“It was internal hysteria”: Anzhelika Rudnytska on her first trip to the front, the loss of a loved one, and the war that “went unnoticed”
20 January 14:20
The first trip to the front in 2014 became a point of no return to peaceful life for public figure Anzhelika Rudnytska. The loss of a loved one, coming face to face with war, and the indifference of those behind the front lines forced her to completely change her path — from concert activities to systematic support for the military and civilians in frontline territories. She spoke about this in an interview with the YouTube channel"Komersant Ukrainian".
Rudnytska recalls that the decision to go to the front was unquestionable and deeply personal for her. Two weeks before the trip, she lost a loved one — her uncle, who died in the war.
“Two weeks before my trip, my uncle, my mother’s brother Oleg Mikhailov, died. He was 46 years old at the time. And when I had the opportunity to go to the front, I responded immediately,” she said.
Together with her friends, she decided to organize a concert for the military, although the details of the route and location remained secret for security reasons.
The strongest emotional blow was that their destination turned out to be the unit where her uncle had served.
“We arrived at the location of the Aidar unit, where my uncle had served. And they immediately took me to the barracks where he had lived… Imagine how I felt. I was hysterical inside, but I couldn’t allow myself to show it. So I held it in, and then cried for a whole year,” Rudnytska recalls.
It was then that Rudnytska saw war for the first time as it really is — in stark contrast to the peaceful life behind the front lines.
“I saw the war with my own eyes: shelled houses, people looking suspiciously at everyone, volunteers, 40-degree heat, weapons that they can only obtain in battle. It was hell, while the country was living a cool life, everything was fine for everyone,” she added.
After that trip, Rudnytska could no longer return to her normal life and began to work systematically with the military and frontline territories, combining cultural support with volunteer assistance.
“I just couldn’t go back to my normal life and started traveling endlessly to the front because I understood how important it was to provide psychological support to our military,” she said.
