Kavita Sharma, 42, is currently the only German war reporter in Kyiv. She has been reporting non-stop for RTL from Ukraine since mid-January.
BRIGITTE: How are you after ten weeks in the Ukraine?
Kavita Sharma: Well so far. But of course it touches and moves you a lot to experience a war like this and to see what it does to the people and their homeland.
What do you experience as the worst thing about this war?
The most dramatic is when a city is heavily bombed and people are living in basements and food is running out. What I also see again and again is this hopelessness that overwhelms people when they lose so much – including those who drive off and flee and end up only owning what they have in the car. Especially for older people it is not so easy to walk. You may have a bedridden partner and of course you don’t want to leave him behind. Being faced with such a choice is cruel.
Isn’t it traumatic for you too to experience all this?
It is traumatic for the people who live here. It is also very clear to the people in my team what kind of stress they are exposed to. Our driver Volodymyr and translator Anna had to evacuate their families from Kyiv. And Volodymyr says the clothes he wears are the only things he has left. He used to be a rich man, now he has nothing. We who have been sent here always have a choice. We can leave at any time and don’t have to leave other people behind, no house, no pets. Of course we are sometimes tired or tense, sometimes we sleep badly and of course everything here affects us, but that is no comparison to what the people here go through.
How do you live in Kyiv?
The whole team lives together in the hotel. This means we can react and drive off at any time if something dramatic happens, even at night. In the morning we meet and discuss our plan for the day. If one of us has reservations about doing something, we don’t do it. The front courses are often very dynamic, things change quickly. If something has been recaptured, that doesn’t mean it’s still the same in the evening.
Kavita Sharma on the balcony of her hotel in Kyiv
© David Nolte
“No one is safe here in Kyiv,” you say in one of your posts. Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt or even killed?
Of course you’re tense, but we try to ensure our safety as best we can. You have to think about all possible risks in order to reduce them, and you have to be aware of your environment and your feelings and take them seriously. If you think I’m doing something weird right now, it could save the team. When we drive out of the city, we ask at every checkpoint whether the road is still safe, we feel our way around, sometimes we even have telephone contact with a commander. It is also very important to work quickly. If you go somewhere where there’s been artillery fire, it can start up again quickly.
Driving in Ukraine sometimes feels endless for Kavita Sharma
© David Nolte
Do you have strategies to switch off from the terrible experiences?
An hour before I go to bed I try to get my mind off things. Sometimes I read a book or I go to chat with the cameraman in my room or call friends. Then I want to hear what’s going on with them right now. They always say, hey, that’s not important, what’s the matter with you!? But I want to listen and keep in touch with the rest of the world. That’s not only relaxing, it’s also important so that you don’t lose your temper and can continue to see how bad everything that’s happening to the people here is. To do that, you have to keep sharpening your focus.
Does that mean you get blunted?
No, I don’t think I’ll ever succeed. But if you only live in this reality and this reality determines everything, then the perception shifts. I also see that with the Ukrainians, who no longer run down into the basement at every air raid alarm.
You adapt to reality, and then you find a day in Kyiv to be relaxed if you don’t hear an air raid alarm.
People then sit outside in the sun and you have to keep telling yourself how blatant it is: you can hear the artillery shelling in the background and it’s a relaxed day for the people. That’s why it’s important to always take a step back.
Has your world view changed as a result of this war?
It is shocking that something like this is happening again in our time and that people have to experience such suffering. I expected there to be a minor offensive in the east of the country, but not a major war of aggression. Either way: There are no small or big wars, because the suffering of the individual cannot be measured by them – there is no scale for the fate of an individual.
What do you look forward to most when you think of your home in Istanbul?
I look forward to seeing my friends and going out for a nice meal again. And I look forward to having a carefree time.
To person: Kavita Sharma, 42, is currently the only German war reporter in Kyiv. She grew up in Berlin and studied journalism in London. Before joining RTL, she was a producer at Al Jazeera English. Among other things, she reported from the war zones in eastern Ukraine, Afghanistan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Kavita Sharma lives in Istanbul.