Ukrainian writer Zhadan: “Once war ends, it will continue in culture”

No matter when the Russia–Ukraine war ends, it will continue in the humanitarian and cultural spheres.

This was stated by the well-known Ukrainian writer and serviceman Serhii Zhadan at the Brand Ukraine International Conference 2025 in Kyiv, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Whenever the war ends — whatever can be called the end of the war — this struggle, this resistance, and confrontation will continue in other dimensions. This can be called a war of cultures. Russia will try to advocate for itself, return to the world, regain legitimacy, and primarily do this through the humanitarian and cultural sphere,” the writer said.

In his view, any Russians are culturally tied to the empire, which a priori makes them enemies for Ukrainians, and this will not disappear.

“These ‘good’ Russians, who perhaps do not yet have a very strong voice, will inevitably return. Sometimes they will work for the empire, sometimes oppose it, sometimes sustain it. But in any case, due to their cultural belonging to it, they will remain our enemies, and we will continue to face confrontation. It is very important to remember today that tomorrow this problem will not disappear anywhere,” the artist warned.

As reported earlier by Ukrinform, Serhii Zhadan also expressed the view that Russians are not people willing to acknowledge their guilt or bear collective responsibility.