“You don’t think, you just do”: Reporter Darja Stomatová on four years of covering Ukraine war
TV journalist Darja Stomatová has been reporting from Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Last week Stomatová received the Ferdinand Peroutka Prize, perhaps the most prestigious honour in Czech journalism, for her coverage of the conflict. I spoke to the 34-year-old at our studios in Prague.
You’re originally from Kazakhstan and you moved here at the age of about five, in the second half of the 1990s. What do you remember about first living here in Czechia?
“I was quite lost, maybe, when we came here.
“I have one memory, very bright in my mind, of when I was put in kindergarten.
“It was my first day and the kids around me put me on a chair and were yelling different Czech words at me – they hoped that I would remember something at least [laughs].
“And I was probably very lost.”
You were exotic for them, I guess?
“I think so, yes. Because in those times there were not that many children from abroad.
“I had one classmate at elementary school who was from Ukraine, I think, but there were no others.
“So probably it wasn’t that common for kids to have someone from a different country.
“Of course, now it has changed a lot and you have many kids from Ukraine, from different countries, in classes.”
What were your beginnings in journalism? And why was TV journalism the direction you went in?
“I like the combination of sound, information and video – I think it makes quite a complete image of the situation.
“That was probably one of the reasons why I started to do television.
“Of course, also, I always wanted to do foreign news reporting, because then you can travel, you can meet people that you would never meet and talk about their culture, their situation.
“But I had never thought that I would do war journalism.”
How did you end up reporting from Ukraine, which you are now obviously most known for?
“Because my life was… put together with a person, Ján Schürger, who also did war reporting before.
“And when we were trying to figure out who would go to Ukraine, this role was made for me, because I speak Russian.”
And he’s your partner?
“He’s my partner, yes. So we decided to go together and we came to Ukraine a week before the start of the invasion.
“At that time, I did not believe that it would end up like that, but it did, and then we just couldn’t stop it, you know.
“It just started and we travelled to Ukraine and back again and again.
“And then a part of Ukraine became a part of me.”
Originally you were reporting for CNN Prima News and now you’re with Czech Television. You must have seen a lot of things, and you must have spoken to a lot of people who’ve seen much more – what are some of the strongest stories you’ve come across in Ukraine?
“Every story that we create or that we report about is a strong story, because there’s a war.
“These stories are very different. Sometimes it’s a story of sadness, sometimes they are stories about heroes. Sometimes it’s something very critical about Ukraine, about corruption, about other things that are not OK for a democratic society.
“If I should remember one of these stories, probably for me it’s the story of a father who was searching for his son, who was a soldier, because he was lost for a month. Then he found him, he went to Western Ukraine and took him medicine. The son was in hospital and when he was OK he decided to go back to the war zone – and he died.
“That’s probably the strongest story, because it’s the essence of war: people lose their relatives, fathers and mothers have to send their sons to war.
“For me, that’s probably the essence of what we do.”
And you made a documentary about this story?
“Yes, we did.”
What have been some of the hardest assignments you’ve had so far?
“It’s very hard to report about critical stuff in Ukraine, because at one point you have to realise that it might cause some harm, it might give some information to the Russian side.
“It’s very hard to report about critical stuff – it might give some information to the Russian side.”
“So it has been very hard to know when to put stories out, how to do these stories, who to contact.
“It took us a lot of thinking about how to do these stories before we actually put them out.”
Can you give me an example of what kind of topics you’re speaking about?
“We did a story about fortifications in Ukraine that were not OK, in the war zone.
“We started to ask why it was like that, was there money involved. Was money from this going somewhere or was it because of the plan of these fortifications.”
So there’s a certain risk for you, you feel, if you report on corruption in Ukraine?
“It was not about reporting about corruption, it was more that we were doing a report from the zone – and if we put it out too early, the Russian side would know where these fortifications were.
“So we had to wait for about a year, when the situation changed, and the Russians were already in these places. So we knew that they already knew about it and that if we showed the story we would not harm anybody, that we would not show something that we were not supposed to show.”
Describe your work on the ground. How do you stay on top of everything that’s happening? Are you in constant touch with the Ukrainian authorities? What are your other sources?
“I think the most important sources are the people who we talk with.
“We have a lot of contacts in Ukraine and we are constantly in touch: with soldiers, with civilians.
“That’s probably the most basic source for me, and then I’ll pick pieces of information and try to compare it with official information, with information from social media and stuff like that, different Ukrainian media.
“Then I put it all together.”
When have you felt personally most afraid in all of your time in Ukraine, which is now almost four years?
“Probably when I was in Kostiantynivka, which is on the front. We went there by foot, not by car, because we thought that was safer.
“And the realisation that you’re in the middle of a city and you have no escape route, that was probably… You know, it’s quite hard to understand this situation in the place – you have to work, but you also have to understand that there’s no easy way to get out of there.”
What does it do you, having experiences like this? Do you wake up a week later in the middle of the night and shout out? How does that affect you?
“Sometimes I think about some stuff that has happened in Ukraine, but mostly it’s not in Ukraine itself but when we are back here in the Czech Republic; we know that we are safe, and then I remember some stories, some contacts.
“There are a lot of people that I can’t get in touch with, because their phone is not working. And then, you know, you think about these stories, you think about these people: What happened to them? Are they alive, are they dead? Did they decide to stay in these front cities, or did they decide to leave?
“This thinking is probably more devastating for me than the realisation that I saw dead bodies, dead soldiers, dead civilians.
“Because at that point you just know that you cannot help them, and you know that there’s no future for them.
“But you know that other people that we did our stories with did have some future – and it’s just up to their decision.”
How does it work in terms of how long are you sent for in one go, so to speak? How long does Czech TV send you there for? How often do you come home?
“The last two years we have a rotation system, so for one month we are in Ukraine and the next month we are in the Czech Republic.”
You mentioned people close to the front line. Do you find that even in the most hellish of circumstances that people still don’t want to leave their homes?
“Yes. I find it completely terrible, because I just cannot understand why they are staying there."
“There are a lot of examples where volunteers, people who help evacuations from these cities, have come – because they were asked by them, by these people who stay in these places – and at one point these people just say, I don’t want to leave my home, just leave me here, go back, be safe."
“But they don’t realise that these volunteers have risked their lives by coming to these cities. This is horrible.”
What do you think four years of covering Ukraine has done to you? How have you changed?
“A lot of things have changed. For me maybe it’s the realisation that it’s not natural always to have your safe space."
“I realised that it’s not natural always to have your safe space.”
“And we have to realise that at one point everything can change, as it changed for people in Ukraine, and I feel like it’s precious for me to have my home times – to be at home, to be with my family – and you just realise that it’s not natural, it’s not supposed to be natural, and you have to take care of these moments.”
I have to admit that I’m the kind of guy who, if I see danger, I go exactly in the opposite direction, because I don’t want to be anywhere near danger. What kind of person does it take to be a war reporter?
“You probably don’t think, you just do. You have no choice. You have no choice to do it differently.”
But you do have another choice. You could say to Czech TV, I don’t want to do it anymore, I’ve started to feel more scared. You do have a choice.
“What about these people that I stay in contact with in Ukraine? How can I tell them that I give up when they did not give up?”
“Probably yes, but what about these people that I stay in contact with in Ukraine? How can I tell them that I will not come again? How can I tell them that I give up when they did not give up?"
“I cannot give up, like that. Maybe it’s about this more.”
How do your family and friends here in Czechia view the work that you do?
“It’s very hard for them. For my family, for Ján’s family. It’s very hard for them to see that we are in places that are very dangerous, we are risking our lives."
“Every time I come home my mom says, Maybe you don’t have to go anymore?”
“But we have their support, probably, and some kind of understanding."
“Of course every time I come home my mom says, Maybe it’s your last trip, maybe you don’t have to go anymore? You could just decide to stay in the Czech Republic, you could change your work, do something different."
“But then I realise that I cannot just stop. And it’s not about work. It’s not work. It’s just some kind of, you know, your mission, to finish this, to be there till the end of the war, to cover these stories, to stay in touch with these people."
“It’s your mission to finish this, to be there till the end of the war, to cover these stories, to stay in touch with these people.”
“There’s also a huge feeling of responsibility toward people here in the Czech Republic who want to see these stories that we do. There are a lot of things around it.”
When you say the end of the war, what’s your educated guess as to how the war may end?
“I have no idea, honestly. I have no idea."
“I hope that it might end in two years, that it won’t take longer, because both sides are very tired: economically, the people are tired."
“So probably it will not last more than two more years. That’s what I hope.”
What do you think might happen in two years then? What would be the outcome?
“It will depend on what position Russia and Ukraine will be in. Because right now it’s more about doing it until the end. That’s what I see, from the Russian side and from the Ukrainian side."
“They don’t want to give up, which is good for Ukraine, but also the Russians don’t want to give up.
“It will depend on what situation they will find themselves in – if it will be that bad that they will have to realise that there is some stuff that they will have to give up. I hope that it will not happen, but it might happen."
“So it depends on that.”
Getting back to your work, are there any advantages or disadvantages to being a female reporter in this kind of environment?
“I believe there are more advantages than disadvantages."
“Women aren’t supposed to be in a war. It’s more like a man’s thing; when they are kids they play soldiers, they play with toy guns – this stuff is more common for men."
“But as a woman I’m more like an element of home, of a nice feeling that someone in the west of Ukraine or in the Czech Republic is waiting for them."
“Some Ukrainians don’t like to hear Russian. But when I explain to them that I’m from Kazakhstan and live in the Czech Republic they change.”
“For example, soldiers are very nice to me. Civilian people are, I think, more open with me than with Ján, if I can compare, and it brings a lot of advantages.”
Is it an advantage being a native speaker of Russian?
“Yes, of course. It’s a huge advantage."
“Some Ukrainian people don’t like to hear Russian words. But when I explain to them that I’m from Kazakhstan and I live in the Czech Republic they change and they aren’t that, you know, dramatic about me speaking Russian.”
What was your knowledge of Ukrainian people, let’s say, five years ago, and how do you view them now? To me they’re absolute heroes.
“They are heroes. I would agree with that. I think they did what I couldn’t imagine that they would do."
“I think already the Ukrainians are the winners of the war, compared to Russia.”
“Russia is a huge country, it was a huge power, it was huge pressure, but they did it."
“I think already they are the winners of the war, compared to Russia.”
How do you feel then when you come back from Ukraine to Czechia and you see around you this pro-Russian sentiment, with political parties even seeming to be repeating Russian narratives?
“It’s a pity. But for me, it’s just about me doing my job in Ukraine."
“There are a lot of comments. When I put something on social media, some people don’t write nice stuff."
“But then I think about it and I realise that I go to war, I risk my life and I don’t feel I have the power the change the minds of these people."
“I do my job as perfectly as I can in the situation, but it’s not on me to make them change their minds.”
You can’t change these people’s minds, I don’t believe. But still I’m interested in what you think of them, especially when you consider this country was invaded by the Russians in 1968. How can so many Czechs be pro-Russian?
“The war has already been going on for four years. I believe that these people just think about themselves more than about the future. Probably they don’t realise that if Ukraine had not stopped Russia, things might have ended up differently."
“I think they don’t realise that right now. They just think about how inflation is going, that they have to pay more money for food, for electricity, and it’s just their way of living and way of understanding the situation."
“I think maybe it would be better for them to get more information, to find different sources."
“But I also understand how easy it is to just give up and follow the disinformation agenda, because it’s just easy. It’s very easy.”
Can you imagine that, in future decades, Russia would try to take more territory to the west of its own borders? And would take action against, for example, members of NATO?
“In the past few years Russia has shown the intention to make an enemy outside of the country. I believe that this is a way how to bring Russia together."
“This is the policy of Russia, the Kremlin, of Vladimir Putin – and it might be possible that they would try again to do something like that, just because they want to save Russia."
“If the government doesn’t change, that is, and if they will not feel that they lost this war. And I think they will not feel that.”
To end on a happier note, you have with you the Ferdinand Peroutka Prize for journalism and to get this award at your age is really a great achievement. What does it mean to you to win this award?
“I feel like my stories are seen. I feel like people, other journalists, see me, they see our work, and I’m very grateful for that."
“You do your stories and you put them online or on television, but the feedback isn’t all the time."
“And with this prize I feel it’s a kind of feedback for my work, that you are probably doing it in a good way and that we need to continue."
“But it’s also a huge responsibility to not fall, to not stop, to just continue to do my work as I did it before.”
