The phone rings constantly. It is located on a table in the cafeteria in the skating arena Vikingaskeppet in Hamar, where the all-round World Cup in skating is arranged. Svetlana Johnsen is sitting with her daughter Anne Marie. They have just spoken to Svetlana’s mother, who is stuck in the town of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, which was hit hard by the Russian invasion early on.
– Mother is in shock, says Svetlana. She hears how it is being bombed and sees the Russian planes coming from Kursk which is only 15-160 km away, on the other side of the border. We try to make sure she can come here, but the situation is difficult to see. The trains do not run and the situation on the roads is uncertain.
– My mother is a post-war child but my aunts were born before the Second World War. Imagine having to relive the horrors of your childhood? It’s completely unreal. I see the pictures from there … These are the same streets I walked on as a child.
Svetlana Johnsen came to Norway 1995 – the same year she became Ukrainian champion in sprint – and has lived in the area around Hamar since then. She competed for Ukraine in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, after which she ended her active career. In Norway, she has been politically involved and sat in the Storting for the Progress Party during the last term. Now she works as head of the refugee reception center in Alvdal.
– Svetlana Johnsen works as a volunteer during the Ice Skating World Cup in Hamar. She was previously an elite-level skater in Ukraine. The work with the World Cup gives short moments something else to think about than the situation for relatives and friends who are stuck in war-torn areas.
Photo: Emma Lukins
During the World Cup, she works as an audience host. Answer questions and show people right in the stands. For a brief moment, it gives her something else to think about.
At the same time, she is trying to organize relief efforts online. People constantly contact her and ask for information and assistance. Sumy Central Hospital has sent her a list of things needed; medications that are dehydrated and equipment that is missing. In addition to getting hold of things, the big question is how to get to the war-torn areas to the east from the Polish border.
– We do not have distribution within Ukraine and it must be done quickly. Otherwise it’s too late.
Svetlana has created a site on Facebook to gather people. She is also online most hours of the day trying to find people to contact for the right things. A large sum of money has already been raised to be able to buy medical equipment. Now they’re raising money for a drone.
Several in the skating world have connections to Ukraine. From his place as audience host in the stands, Svetlana talks briefly with the Dutch coach Konstantin Poltavets with roots in Kharkiv. The talks concern the situation of the families – who are left, who have managed to evacuate to relative safety in western Ukraine, where they should go if they manage to get out of the country.
– In the arena in Hamar, the Norwegian flag hangs together with the participating countries during the Ice Skating World Cup. Svetlana Johnsen, on the right, and her daughter Anna Marie appreciate the gesture of solidarity. “All small markings are important,” they say.
Photo: Emma Lukins
In the arena in Hamar, the Ukrainian flag hangs on the ceiling together with those of the participating countries, despite the fact that no Ukrainian skiers are on site to compete. A symbolic gesture of solidarity that is appreciated by Svetlana and Anna Marie Johnsen.
Not skiers from Russia either or Belarus is in place. The International Skating Union ISU chose late in the championship to shut down the countries due to the invasion. Svetlana Johnsen thinks this is an important mark.
– I have never before seen how the whole society reacts so unanimously. All small markings are important to show Russia and also the Russian people that this is not accepted.
Svetlana Johnsen’s father is from Russia and she has contact with relatives and friends there as well. She says it is shocking to notice how they are affected by the Russian propaganda and the information they receive from state-loyal media. When Russia adopts new laws that impose harsh penalties for reporting other than official statements, the chances of them changing also shrink.
I have friends I have known for over 20 years who can not be convinced. They are defending Russia
– I have friends I have known for over 20 years who can not be convinced. They are defending Russia. They believe that Ukraine was a security threat to Russia, that we have atomic bombs and weapons we shoot at Russian soldiers. That we use civilians as human shields, says Svetlana resignedly.
– My aunts live in St. Petersburg. We have little contact. Now I wrote that we have a war, that my mother lives during the bombings. They answer that it is very uncertain information.
– When people are silent, they agree.
Svetlana and daughter Anna Marie was in Ukraine and last visited the family two years ago, before the pandemic. They had tickets to travel over New Year’s but chose to stay at home due to the precarious situation after Russia began relocating troops to the Ukrainian border.
Svetlana Johnsen’s children know Ukraine well. They speak Russian and some Ukrainian. The family always spent the summer holidays sunbathing and swimming in the Crimea every year until Russia occupied the peninsula in 2014.
– The dear places we have, the dear memories from the years of growing up. When we are physically going to get back there when the war is hopefully over, to see the devastation that the war brings. These are memories I know we will get that I would have preferred to be without.
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