By Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Editor (Canada-Ukraine), Times Asian
Volodymyr Pylypenko is the founding president of the French-speaking Rotary Club Kyiv Honoré de Balzac and chairs the Ukrainian section of Rotary’s France–Ukraine Inter-Country Committee. He coordinates humanitarian cooperation with international partners, supporting medical assistance, rehabilitation, displaced families, and children, while promoting cultural connections between Ukraine and the wider world.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Volodymyr Pylypenko about Honoré de Balzac’s Ukrainian connections, Rotary’s humanitarian work, and sustaining international support during Russia’s war. Pylypenko discusses winter energy needs, support for displaced families and wounded soldiers, his childhood in Pripyat, his wartime experiences, and his hopes for renewed cultural cooperation beyond the conflict.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: My first question is unusual: how was Honoré de Balzac connected to Ukraine historically? Was it l’amour, love?
Volodymyr Pylypenko: He came from France for love. Consider how long it took to travel from France to Ukraine then. It was a long journey.
Jacobsen: Did he come to Ukraine and fall in love, or had he already met his future wife elsewhere?
Pylypenko: Their relationship began through correspondence. Ewelina Hańska was a Polish noblewoman living in what is now Ukraine. They first met in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1833, before he visited her estate here.
A wider European community connected artists and people from different countries. Balzac became part of that world. He stayed in Ukraine and continued writing.
Jacobsen: Was their relationship one of love or convenience?
Pylypenko: It was really love. She was already married when they began their relationship. After her husband died, they eventually married at St. Barbara’s Church in Berdychiv on 14 March 1850.
Balzac stayed at her estate in Verkhivnia, now in Zhytomyr Oblast. After their marriage, they returned to Paris. Their married life was very short: he died on 18 August 1850, about five months after the wedding.
This history shows the connections between Ukraine and France. That is why I chose the name Rotary Club Kyiv Honoré de Balzac, to emphasize the cultural ties between our countries.
Jacobsen: What was Balzac’s connection with Kyiv itself?
Pylypenko: Balzac visited Kyiv and its contract fairs, centred on Kontraktova Square. Businesspeople came from across Europe to sign contracts, and balls, concerts, and other cultural events took place alongside the business.
Artists and visitors came from Ukraine and other countries. Culture was part of these gatherings. We still have opera, operetta, and the philharmonic today, but the war interrupts performances. Yesterday, they had to stop a performance because of the situation.
Jacobsen: Russia has been acting as a state terrorizing the public. What does Rotary Kyiv do for Ukrainians now?
Pylypenko: Our Rotary club continues to support rehabilitation centres, centres for displaced people, schools, kindergartens, and soldiers who have undergone amputations.
Since 2022, Rotary’s international network has provided Ukrainians with assistance estimated at more than US$100 million. We continue to support children and hospitals, including preparations for this winter. Unfortunately, we need many portable power stations and generators.
We try to do as much as possible through our projects. But we also need to communicate every day to explain what is really happening on the ground in Ukraine.
Jacobsen: What is your message to people in France and French-speaking Belgium?
Pylypenko: Keep your eyes open to the reality in Ukraine. Continue supporting our families and displaced people through this winter.
People sometimes tell me, “It is a long war. We are very tired of this war.” But it is much harder to face it alone, without support and real friends.
Since 2014, I have tried to explain this everywhere: in Germany, France, Belgium, and at the Council of Europe. I have tried to open people’s eyes to the seriousness of Russia’s aggression and terrorism.
Over the years, Europe has opened its eyes, step by step. But it has been a very long road. It is difficult to make people understand. You need to be here, to feel the war, to understand it. It is very difficult to explain everything online.
My mission is to explain, in person, what is happening in Ukraine and exactly what help and support we need for this winter. Getting that message to our friends takes daily work.
I continue this mission with friends around the world: in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada, and the United States. Every two weeks, we organize a Zoom meeting to explain the situation as it is that day.
They understand because we have many projects for children, displaced people, soldiers, and hospitals. We continue along this path. We do not change. We continue as long as we are alive.
Sometimes I say, “Maybe tomorrow I will no longer be here.” With drones, missiles, and bombs, anything is possible. Friends ask me why I say that. But we are living through an active war.
Yesterday, drones hit my parents’ building and destroyed it. Afterwards, I took my parents to the hospital because of the shock.
I also lived through the Chornobyl disaster as a child in 1986. We lived in Pripyat, close to the reactor. We understand what these things are really like.
Sometimes people say, “Why are you telling us all this? We do not understand what is happening in your country.” I tell them, “Come here. I will organize a visit so you can understand better.”
When I arrive in Paris or Brussels for meetings, people ask, “Can you explain exactly what is happening?” I explain the details of my day, for example, being without electricity or water since the morning.
Some people understand. Many do not understand what life in Ukraine is really like. So we keep this hard work going, explaining the situation in my country: Kyiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv.
I travel and stay in close contact with friends in different places. I remain optimistic and realistic, and I continue this work. My mission is to bring good friends together and help make things better.
I hope we can organize more events in another format, through culture. I love playing music. As a child, I completed music school in Pripyat, near Chornobyl.
I produced for the Ukrainian group VV and worked on music projects in France. We organized some wonderful projects together.
I want to return to organizing exhibitions and other cultural projects with friends in Europe, Canada, and the United States. I know how to bring people together and organize these things. When I completed a project with my friends, I felt as happy as a child. We always had good results.
Between humanitarian and cultural projects, I prefer cultural projects. They help improve relations between our countries. I think we will have time in the future to carry out many good projects together. This is just the beginning.
Unfortunately, many people know my country through Chornobyl, war, or other tragic events. I hope that, through this difficult period, we can build a bridge connecting good people around the world, show them Ukraine, and open other countries to our people.
I remain realistic. We continue to drink good Ukrainian wine with our friends.
Glory to Ukraine. Glory to my friends.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Volodymyr.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is a Canadian journalist and publisher who serves as Times Asian’s Editor for Canada and Ukraine Affairs and writes on international affairs.
