another; those who felt closely what the russians are like have suffered greatly. I repeat, everyone in Ukraine, absolutely everyone who is in Ukraine is traumatized; the level of PTSD is absolutely different in each region, and Moschun is no exception. People have experienced very terrible things.

In 2022 it was said that Moschun was forgotten after the destruction.  Do you feel that’s true today? 

When the front line moved back, people found themselves near their destroyed homes, and of course, everyone felt that they had been forgotten, because when you sit every day on your destroyed or half-destroyed homestead and look around and seemingly nothing is happening, it seems terrible. Moreover, in Moschun, not in the village itself, but in the nearby dachas, there was no electricity for over 7 months. Everywhere else, there was electricity, but there was none there. Because it was unclear how they were connected. Well, just since the 90s, and after the collapse of the soviet union, these were dacha cooperatives that changed ownership forms, and as a result, it was unclear – how it was, what it was, where to pay money, who owned those power lines. But now everything is much better than one could have imagined during this time; a lot has been restored, a lot that cannot be restored has been demolished. People received money and bought apartments or built other houses. Everything is very different; some are still waiting; everything is absolutely different. Well, because the war is not over yet, that’s how it is.

Where else has the film been screened so far and what has been the reaction? 

The film has already been seen in Japan, seen in Australia, and seen in the USA, on the other coast. There were several screenings in the spring of this year. I hope that watching the film now will help those who still don’t know something about this war to form their opinion on what is happening there.

Where do you go after this Portland visit? 

After Portland, I am going to Seattle, Washington, and then I will have three more meetings in Colorado and one meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Somewhere I will show the film, somewhere I will talk, just read, and everywhere I will be collecting money to help people like Liudmyla Oleksandrivna. Because at the very least, I know about 100 families who definitely need firewood for this winter, and I will try to buy that firewood with the help of the books I sell. So, come. Watch the movie. Communicate, talk about this war, and help Ukrainian people, because no one among Ukrainians deserves this tragedy, no one.