Like many of the people reading this article, Neak One is a graffiti writer. He likes to paint streets, freights, abandoned spots. He’s a point of contact for writers visiting his city, and his crew – Erase The City – is one of the most respected internationally.
Unlike most people reading this article, Neak One lives in a country under attack from a foreign army. His everyday existence has transformed completely. Most male Ukranians have no choice but to stay and help with the resistance against the invasion, and Neak is no exception. This article is not meant paint the Russian population as an enemy. We have friends close and colleagues from the country and we’re sure that this crisis will have serious consequences for all the people involved. We’re publishing this interview to find out what the reality is for one graffiti writer caught in a conflict. Can you introduce yourself for the readers? Where you're from, your history with graffiti and so on I write Neak ETC, CBKGB, DT. I live in Kyiv, Ukraine. I’ve been writing graffiti since 1995 I guess.
What do you do apart from painting graffiti? I have small business and family – a wife and daughter. What is the graffiti scene in Kyiv like? The graffiti scene in Kyiv is quite wide and developed. I’ve been in this business for quite long time now, but I don’t know all the writers here personally. 
When did you start to get concerned about the conflict with Russia? First of all, let’s start with definitions. We don’t have conflict here. We have a real war. And it didn’t start just now. It started in 2014, but only in hybrid way. And most countries back then just didn’t want to notice it, or have been scared to talk about it. What has happened now, is that Russia has shown its real face to the world. For Ukrainians it’s not a very big surprise, we knew it would happen, and we got ready for a big war. 
"I can’t tell you what exactly I do. Only thing I can say, we don’t stay aside. By “we,” I mean my graffiti crew and related people."
How has life changed for you in the past week or so? What routines have you been able to maintain? It’s totally changed. We used to live a normal life. Now we sleep in bomb shelters, because the Russians are bombing the city and shooting it with rockets every night. You can’t go out at night only because it’s forbidden, but also some enemy saboteur groups were active in the city, and they were killing civilians. Now those groups mostly are destroyed. The city is militarised, covered in barricades and anti tank hedgehogs. There are people with machine guns everywhere. Heavy armoury on the streets. You can search for pictures of Kyiv during second world war on the internet. That’s what it looks like now.
We understand that you have a family in Kyiv. What steps have they taken to protect themselves? I took my family out of the city. Not so far for now. If it gets hot in that region, will take them to Polish border. My friends from Poland will help to take care of them. I bring them some provisions from time to time. But it’s getting harder. Gasoline is hard to buy, and there are long lines at the drug stores and food markets. 
Lots of people have volunteered in the effort to repel the Russians. Have you also taken up arms? Or are you collaborating in a different way? I can’t tell you what exactly I do. Only thing I can say, we don’t stay aside. By “we,” I mean my graffiti crew and related people. Some guys are standing on the frontline as Ukrainian army soldiers, some are in the territorial defence, some help building barricades, some mix molotow cocktails, some doing some sabotage against the enemy, others help civilians. But everyone has work to do. No time to chill. 
Would you consider leaving the city or the country? Men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave country. It doesn’t mean they are forced to take up arms. But if you ask an average Ukrainian man if he wants to leave, you will hear “no”. Most men want to fight. We have lines of volunteers at military offices waiting to get a gun and go to the frontline. I hope we have enough guns for everybody. Hehe 
What can the graffiti community to support the people affected by the invasion? For now, the best thing every human being could do is to support the Ukrainian army. NATO countries have refused to close the sky over Ukraine. They are scared. Russia has advantage in the sky, but still their “birds” fall down. Many people have already seen how Ukrainians are destroying “one of the strongest armies in the world” on the ground. My message is – support the Ukrainian army, help Ukrainian refugees and push your governments to close the sky over Ukraine. Russian bombs and rockets are killing civilians. More than 30 kids have been murdered already. This insane psycopath should be stopped. 
Like many of the people reading this article, Neak One is a graffiti writer. He likes to paint streets, freights, abandoned spots. He’s a point of contact for writers visiting his city, and his crew – Erase The City – is one of the most respected internationally.
Unlike most people reading this article, Neak One lives in a country under attack from a foreign army. His everyday existence has transformed completely. Most male Ukranians have no choice but to stay and help with the resistance against the invasion, and Neak is no exception. This article is not meant paint the Russian population as an enemy. We have friends close and colleagues from the country and we’re sure that this crisis will have serious consequences for all the people involved. We’re publishing this interview to find out what the reality is for one graffiti writer caught in a conflict. Can you introduce yourself for the readers? Where you're from, your history with graffiti and so on I write Neak ETC, CBKGB, DT. I live in Kyiv, Ukraine. I’ve been writing graffiti since 1995 I guess.
What do you do apart from painting graffiti? I have small business and family – a wife and daughter. What is the graffiti scene in Kyiv like? The graffiti scene in Kyiv is quite wide and developed. I’ve been in this business for quite long time now, but I don’t know all the writers here personally. When did you start to get concerned about the conflict with Russia? First of all, let’s start with definitions. We don’t have conflict here. We have a real war. And it didn’t start just now. It started in 2014, but only in hybrid way. And most countries back then just didn’t want to notice it, or have been scared to talk about it. What has happened now, is that Russia has shown its real face to the world. For Ukrainians it’s not a very big surprise, we knew it would happen, and we got ready for a big war.
"I can’t tell you what exactly I do. Only thing I can say, we don’t stay aside. By “we,” I mean my graffiti crew and related people."
How has life changed for you in the past week or so? What routines have you been able to maintain? It’s totally changed. We used to live a normal life. Now we sleep in bomb shelters, because the Russians are bombing the city and shooting it with rockets every night. You can’t go out at night only because it’s forbidden, but also some enemy saboteur groups were active in the city, and they were killing civilians. Now those groups mostly are destroyed. The city is militarised, covered in barricades and anti tank hedgehogs. There are people with machine guns everywhere. Heavy armoury on the streets. You can search for pictures of Kyiv during second world war on the internet. That’s what it looks like now. We understand that you have a family in Kyiv. What steps have they taken to protect themselves? I took my family out of the city. Not so far for now. If it gets hot in that region, will take them to Polish border. My friends from Poland will help to take care of them. I bring them some provisions from time to time. But it’s getting harder. Gasoline is hard to buy, and there are long lines at the drug stores and food markets. Lots of people have volunteered in the effort to repel the Russians. Have you also taken up arms? Or are you collaborating in a different way? I can’t tell you what exactly I do. Only thing I can say, we don’t stay aside. By “we,” I mean my graffiti crew and related people. Some guys are standing on the frontline as Ukrainian army soldiers, some are in the territorial defence, some help building barricades, some mix molotow cocktails, some doing some sabotage against the enemy, others help civilians. But everyone has work to do. No time to chill. Would you consider leaving the city or the country? Men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave country. It doesn’t mean they are forced to take up arms. But if you ask an average Ukrainian man if he wants to leave, you will hear “no”. Most men want to fight. We have lines of volunteers at military offices waiting to get a gun and go to the frontline. I hope we have enough guns for everybody. Hehe What can the graffiti community to support the people affected by the invasion? For now, the best thing every human being could do is to support the Ukrainian army. NATO countries have refused to close the sky over Ukraine. They are scared. Russia has advantage in the sky, but still their “birds” fall down. Many people have already seen how Ukrainians are destroying “one of the strongest armies in the world” on the ground. My message is – support the Ukrainian army, help Ukrainian refugees and push your governments to close the sky over Ukraine. Russian bombs and rockets are killing civilians. More than 30 kids have been murdered already. This insane psycopath should be stopped. by admin via Montana World
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