Dr Rainer-Elk Anders, British academician and volunteer, reminds of James Mace (American historian, first western researcher of the Holodomor). The scholars working in a very competitive environment usually do not empathize with a subject of research. Especially amid war. Especially if an adversary is very strong. However, different things happen. For example, when research is closely intertwined with the public activities and when, contrary to the refined standards, a scientist remains human and humane. It’s the case of Dr Rainer-Elk Anders – the analyst, political scientist, social scientist, hybrid war expert and… volunteer in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

He comes to Ukraine and the anti-terrorist operation every seven weeks. He spends the whole summer in eastern Ukraine and the anti-terrorist operation, bringing there medicines, medical equipment, clothes, and leaving with dozens of in-depth interviews for scientific research.

Having arrived in Ukraine again, he came to the Ukrinform agency.

- Doctor, you are a friend of Ukraine. However, earlier you were considered to be an expert on Russia. Is it possible to remain an expert on Russia and be a friend of Ukraine?

- I have not been to Russia for six years. I travelled there before as the topic of my thesis concerned Russia. I respect Russian culture and literature. However, the range of my interests and occupations has become too specific now. Although, this was not my plan. It just happened so. When I was investigating the transformations in the post-Soviet space, I travelled everywhere except, sorry, Ukraine. My parents come from East Prussia (my father was born in Königsberg, my mother – in Mazurek, Poland), some relatives lived in Odesa. I am the representative of the first generation born in Germany. And so my interest in the former Soviet Union is natural and strong. I visited Ukraine for the first time in January 2014. I was wondering what was going on, I wanted to comprehend the Maidan. Even then it seemed to me that the Maidan did not resemble the Orange Revolution. It was another situation. I stayed here for seven days in January, and I was really excited about the events happening around me. In February, I already took many interviews and questionnaires on Maidan, there were also different stages.

I was in Crimea in February, when the occupation started. In March-April, I tracked down the "little green men." In April, I wrote about them my first report, where I predicted that Russia would seize the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. I delivered a speech at a university in Helsinki and was criticized for viewing Russia from geopolitical perspective. In the summer of 2014, I visited the conflict zone [in eastern Ukraine] for the first time. I was in Slovyansk six days after Girkin [former terrorist leader of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic] and his "fellows in arms" had left. The city was not damaged, but it was noticeable that the population had traumatic experience.

Two years ago, I visited Slovyansk again and did the interviews with doctors. They told me about children and adolescents, who had begun to develop diseases, allergies and mental disorders not manifested before, only for the first six weeks of the occupation. But a part of the region has been living such a life for five years already. I have realized the acuteness of situation, especially for Luhansk and Donetsk. And already then, in those first days, I was sure that Russia would advance. I wrote about this threat in the Western media and spoke about the humanitarian situation as the Ukrainian army was not ready for the war.

I witnessed the creation of your volunteer movement and understood well what could have happened if the movement had not been created. Many young people from Maidan went to the ATO area. I have understood from the very beginning what kind of war you have, to what extent it is atypical. When I speak about your war in Britain, I hear from the British soldiers: “I do not know how we could fight in such conditions. No helicopters, no qualified mobile medical care. Technology, logistics processes, clothes, food – everything had to be organized by ourselves.” I think that the Ukrainians themselves have been amazed at what kind of generation you have. They are able to fight and live like this.

In 2014, I spent a lot of time in Ukraine. And I have a lot of articles about the war in Ukraine. I am often asked how it is possible that a German citizen, who teaches and lives in England, goes to ATO together with volunteers. These trips are not easy. I am an academician, an objective scientist. However, sometimes a subject of research and attitude to the situation are moral issues. On Maidan, and especially after the events in Ilovaisk [when Ukrainian forces were encircled by overwhelming Russian military forces, who joined the battle for Ilovaisk, and many Ukrainians were killed whilst trying to escape], I started to think of support for Ukraine. After 2014, I go to Donbas as a volunteer. I and my friends from Kharkiv collect money, medicines and go to the frontline.

I am a social scientist, senior lecturer, analyst and also work with volunteers.

Indeed, this combination of roles is possible today. This is a moment of history that did not happen before; we have just come to understand the hybrid war. We also have a dangerous situation in Britain.

- Does the West understand that we have a multi-component hybrid war here in Ukraine: in physical space, cyberspace, information space. Do scientists, military, and elites understand this?

- Not many our scientists understand the situation in Ukraine. I have colleagues, who still interpret the events as a geopolitical clash between Russia and the US or view them as an internal conflict. Of course, the geopolitical factor is important, but Ukraine is still an actor, which has the right to live independently and form the political processes independently. Many politicians did not understand for a long time why the war happened and why it is important. Last year I gave a briefing at the British Parliament, and many parliamentarians did not know that the war was still going on. They did not know that more than 10,000 people had been killed, how many people had been displaced and that 250,000 children had lived under constant threat. They did not know that 2,500 children spent for five hours a day in bomb shelters. Many did not know that, and the government did not want the UK to have the diplomatic problems with Russia.

Of course, Russian assets in London also have a certain impact. However, the British political thought changes. It is interesting that the state did not want to publish complete data after Litvinenko had been poisoned. The poisoning of Skripal caused another reaction. Britain warned both society and Europe that Russia posed a security threat. The British government for the first time reacted clearly and quickly, expelling Russian diplomats from London. For the first time, Director-General of the British Security Service Andrew Parker made a public speech outside the UK (in Germany) and said that the Russian government was the main driver of the campaign to undermine the Western democracy. The British officials have not made such statements before. He spoke about the aggressive actions of Russia, cyberattacks, disinformation and criminal banditry. Such a statement itself is a red line already. It is interesting that Parker also said there is a need to distinguish between "the government of Russia" and "the people of Russia." Chelsea owner, Abramovich, was denied a visa. We see that London understands: Russia is a problem, and, perhaps, Russian assets are also a problem.

They began to realize the reality of the information war waged by Russia. They began to understand that the Kremlin supported radical groupings. They understand that the Kremlin poses a risk, but they do not yet realize the importance of Ukraine.

- You’ve made dozens of reports on the situation in Ukraine. Are they scientific or social and political ones?

- Both. Previously, I dealt with scientific publications only. But in April 2015, I was in Mariupol and did the interviews with Ukrainians, who had lost their homes, with refugees. In April, I spoke with a 53-year-old woman, a resident of the village of Shyrokyne. This village is located near Mariupol. Everything was bombed there, absolutely everything, I was there with the OSCE mission.

The house of this woman was damaged, so she moved to Mariupol. She told me: "I have no words left. I can only hope that others, having listened to the voice of the reason, will speak instead of me." And I thought instantly: "These words are addressed to me. I will be the voice of the reason. I'm not a propagandist. I'm the voice of the reason, a much-needed voice."

Therefore, I deal with both scientific reports and TV stories. I knew a sniper woman from a volunteer battalion. She lived in Donetsk with her husband and child. In the summer of 2014, the house was bombed, her child was killed by Russian artillery. She had no plans to become a soldier, but after the child had been killed she decided to fight, she signed a contract. And her husband became a separatist. He himself went to serve to the opposite side. She knows that her husband is hereabout, on the other side.

In Britain (and in many other countries as well), the wars are perceived as something very distant. Well, there is a war in Syria, a war in Afghanistan, there is terrorism: it does not concern us directly. I had to speak in the British Parliament. And I thought: how will I explain this situation? I showed them drawings of children from the ATO area.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine at the British Parliament, I showed my artifacts. A child’s shoe shot through with a bullet. I pick it up in Avdiivka, in the apartment where a grandmother and a grandson lived. Their relatives gave me a postcard, which this deceased boy gave to his late grandmother. I also showed a bunch of keys of a local teacher. She told me: “This key is from my house – it’s already damaged. The second key is from my car – it’s damaged. The third key is from my cottage house – it’s also damaged. The fourth key is from the school, where I worked, – it was bombed. I collect textbooks for children through the funds. When I was little girl, I sent my pocket money to the starving children of Africa... Today I'm a child of Africa.” Such artifacts build an emotional connection.

- Aren’t you tired of doing this?

- I am mixed. I am a German citizen, although my parents descend from French Huguenots and Protestants from Austria, who lived in East Prussia (which became the part of the USSR and now Russia). I knew that Germany had a historical responsibility. And I myself feel this responsibility for the World War II. Recently, I mentioned in one report that Germany should support Ukraine, which (together with Belarus) sustained great losses in the World War II. I feel responsible for supporting the universal ideas of justice, having seen the destruction of life in Donbas and eastern Ukraine from the war.

There were several schools in Krasnohorivka. They no longer exist, because all of them were bombed. The school students now study in the premises of the former hospital. I saw a school with the windows shot through by snipers. There are schools, which do not have bomb shelters in their territory, and the walls in the corridors are painted in a way to designate the height so that the children know how to hide if there is shelling. I draw inspiration from meetings with the Ukrainians living in the war zone and with many courageous Ukrainian volunteers and NGOs that work tirelessly to help those in need. The selfless work of Ukrainian volunteers in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv and elsewhere constantly reminds me and inspires me to uphold the universal ideas of justice, the freedom and dignity of the individual.

- What do the trips to Ukraine mean to you?  Is it about work or volunteer activity, which is difficult to give up?

- Both, and scientific research as well.

On the other hand, Britain also knows what an information war is, and because of my trips to Ukraine, I am a bearer of knowledge about the situation related to the information war. I was in the midst of such a war.

We also have a British-Ukrainian Aid foundation, we collect money, create projects to help children and civilians living in the ATO area. Not everyone can live under such threats. Working with volunteers is also important. If someone asks me in 30-40 years: What did you do during the war in Ukraine? If I, as a historian, am asked: What did you do, how did you help, didn’t you understand the real situation? You see, knowledge is a kind of responsibility. If people are responsible, they have talents and capabilities, they must help the victims. My family is from East Prussia, they were refugees, my parents were children when they were taken away in 1944. They were refugees in Germany. And I understand how they lived. I know that even the second generation of refugees has a lot of psychological problems associated with their parents' traumas. I know that volunteers have psychological traumas. A person, who fought, even if they were not wounded, stay at war forever.

- You, probably, need to do scientific work, write. How long will you be engaged in the project "Ukraine"?

- Until the end of the war.

- It may linger on...

- Yes, it may. I wish my grandchildren played football with the grandchildren of my Ukrainian friends, especially from Kharkiv and the ATO area.

Lana Samokhvalova, Kyiv

Photo: Yulia Ovsiannikova