Reporter Volkovsky

“Reporter Volkovsky” is an impressive story of people whose lives were turned upside down by the Russian-Ukrainian war. What seemed incredible yesterday has become commonplace today. With its merciless and cynical hand, the war not only divided life into “before” and “after”, but also shattered the former familiar ideas and relationships between people.

The wife of one of the protagonists, Serhiy Sukhobokov, Lisa, becomes a supporter of the “Russian world” and thus brings drama into their family life. She joins the occupiers and ends tragically. On one hand, he hates her, on the other hand, he continues to love her. These mutually exclusive feelings resonate painfully in his heart. Their daughter is torn between mom and dad.

The main characters of this book are journalists. In the country attacked by the aggressor, they must constantly respond to the new challenges posed by the war. Does a journalist of a country, that is a victim of the aggression, have to remain completely neutral, or does he (she) still have to become an information warrior? Does a journalist from a country, that has suffered from the aggression, have to be an impartial journalist, or can he (she) still take part in the resistance?

How to treat a world that is limited to expressing concern and is unaware of the inhumanity of Putin’s regime, which has clearly challenged the world through the war with Ukraine. And only after Feb-24, 2022, the world began to really act, to really oppose the dictator. Before that day it was rather a simulation of the confrontation. The war changes the situation and forces professionals to look for new answers.

Another painful issue is the attitude towards Russians, citizens of a country that declared its friendship and then attacked your country.

The protagonists are looking for answers to these questions, experiencing dramatic adventures. They liberated a French cameraman from captivity during the occupation of Crimea. One of the characters finds himself in the newly created “Isolation” prison in the occupied Donetsk and sees the abuse of innocent people that is taking place there.

Yuriy Lukanov is a Ukrainian journalist from in Kyiv, Ukraine. Не has been a journalist for over four decades during which he has published thousands of articles, investigative reports, and human rights investigations in Ukrainian and international media, including United Press International, The Financial Times,  and The Atlantic Council of the US. “Reporter Volkovsky” is his first novel, which attempts to tell the story of the war using his unique humor and insight.

“Yuriy Lukanov managed to convey the tragedy of this war, tell about its nature, while keeping the a lighthearted approach”. –Piotr Andrusieczko, Polish Journalist of the Year (2014)

“I am not a literary critic, but I know something about Russian terrorists, war and occupation. Yuriy Lukanov has described the DPR concentration camp as accurately as if he was there himself, his description reflects the reality, which I personally observed for 48 days in the DPR concentration camp in summer 2014, almost documentarily. Along with fictional but very typical characters, everything written by Yuriy may seem absurd to the readers, yet the reality is no less absurd itself.” Dmytro Potekhin, Ukranian activist, CEO, and former Russian prisoner