Ukrainian soldier and poet Yaryna Chornohuz on life in the trenches

A Ukrainian soldier has spoken to FRANCE 24 about her life in the Ukrainian trenches, and why writing poetry has helped her get through the war. Yaryna Chornohuz’s poetry book that she wrote on the front line won the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine for Literature in 2024. It has now been translated into English as “Dasein: In Defence of Presence”, or in French “C’est ainsi que nous demeurons libres”. This Monday evening, she is also appearing in Paris at the Theatre de la Ville, in association with the Ukrainian Institute in France. “Art is a kind of therapy and a way to save the truth of humanity,” she told us in Perspective.