Mr. Kurkov, Russia is massing troops and the West fears an attack on Ukraine, possibly in a few days.

How is the mood in your hometown of Kiev?

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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It is quiet.

There is no panic buying and the currency rate is reasonably stable.

There are just fewer people on the streets and in the cafes.

And while a month ago there was basically no talk about the war, that has changed: people exchange views on who is planning what, should Russian aggression occur.

Should you go to Lviv or to Ivano-Frankivsk?

Both cities are in the west, and everyone says western Ukraine is safer and wants to move there.

The shooting of the film adaptation of your novel “Grey Bees” was supposed to start on Friday.

In addition, near the occupied areas in eastern Ukraine, where fighters supported by Russia have been stationed since 2014.

Yes, the film crew should be shooting not far from the front line.

I don't know now if they got there or not.

The book is about a beekeeper who tries to enable his bees to survive near the front.

It was published in German and recently also in French.

You were born in 1961 near today's St. Petersburg and write in Russian.

Are you what they call a "Ukrainian Russian-speaking patriot"?

I've been asked about it for 30 years.

I am ethnically Russian but politically Ukrainian.

Russian politicians claim that Russian-speaking citizens are discriminated against in Ukraine and therefore want to "protect" them.

I don't feel discriminated against.

50 percent of Ukrainians speak Russian and nobody can forbid them to do so.

These politicians don't want to protect anyone.

They want to get hold of Ukraine.

Putin now has a stronger motivation to attack Ukraine because he just managed to get his hands on Belarus.

Belarus is now effectively part of Russia.

Putin wants to build a new Soviet Union or a new Russian Empire in his old age.

For that he needs Ukraine.

After all, historically, Kiev was the cradle of Russian statehood.

Some Ukrainian civilians want to take up arms if Russia tries to invade.

My friend Danylo Yanewskyj, history professor and journalist, stood in line for an hour on Saturday to report to the territorial defense.

He then completed weapon training.

But also a young IT programmer from Donetsk that we know.

She will be a medic in case of war.

What exactly are these people defending?

They defend their right to freedom.

Ukraine gives its citizens a hundred times more democracy than Russia gives its citizens.

The Ukrainians are anarchists, individualists, and they are almost always at odds with their government.

For Ukrainians, freedom is a higher value than stability.

With the Russians it's the other way around.

There used to be a lot of sympathy for Russia in eastern Ukraine.

Has Russia's intervention there since 2014 acted as a deterrent?

People see that there, beyond the front, there is chaos, poverty and crime.

They don't want this to be repeated in their place of residence, in their region.

But isn't there panic?

Half of the population does not believe that war will break out, the other half believes war is possible.

But why worry if nothing has happened yet?

That's how many people think.

What should the West do now?

The West should continue diplomatic pressure on Russia.

So that Russia understands: if it launches this invasion, it will be completely isolated, apart from friendship with China.

In any case, Russia will then lose all prospect of being counted among the civilized European countries.