Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov: ‘I felt guilty writing fiction in a time of war’

News Snapshot:

The Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov was having dinner with friends at his home in Kyiv on the evening of 24 February 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Within hours he was advised that his name probably featured on a Russian list targeting prominent Ukrainian figures for arrest, or worse, and he should leave the city. As Kurkov and his wife joined the thousands of Ukrainians who grabbed what possessions they could and headed to the west of the country, he began a stream of articles, speeches, interviews, broadcasts and other interventions – made at home and abroad – to...