Echoes from Ukraine

It’s All Saints’ Day in Paris. Outside, the rain is heavy, so Anna Bazarna, Anastasiia Amelicheva, and I take shelter in a small bistrot near Galerie Poggi. We were supposed to see The War Within – Ukrainian Artists to the Front but the gallery is closed for the holiday. None of them celebrated Halloween the night before. “There is no need to,” Anastasiia remarked, “the real horror is currently happening in Ukraine because of the war”. The coffee slowly becomes a glass of Brouilly as we begin to talk about the mission that now brings these two young women together : the association uniting Ukrainian students across France. Two paths that began far from Paris now cross in the same city, guided by the same quiet determination.

✨ Meet Anna …

Anna Bazarna studied Applied Mathematics and Financial Markets at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, one of Ukraine’s leading technical universities. Before the war, she had already planned to pursue a double degree at HEC Paris, a long-prepared move that suddenly turned into exile when the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Upon arriving in her new life, she was elected President of HEC Ukraine, the student association representing Ukrainian voices within the school. There she organizes cultural events, charity initiatives, and talks to keep Ukraine visible in the academic space. Alongside her studies, Anna now works as an intern at an American investment bank, where the pace is relentless and the hours long. Between deadlines and late-night meetings, she rarely stops, yet she still finds time to think about something larger than work.

… and Anastasiia ✨

Anastasiia Amelicheva, from Kyiv, left Ukraine in the first days of the full-scale war. Her family lived in a district close to Irpin and Bucha, places that would soon become symbols of horror. She remembers the city falling silent. “It was the first time I saw Kyiv completely empty,” she says. That silence was the sign it was time to go. She arrived in Burgundy speaking almost no French, just ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci,’ she laughs. For months she moved from Dijon to Reims to Paris, changing cities, adapting, starting again, while continuing her studies at Sciences Po, where she completed a Master’s in International Governance and Diplomacy.

Before coming to France, Anastasiia had studied International Relations at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, dreaming of a career in cultural diplomacy. Passionate about film and visual culture, she founded the Union of Young Film Critics of Ukraine and later joined Fresh Production Group, helping promote Ukrainian cinema abroad.

Carrying the Torch of a Historic Association

In 2024, Anna and Anastasiia each decided independently to run for the leadership of the Association of Ukrainian Students in France (AEUF). The association had existed decades earlier before falling into silence. Encouraged and informally guided by Volodymyr Kogutyak, Vice President of the Ukrainian World Congress and former AEUF president himself, a new election was launched to bring it back to life.

That process is where they first met. “We realized very quickly that we were thinking about the same things,” says Anastasiia. “We both wanted to rebuild, to connect, to give meaning.” After several months of preparation and votes, they were elected President and Vice President of the renewed AEUF, carrying forward a name from the past into a generation determined to write its own chapter.

From the start, their goal was not to compete with existing organizations but to connect them. The AEUF’s mission is to unite Ukrainian student and cultural associations across France, from Marseille to Lyon, from Dijon to Paris, under a shared umbrella of dialogue and collaboration. “We don’t want to build walls between initiatives,” Anna says. “We want to create a common language.”

Culture, Connection, and the Next Chapter

The two young women are laying the foundations of what they hope will become a lasting network of connection and belonging. Their vision blends diplomacy with modern activism, using culture to keep Ukraine visible in everyday life

The AEUF is developing projects such as film screenings, mentorship programs, and a Ukrainian Students’ Day in Paris, a celebration of music, art, and dialogue. “We want it to be both joyful and serious,” says Anastasiia. “A space where students can meet and feel proud of who they are.” Their first regional collaboration will be the Youth Democracy Forum in Dijon, a step toward decentralizing their network and engaging Ukrainian youth in different French regions.

After the Rain

As we leave the bistrot, Paris feels lighter. The rain has stopped, and for Anna and Anastasiia, the work is only beginning. Watching them, I cannot help but think that even they do not yet know how far their paths will go or what their generation might one day rebuild. 

And then I remember a Ukrainian proverb that stays with me : Якщо хочеш розсмішити Бога, розкажи Йому про свої плани на завтра. (If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans for tomorrow.) Perhaps that is the secret behind their strength, not knowing exactly where tomorrow leads yet moving forward anyway, turning uncertainty into purpose and purpose into hope.

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Valentin JEDRASZYK / Echoes from Ukraine