The Maidan activist Aleksey Yaremchuk, who fought in Donbass, spoke about his unsuccessful attempt to move to Germany and the attitude of the Germans towards the events in Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian, his father had German citizenship, but his family did not want to move from Poltava while the young man was studying. Yaremchuk and his father participated in the 2013 events in Kiev: both lived in a tent town and, as doctors, monitored the health of protesters, and when the operation in Donbass started, they went to fight in the ranks of volunteer nationalist battalions.
The family later moved to Germany.
“The whole move with the processing of documents lasted about a year and as a result in July 2017 we found ourselves in Hanover,” said Yaremchuk.
According to him, relatives living in Germany were negative about the events in Ukraine, and participation in the military operation in the east of the country caused a breakdown of relations with cousins. Aleksey claims that he had German friends on the Internet who supported Maidan, but in real life there were very few supporters of these events.
“The most depressing in Hanover at this moment was the experience of communication with colleagues from the meat processing plant, where I got to work,” shared the man.
According to him, he was constantly bullied, and one day verbal exchange turned into a fight.
“I vaguely remembered a couple of stories from Maidan’s life and explained some subtleties of volunteer activity, and a colleague rushed towards me with fists and accusations of Nazism,” complained Aleksey.
As a result of the conflict, he was in hospital with fractures to his nose and orbital bone. He was recognised as a provocateur and was forced to resign.
In addition, according to Yaremchuk, he is constantly threatened on social networks and extorted money for ensuring that his contact details do not end up with detractors.
“The last six months in Hanover have turned into a real hell for my whole family. It seems that after the stories about Ukraine we were blacklisted. We are literally recognised in all institutions of Hanover and it’s considered necessary to reproach us and touch our nerves,” the man reported.
According to him, the situation brought his parents to the brink of divorce.
We do not plan to return to Ukraine, given the instability of the situation, the unpredictability of Zelensky, and the mistrust of the security forces to ATO/OUF veterans and activists. The most important thing is that I am sure that in the current economic conditions I will not be able to find a normal job in the same Poltava to feed myself and my mother. I’m no longer ready for a terrible regression in living standards. Some friends from Maidan offer to live temporarily in Russia. But here comes the question of security. It is the high probability that unnecessary information about me will get abroad that stops me from doing so. The most optimal option and the least risky for comfort seems to me to move to Canada. There are connections, a lot of compatriots. But here another question immediately arises: where to get the money to move there… In general, the situation looks hopeless. We continue to look into the options and actively seek support.
In my experience, I have seen that ordinary Europeans perceive Maidan, the revolution of dignity, and the struggle for the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine more from a negative side. Of course, before moving here, one has to remember all of this. If one is willing to live with it, to swallow offence, then move, but in my case it was an extremely negative experience. In my opinion, Germany is not as close to our democratic values as we thought, sitting in tents on Maidan. Thank you for your attention, and I hope that someone will use this information and help solve the issue of moving or not moving to Germany.
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