– Look here. We got potatoes from a Polish aid organization and planted them in the ground in mid-April. And now they are so many and big. It’s real teamwork when the married couple Iryna and Nikolaj Tarasjev have put the spade into the black earth. The sun is shining and it is green and beautiful. Only a faint sound of cannon fire tells us that we are in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, a war zone since 2014. Iryna and Nikolay Tarashev are Ukrainian ethnic Greeks, living in Donetsk county in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news Free milk for the soldiers A sign placed by the roadside in the small village of Komar says that soldiers in the Ukrainian army can stop by to get free fresh milk The married couple Iryna and Nikolaj Tarashev were more than happy to invite news along in the small courtyard, where they had prepared large glasses to be filled with fresh milk. A sign on the roadside says that Ukrainian soldiers can get free milk on the farm of Iryna and Nikolaj Tarashev. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news – The soldiers have enough food. But they are very happy when they can get fresh products such as milk and sour cream, says Iryna. She also has a centrifuge that separates the milk. That way she can make the sour cream-like smetana that everyone in this part of Europe is so fond of. Their home was bombed But this is not where they actually live. – We had everything at home, says Iryna, while a tear trickles into the corner of her eye. Their home was in the regional center of Velyka Novosilka, about ten kilometers further southeast. There, the Russian forces launched a fierce attack in the spring of 2022, in an attempt to conquer the entire Donbas region and “liberate” what they called oppressed Russian-speaking residents of the area. The potatoes on the farm of the Tarasjev family are already big. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news – They are idiots. Why are they coming here to “liberate” us? But at least we got away from them alive, says Iryna angrily. Their house was completely destroyed during the fighting in the area in May 2022 Walked with two cows for two days But Nikolaj managed to get away with two cows. – I went for two days and slept outside, even though it was quite cold, says Nikolaj. Within a year, the couple have made what was a rather dilapidated house with a small barn functional. One cow is unfortunately dead, but the other has managed and is grazing peacefully in a field close to the house. The married couple Tarashev have made a makeshift flagpole to show that Ukrainian patriots live here. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news The Ukrainian Greeks The married couple proudly show us their vegetable garden, where, in addition to potatoes, beetroot, onions and pumpkins grow. – We are both of Greek descent, he says – although their language is now Ukrainian and mostly Russian. – Our ancestors were sent here from the Crimean Peninsula, where they had lived since time immemorial, says Nikolaj. The Tarasjev couple’s kitchen garden is already overflowing with vegetables. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news There were Greek colonies in many places around the Black Sea, and there are still several remnants of Greek culture, not least in Donetsk county. Here in the Velyka Novosilka area, those of Greek descent make up around 20 percent of the population. According to Ukrainian statistics, just under 100,000 people of Greek descent lived in the country before the war. – One of our sons lives in Greece, while the other is now a soldier in the Ukrainian army, says Nikolaj. Their contribution to the resistance is thus free milk for the soldiers. The cow and the calf are scared When news is visiting, the one remaining cow is grazing with her little calf. The calf currently receives around half of the 25 to 30 liters of milk that the cow gives each day. The calf of Iryna and Nikolaj Tarasjev symbolizes the hope they have for a better future. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news But it is not always as peaceful as today. From time to time the war comes closer, not least when bombers and helicopters fly low over the area. – It’s clear that the animals are scared by this, says Iryna, who doesn’t care too much that we constantly hear rather loud booms in the distance. – It is our own who are shooting at the Russian forces, and that makes me happy, she says, laughing. The Tarasjev family’s cow has to live with the fact that there is a lot of military activity around it. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news Many nationalities They say that before the war they had a peaceful and good life, and that on the street where they lived in Velyka Novosilka lived Greeks, Jews, Germans as well as Ukrainians. – We never had any problems between us, she says. – I have never seen anything of the banderovtsi (Ukrainian nationalists) or fascists that Putin says Ukraine is full of. Now they have lost everything because of what the Russian president calls “a special operation”. Lush kitchen garden. In addition to potatoes, the Tarasjev couple also grow beetroot, cucumbers and onions Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news Back to the Crimean Peninsula? But they are happy that precisely in this area the Ukrainian counter-offensive has succeeded and pushed the front 10-20 kilometers to the south. – We notice that there has been less shooting here and that everyone is breathing a little easier, says the couple as they fill a plastic bag with potatoes and other vegetables that they want to send with us as a gift. The couple do not know if they can bear to go back to rebuild their destroyed home in Velyka Novosilka. Back to Crimea? Most of the Ukrainian Greeks once lived on the now Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. Photo: Lokman Ghorbani / news For the time being, they are content to survive here in Komar, and ensure that thirsty soldiers get fresh milk in the summer heat. – I could actually imagine moving back to Crimea, where we Greeks originally lived, says Nikolaj Tarasjev and laughs. Well aware that right now this is probably a bit ahead of time.
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