This article was originally Published by Kyiv Free Press on 9/1/25
The following is part 1 of an interview I conducted with a lifelong Kyivan who runs her own Fashion Design company in the heart of Ukraine’s political capitol. Her name is Tanya Kochur, and she runs a Ukrainian fashion design brand out of her shop filled with natural and colorful, fun, and feminine handmade clothes from a variety of brands, including her own.
I met Tanya when I briefly resided in Kyiv this past summer. I don’t think many Americans realize this, but Ukrainians have a very high sense of fashion. Whenever I travel to Ukraine, one of the first things I do is go shopping to update my fashion to Ukrainian standards so I can blend in, and plus because it’s fun to dress up. All of the women look so pretty and fashionable in Ukraine.
Since I am really turned on to Ukrainian brands, I was so excited to find Tanya’s shop named Logic Clothes off Sofiivs’ka St. Her clothing store features artsy pieces and unique layers that you can add on, and she likes to work with breathable materials which tie comfort to style, depending on the weather. Nothing is mass made, and there are usually never more than a few makes for every peice of clothing she designs, which adds to the rarity of the outfits she designs. She pointed out an embroidered apron that had a subtle touch of Ukrainian folklore.
“It’s famous, everyone knows it.” she said of Ukrainian embroidery. She pointed to the design, “But it’s a light embroidery – with a small touch, not too costume.”
I stopped in her shop a few times and ultimately bought a few really unique dresses she handmade. My favorite was offwhite with these straps that kind of reminded me of a straight jacket, and the other was a green dress and green is my color plus it’s a nice patriotic color now because of the military. The woman at her store even gifted me with this soft black braided rope that I can add to my outfit – truly thoughtful in every single way. And this is apart of Tanya’s philosophy, to make clothing an experience. If you need something fitted or stitched, she will do it for you.
When we first met, Tanya and I began talking politics and it was clear to me she had a heavy conscience about how foreigners viewed Ukrainians during war. “It’s good for people to see how Ukrainians live, many people think that Ukrainians are stuck living like it was centuries ago. but its not the case.”
Tanya explained to me how in her generation growing up, Ukrainians thought America was so great, there were so many opportunities, and there were so many work opportunities being created in America. Similar to my husband, her husband Oleksander went to work in Ukraine when he was 18, he went through a school program. Back then he wanted to move to the US, he had this vision. But now, with Trump in office, he thinks it would be terrible… knowing that half of America elected somebody who sides with Russia… he would probably leave.
As a fellow politically minded person, for even me as an American, I actually have less anxiety living in Kyiv “under bombs” because i dont have to convince anyone to be on my side when it comes to being super pro-Ukrainian. Everybody in Kyiv pretty much already is.
When I asked Tanya for an interview, I wanted to know what she wanted to share with others – if she wanted to talk about the fashion industry. “Designing is not what’s most important right now.”
“When you ask me what to talk about, I don’t understand for people why war isn’t #1.”
For the first two years of Russia’s fullscale invasion, she dropped all of her work in the fashion industry. People weren’t interested in clothes anyways…they were walking around wearing grey hoodies, everything was closed and on lock down…But for Tanya, her focus completely shifted anyway. She consumed herself in war and news.
“But not just to learn about the bombing, but from my desire to know what’s going on.”
Tanya said she also follows russian journalists, and is surprised at their lack of coverage of the war.
“I ask myself, why is war not #1 for them? It seems like it should be, if you’re a journalist, it would be the only thing that’s interesting to you.”
The war changed things. Designers began to produce socks with messages. Sometimes, such as “Kill Russians”. Ukrainian brands started raise funds to buy FPV drones with the proceeds earned from their clothing sales. They collect funds to help the army, to give medicine.
“It’s not so much about design so much as it is about living it through.”
The war transformed the Kyiv-based fashion designer’s world, and it became expressed through her work.
The Kyivan fashion designer half jokingly noted an interesting interaction when a russian contacted her on social media from Moscow to buy some of her clothes. She responded, she will deliver clothes on FPV drone only.
“When I think of Ukraine fashion week, I don’t know–I don’t want to say if it’s good or bad. A lot of people are gathering and having a good time, beautifully dressed on the runway, while someone is dying. To me, small brands buying drones is more interesting than fashion week.”
Tanya stated there is this survivors guilt during war, and she doesn’t want to look around at the people enjoying themselves and hold it against them. “You never know who did what or if they did more. Maybe they donated a lot that day, maybe they volunteered, and they feel a free conscience to enjoy themselves.”
And there are so many fundraisers now for Ukraine’s war effort, and it makes people feel better to give.
In the first 1 1/2 years in war, Tanya was volunteering as much as she could. “There were some people who were volunteering 24 hours per day. they are good examples for me.”
Now almost four years into russia’s savage fullscale invasion Tanya now needs to work and has other things going on, but she wants the opportunity to hire people so she can volunteer.
She said of the war volunteers, “I admire this kind of people. For me, these people are the best and we should be like them more.”
Volunteering and fundraising to support Ukraine’s military is empowering for Ukrainian society.
“Have you ever heard of Sputnik?” Tanya asked me.
“No, I haven’t.”
She explained the famous fundraiser where Ukraine needed photos from space, so they had a huge gathering and the idea was everybody can give a little as no amount was too small.
“You can give 6 hryvnias. Do you know how much that is? It’s nothing. And so everyone gave, and we bought Sputnik. And then we were like, what’s next, nuclear?”
“What are your feelings that the people of Ukraine are giving to the Military, do you feel like it should be the government’s job?”, I asked her.
“Even Israel with their wars going on right now is donating to Ukraine’s war. The government cannot do everything. Any changes that you want to make begins with yourself. It starts with you. I think that’s a really Russian way of thinking… that someone should do it for you… that some guy will come and just do it for you. There is even a difference in Ukrainian and Russian language. Linguistically, Russians have the phrase ‘it happened’– not ‘you did it’. In Ukrainian, we only have the form ‘I did it’.”
Tanya believes that being loyal to the Ukrainian government right now is more important than criticizing it. “It’s not the time to talk about mistakes–we will talk about it later Do what you do. It’s the Ukrainian President’s job to make diplomatic connections. He’s doing what he does. Guy’s in the Army have a right to talk about what the government did or didn’t do. but everyone should do what they can and not blame.”
“Russians are the only guilty one, not the government… them and their government are like a population that fell out from the world and centuries we live in. There is this saying in Ukrainian, it’s called “na na chasu” or, “not the time”.
Tanya loves to follow economic blogs regarding war… she told me they say Russia will collapse, and that the economic situation is getting very bad in russia. “It could be one year, it could be 5 years…but doesn’t the world know it’s better for Russia to collapse sooner than later? Because over time Russians will keep leaving Russia, go to their countries, and then they will have problems there.”
A student of war and a learner of the enemy russian state that has fueled this deadly invasion, Tanya has a message to Americans. “I want to say to everyone in the US, to watch a little bit of russian TV to see what they are talking about YOU. There are so many bad words about America on russian TV. When you first see it, you’re shocked, then you think it’s a joke, and then, you just become used to it. They say, Nuke DC, London, kill Americans, every day. For a long time the russians have been making the worst enemies to America.”
And Ukrainians like Tanya believe that russian people are responsible for the war, not just state TV or politicians.
“It’s not only on Putin who started the war. It’s the whole country, russia. Russians can actually vote, they can vote to change something. If you’re not good with something, go to the streets and do something about it.” But the russians don’t do much to stop the war.
“Ukrainians suffer a lot of pain because of russia. A lot of uncertainty. What will happen. Will it? Won’t it? In the beginning we thought, even if Putin starts the war, many of us initially thought, the russians will stop it. We were sure they would. But they never did.”
Back before the full scale invasion, maybe there was a possibility Ukrainians would try to understand russians. “I’m in Kyiv, here’s a man, here’s another man, listening in 2019, maybe he has smart ideas, maybe he can help people understand eachthier. But now, it’s not important anymore.”
Tanya has listened to a lot of the published phonecalls between captured russian prisoners and their family back home. “I was shocked, it’s systemic. I just kept listening to another and another, they don’t care about their sons who went to war. They are like ‘What can I do. What can I do.’ I don’t understand this.
She began to draw to the linguistic differences between russian and Ukrainain.“When Ukrainians say “What can I do”, it is to fix something. But when russians say “what can I do”, it doesn’t even make sense to Ukrainians.
But what happened to the Americans, she wonders.
Americans were known to bring food during the cold war era, dry milk. “I remember it. I was a kid, russians don’t remember it. 60-90% of the US biggest enemy is russia. Propaganda made them hate you. But they really hate you now. They set fire to the flag, dirty it. And American people do’t see it, they do’t listen to it.”
And the lifelong Kyivan warned Americans. “For russia to invade the East, a lot of people felt it could happen because the regions are connected. But for russia to come to Kyiv, we thought it was impossible. After what they did to us, I don’t know, I’m not sure they wont go farther. He wont stop. And when there is not enough people, there will be drones.”
Tanya reminded that peacetime since the world wars was only 70-80 years ago. “That’s a very little time compared to history. We are fighting We do’t want to agree with it. We also fight for our freedom. And we knpow that the US wants our people to be strong, and we hope that if we show strength, our allies will stand up for us too.”
To be continued………
-Alexandra Zakhvatayev
USA / Ukraine
LVIV free press 