Artur Edamov is a Ukrainian cyclist living in Kharkiv, just across the border from Russia. Through his camera and his words, this is his story.
I want to tell you my story about the war and my bike.
In my country there has been a war against Russia since 2014 (but actually it has lasted for 300 years). In the last eight years only in eastern Ukraine, in Donbass.
Then, at the end of February, everything changed.
I live in Kharkiv. It is located 30 km from the Russian border in north-eastern Ukraine. I wasn’t afraid that war would come to my city until February 24, because I couldn’t imagine what war is.
And now I know. It’s terrible, very terrible. Panic, fear and hatred – just those feelings – since Russia started bombing my city.
All Ukrainians feel guilty. Some feel guilty because they are in a safe place; others because they have food and water, or because their town was not bombed, or because they are “safe” and not on the front lines. i have the same feelings I volunteered at the regional council building until it was destroyed by a missile. I was very fortunate to be in a different place at the time.
After the invasion, many people left Kharkiv in their cars or by train. Public transport stopped working. Everything stopped working. It was almost impossible to buy gasoline. Getting anywhere was a big problem for people without a car. Taxi drivers increased prices up to $200 for 5 km. But there were also many drivers who helped free of charge.
After the first two weeks, my pregnant wife also had to move to a safer place. Now she is in Poland and we are waiting for a baby in two months – our first child. It’s much easier for me now, I know my wife is protected from harm but I know she worries a lot about me so I try to be online as much as possible. But it’s a big change.
Just a year ago we rode bicycles through Ukraine, through the territory now occupied by Russian troops. We made plans for the future. And now we don’t even know when we’ll see each other again.
Almost all of my friends also left town. I decided to stay and try to help in some way, even if I didn’t really know how. I wanted to do everything and as much as possible.
After my Schwinn Rocket MTB was stolen a year ago, I worked hard and bought a Cube Nuroad. I’ve never ridden on gravel, but the global hype got me. Now I understand that the bike category doesn’t matter to me – MTB, fat bike, gravel or city bike. I can be happy with anything. Just a bike. No super speed, no perfect look. I just need a reliable bike to ride with my wife and friends. I am completely satisfied with my current bicycle friend.
Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine after Kyiv, but it is not particularly suitable for cycling. We have a bike path along the forest and nothing more, and the bike infrastructure was overlooked when car infrastructure was developed. But we often drove out of town at the weekend, with or without an overnight stay.
Once or twice a year I organized a week-long bike tour outside the Kharkiv region with my wife or friends. Ukraine is very beautiful and you can pitch your tent anywhere – and several interesting routes have emerged in recent years. Unfortunately, they cannot be used in the coming years, as many roads and forests have been mined by Russian soldiers.
After the invasion, when the city had problems with transportation, my bike helped a lot. E-bike owners would be even happier (as long as their electricity still works at home).
One day my brother got sick and I didn’t hesitate to get on my bike and bring him medicine.
Recently, my friends asked me to take food to their relatives in an area where there were no open shops within walking distance.
I realized that in this way I can help others. My wife’s bikepacking bags were the best fit for this activity. I later found out that in some other more dangerous areas, cyclists had banded together to help deliver food and medicine. I stopped feeling lonely.
A problem with my bike now is that the brakes don’t work; I don’t understand the technical aspects of bikes and the bike shops are closed. But what saves me is the fact that there are only a few cars left in the city and the snow has almost melted. Another problem is the lack of carriers; Sometimes I have to carry water, but I put it in my backpack.
But let that be my biggest problem.
Now I work from home mornings and evenings, launching DDOS attacks on Russian sites, and if I have any requests during the day, I get on my bike and try to help those who need it. The bike also helps me to relax mentally and not to think about the war for a moment.
Russian troops cannot break through the city’s defenses, so they use heavy artillery. We can be shelled with rockets at any time in any part of the city, and every day in Kharkiv there are up to 50 shelling.
More than 1,000 houses were destroyed. The historic city center is also badly damaged. 75% of the hospitals, every third school and every fourth kindergarten have already been destroyed. Russian soldiers are trying to destroy all civilian infrastructure, shelling crowded places and humanitarian aid centers.
I stopped being scared after the first week. My house is undamaged and I have not come under fire, but there have been several heavy bombardments within a kilometer radius. Explosions and air raid sirens become commonplace. You can’t always be scared and you get used to it, but I still can’t sleep in my bed by the window. The floor in the hallway is a safe place, but that won’t protect me from a direct missile hit.
i am not a hero Many people do a thousand times more than I do – evacuate people, provide medical care in basements, put out fires under fire. Everyone does what they can. And I am sure that we will win.
Glory to Ukraine! 🇬🇧
A shorter version of this post originally appeared on Reddit. CyclingTips worked with Artur to edit and expand on this article.
You can find out how you can help Ukraine and Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion here: https://supportukrainenow.org
To donate to Artur personally – he plans to spend all funds raised on humanitarian causes such as food, water and medicine – his paypal details are edamov(at)gmail.com
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