At the end of September, the editorial staff of 20 minutes went to Ukraine to better understand the conflict that has been going on for more than 200 days now, but also what the Ukrainians are going through there. Armelle Le Goff, editorial director and editor-in-chief of 20 minutes, was the special correspondent of our media. She notably interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv on September 23, before reporting in Irpin and Boutcha, two towns martyred by Russian forces. Listen in this episode behind the scenes of this report in Ukraine, by journalist Armelle Le Goff.
A life under stress
The journalist first returns to the interview with the Ukrainian head of state, his interest and his challenges. She tells in particular the important security device which surrounds the presidential palace and the person of Volodymyr Zelensky. The concrete baffles and the presence of many soldiers around the palace, then, at the checkpoints, the passport checks, the handing over of telephones and electronic devices. Inside, sandbags obstruct all the windows, plunging the corridors of this Soviet-style building into darkness. The atmosphere is tense by the daily life of a country at war, says Armelle Le Goff.
How to question the president, when speech, information, is a weapon of war? What differences with other countries in tension, while the journalist worked in Lebanon in the 2000s? How is daily life in kyiv, but also in Irpin and Boutcha? What are the inhabitants saying of the last few months, of the destruction, of the deaths, but also of their hopes? What impressions, on the way back? “In the exercise of my profession, [ce reportage], it’s really this kind of experience that particularly interests me. That’s why I did this job, very concretely, ”says Armelle Le Goff in particular. Listen to this exchange in the audio player above.
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