Not “Russo,” But Ukrainians: Yulia Bin Spoke About SE “IBMPU” Documentary Project “Time to Gather Stones”

11.09.2026, 16:22 uatv.ua

Memory of World War II has been transformed by Russia into one of the instruments of propaganda and current aggression. For decades, the Kremlin appropriates the contribution of Ukrainians and other peoples of the former Soviet Union to the victory over Nazism. SE “International Broadcasting Multimedia Platform of Ukraine” has completed production of the documentary film “Time to Gather Stones. Ukrainians on the Battlefields of World War II”. It tells the stories of Ukrainians who fought against Nazism on various fronts, but for decades Russia appropriated their contribution. About how Ukrainian heroes became “Russians” in documents and why it is now so important to return them their true names, Yulia Bin, general director of SE “IBMPU” and creative producer of the film, spoke in an interview on the “Yedyni Novyny” telethon.

— The film expresses the idea that a state’s place in the world still depends on how its role and the role of its people are perceived during World War II. Please tell us, how does the absence of a Ukrainian voice in European memory of that war harm Ukraine now, when Russia has again declared itself supposedly a fighter against Nazism?

— It has already been declaring itself this “fighter” for a long time. And it is taking away memory not only from our people, but also from other peoples whose countries were part of the Soviet Union. But we are talking about Ukraine specifically now. How does it affect us now? Simply, people know this version of history. Yes, Europeans know this too, because Russia conducted very large-scale work. And it continues to this day, to plant this myth among Europeans and others. To pull us Ukrainians out, like a thread, from the bright tapestry of European and world civilization in general.

— During your work outside Ukraine, particularly in Italy and France, where the film was shot, did you see how deeply this Russian myth about the “people-liberators” has taken root not just in people’s heads, but is still present in local museums and archives?

— Indeed, it is so. We saw all of this. For example, in France, there are days in May when they honor the memory of those who died fighting Nazism. And even when people who want to honor the memory of Ukrainians specifically, speaking with the city mayor about certain events, hear the answer that, they say, excuse me, you need to ask Mr. Orlov about this, who was then Russia’s ambassador to France. They even coordinate this, you understand? This demonstrates that among the French, the myth of the “great Russian people, the people-liberators” still lives.

We saw both in Italy and in France that on monuments, memorial plaques or bas-reliefs, Ukrainian names and surnames are indicated, but it says “russo” (“Russian”). Not even a Soviet soldier, but “russo,” you understand?

That is precisely why we wanted to research this topic so deeply. We met many enthusiasts who are already doing this. One of them, Yuriy Klimchuk, a teacher from Khmelnytsky region, is a hero of our film. At some point, he realized that Russians are stealing memory, and not just ours. There was the Soviet Union, which fought against Nazism, but there were also Ukrainians who fought in European resistance movements. And they too are called “russo.” At the same time, some of them had no connection to the Soviet Union at all. For example, they left to work in France in 1938, where World War II caught up with them. And they, as people who understand where white is and where black is, went to fight against Nazism. They had no connection whatsoever to the Soviet Union.

— Is the rooting of this myth and even such reactions from the city mayor to the Russian ambassador Orlov, as you mentioned, a consequence of years of Russian propaganda? Or, in your opinion, are these contemporary deliberate actions by the Kremlin?

— I think it is a certain symbiosis, because they worked on this earlier and continue to do so. They demonstratively come with St. George ribbons, honor the memory of all the fallen. They move the remains of the dead in cemeteries and at the same time deprive people of their identity. For example, in France, they reburied the ashes of 73 Ukrainian women who died in some camp. And when the remains were transferred, they became “unknown Soviet soldiers.” And now they are finding this out. Russians deliberately come to such places and lay flowers every year. And this is still happening.

— Will this documentary project have practical continuation?

— Yes, it will. We understood that this is a very large and extensive topic. For now, we have raised the stories of Ukrainians who ended up in France and Italy during World War II. But we realized that Ukrainians also fought under the American flag, under the Polish flag, under the Canadian flag, and under the Norwegian flag. And there are very many such stories. And we need to get all of this out now and return our voice. No one but us Ukrainians will do this. That is why we submitted our project to a competition within the initiative of the President of Ukraine “Thousand Springs,” so we can make 10 more such stories.

— You mentioned Ukrainians who suddenly became “Russians.” But when you were shooting the film and saw these facts, did you turn to municipalities, museums, local administrations? That is, here it is, why are you calling black white, let’s correct historical memory.

— Fortunately, there are people who are doing this. Ukrainians, unfortunately, are now very scattered around the world. And among them are people who are doing this and turning to city mayors, by syndicates, for example, in Italy, and they are doing this work. There are entire institutions working on this. For example, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II. And at the same time, there are simply people who raise these urgent issues. And already in some places, even these words carved in stone have been changed from “russo” to Ukrainian. This is very important.

— And which of the stories you found there personally struck you the most?

— I was very struck by the story of Georgy Lipnitsky. He served in the Red Army, was captured in Italy. Then he escaped captivity and joined the Italian Resistance Movement. He is a hero in Italy. But when he returned to his native Khmelnytsky region, all his medals were taken away from him. He could not even find a job, could not work normally, because he was constantly shown that you, they say, are not a hero, you are a prisoner of war. That is, in his own land he could not even live normally. And now the family’s history very much echoes. Today both Lipnitsky’s grandson and great-grandson are fighting for Ukraine. That is, they are now also effectively continuing the struggle against Nazism.

— The first film, as far as is known, is already completed, edited, and ready for viewing. When will it be released on big screens?

— We would like to show it first at international festivals in order to attract an even larger audience.

— Will you translate it into different languages?

— Of course, because we took on this topic specifically because we understand that this is our task: to tell the world about Ukraine in different languages.

— And how many episodes will there be in total?

— For now, 10.

— And will all these 10 episodes be similarly aimed at correcting this historical memory?

— Of course, but 10 is very little. And next year there will be a new “Thousand Springs,” and we will apply again. After all, while we were searching for these stories, we found many more.

— Yulia, thank you for your work. We wish that as many people as possible see these films, because the struggle for historical memory is extremely important at this time.

Read also: “Toothless Ukraine Won’t Protect Its People Abroad”: A Major Interview with Yulia Bin