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In the banya in Kiev, where war is exorcised

2022-02-23T12:04:27.177Z


Fears between a beer and a sauna, 'Putin is holding us hostage' (ANSA) The 'banya' of the Russian-Ukrainian world is a state of mind. A bit like the dacha. You can try to translate it, use words that convey the idea, but it will always be an approximation. You have to go there, to understand. In practice it is the perfect synthesis between the spa and the pub. It's where men let their guard down. A place for the mind and the body, the worries remain outside. The spec


The 'banya' of the Russian-Ukrainian world is a state of mind.

A bit like the dacha.

You can try to translate it, use words that convey the idea, but it will always be an approximation.

You have to go there, to understand.

In practice it is the perfect synthesis between the spa and the pub.

It's where men let their guard down.

A place for the mind and the body, the worries remain outside.

The specter of war, almost.

Because the words of Vladimir Putin are on everyone's lips, they bounce inside mobile phones even if you don't want to, even if you're naked like mom made you.

 Listen to "In the banya in Kiev, where war is exorcised (by Mattia Bernardo Bagnoli)" on Spreaker.

 "Of course we are worried, we are talking about nothing else. And look, the thing that drives me crazy is that I don't understand how it is possible to have reached this point, again, after 2014. Here, we are always in the Maidan".

Misha is 35, works for a large IT company.

He has a wife and a daughter.

Alla banya Kurenevskie comes to us when she wants to treat herself well, it is perhaps the most famous in Kiev, with a solid tradition that goes back to Soviet times.

The ritual is simple.

You enter, the waiter assigns you a seat, like a tram bench, you undress there, without changing rooms or other trinkets, put your clothes on a hanger, towel around your waist and a felt hat on your head (to protect it from high temperatures of the sauna), then you order.

Tea, beer, vodka.

Crayfish are going strong.

Drinking,

we eat and of course we talk.

And it's a moment to strike up a button.


    "Putin wants to be tough. But for me he didn't understand that socialism is over, that era is over there. I'm not saying that capitalism is all right, not that. But we lost that war, the world has changed "And Ukraine is ready to look to the future, we want to build a new future. Russia I don't know, I don't think I am. I have no problems with the Russians, we read the same books, we hear the same music."


    But if the war breaks out, I won't talk to them anymore, I swear. "Misha is dripping water, has just come back from the frozen pool and has red skin. Alexander hears him talking and intrudes. He's another age, he's 50. He is from Donetsk. The disputed land. "Ukraine is not all the same", he sketches. "Down here 50% are with the Russians.

What then ... now they are all tired.

The economy is a mess.

I tell you, what people want is peace, any peace ".


    The oddity, however, is that, sometimes, to have peace you have to go to war.

"I could leave, the company even offered me to go to Poland or Turkey", confides Misha.

"But I said no, I feel I have to stay here now."

However, there is a plan B.

"My mother-in-law lives in Ferrara, her partner raises dogs. She lives well with you. If all hell breaks out, my wife and daughter will send them to Italy", says Misha.

"Not me though, I'm staying in Kiev".

Serghei, the waiter, approves.

"And else how do we get by?".

Our piece of banya laughs.

Another round of beer.

Alexander teases him.

"With these prices you are also good, he knows me".

Serghei doesn't fit here.

"Zuccone, don't you read the newspapers? Everything is increasing."

And not just in Ukraine, to be honest.

L'

inflation, however, seems small compared to the rest.

Is there a secret to winning the game?

"Stay calm, continue our lives".

General approval.


    "Putin is wrong, if panic breaks out, let's play his game", ruled Misha.

And off into the sauna, sweating fear.   

Source: ansa

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