Anywhere else in the world, it would be a perfectly normal question for a couple who intend to marry. "What are your plans?" I ask Ales Plotka, a citizen of Belarus, and Toma Lazarenko, who is Ukrainian, over coffee.
“Plans?” Toma asks incredulously. She and Ales look at one another and burst into laughter. This is war time. There are no plans.
That doesn't prevent them trying to imagine a life beyond the limbo in which they've been suspended since February 24th. Ales moved to Ukraine two years ago, after meeting Toma at a cultural event. It was, he said, "love at first glimpse . . . a serious signal for both of us that there was something deep." They registered as civil partners and now wish to marry, but the war has made it impossible to obtain the documents they need.
When Kyiv was attacked, Ales and Toma fled with a few bags and their marmalade cat Persik (“peach”). Friends lent them an empty apartment in Lviv.
Ales is a poet, translator and communications consultant for NGOs. Toma is a cultural events manager. They spend most of their time on the internet, helping members of Ukraine’s cultural community who have lost jobs or are refugees. Both are 37 years old.
They are considering what Ales calls "Plan B", in the event that Lviv is bombarded or occupied by Russian forces. They may be future residents or citizens of Ireland.
"I am looking for opportunities in Ireland, because of my passion for the country," Ales says. "I like James Joyce. We, the colonised peoples of Belarus and Ukraine, glorify the Irish who suffered from colonisation. For us, Ireland is cool."
The couple enjoyed a few pints on past St Patrick’s Days, but will not celebrate this Thursday. “It doesn’t feel right to celebrate when people are getting shelled and dying,” Ales says. Making camouflage nets for the army has been the couple’s main social activity since the war started.
The situation is complicated by Ales's Belarusian nationality. There are tens of thousands of Belarusians in Ukraine. Many came here when Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko rigged elections two years ago. Most did not apply for asylum, because the process was so complicated.
Now they are regarded with suspicion, because Lukashenko is Vladimir Putin’s close ally. Putin uses Belarus, on Ukraine’s northern border, as a staging ground for the war. “Lukashenko cannot say no,” says Ales. “Putin does not ask questions. He gives orders.”
When the war started, Ukraine froze the bank accounts of Belarusians, including Ales. “Toma has to support me,” he laughs. Ales holds Ukrainian residence papers, but fears he will not be allowed to return if he leaves the country.
‘Poles quietly hated Ukrainians’
At least one Belarusian family were expelled from their apartment in Kyiv because of their nationality. “In time of war, people generalise, jump to conclusions. I understand that if you’re sitting in Kyiv getting hit by missiles fired from Belarus, you blame us. Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate between the regime and the people. Ukrainians think Russians and Belarusians are collaborators, because we don’t overthrow our dictators”.
To counter this misperception, members of the Belarusian community are organising a battalion to fight on the side of Ukraine. Belarusians in Poland are active in providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees.
Toma is originally from Crimea, which was annexed by Russian in 2014. “I have lost my identity twice,” she says. First Crimea, now Kyiv. She speaks Polish and dreams of moving to Poland, but Ales is reluctant. Anti-Belarusian sentiment there is worse than in Ukraine, he says. “Poland has been in a xenophobic mood for a decade. They need to channel this energy somewhere. Before the war, Poles quietly hated Ukrainians. Now Polish prejudice against Belarusians is much worse than against Ukrainians.”
Ales wants to find a job in Ireland that would enable the couple to live there. “I’m not being proud or macho. I just want to be useful. I want to have a job and pay taxes.”
Ales has checked the Irish Government website. As the civil partner of a Ukrainian citizen, he should be free to settle in Ireland with Toma.
