Two years ago, the Russians blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. It was a deliberate act of terrorism, which they, as usual, blamed on Ukraine. They lied to the whole world, hid evidence, and to this day, the international media often refer to this as a “contradictory version of events”.
Exactly one year ago, we announced that our publishing house would publish The Flood, a book of documentary prose by Yevhen Lir, a Ukrainian writer and soldier. Today, we are launching a pre-sale for the English-language edition, which will last throughout the summer. The Ukrainian translation will be released a little later.
The Flood is Yevhen Lir’s first English-language book written in the genre of narrative non-fiction. It is a journey through the south of Ukraine based on the testimonies of people who survived the Russian occupation and the blowing up of the Kakhovka dam.
The story is centered on the fictional character Clocksmith, who arrives in Kherson and meets with the military, volunteers and local residents. They share with him their stories of loss and resistance, survival and helping others.
This book is a way to keep the truth alive and not allow the world to forget.
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“The book is actually about many things. I would like to say that it is dedicated only to the tragedy of the Kakhovka dam blowing up, or only to how people survived in the Kherson region during the occupation. But in fact, this is a book about the south of Ukraine in general and about the great love that lives in this south.”
Yevhen Lyr, the author of The Flood
Yevhen Lyr
“I have created three characters who are completely fictional and who have some of my traits, as well as the traits of my friends and people I met during my stay in the Kherson region. The rest of the story is real.”
Yevhen Lyr, the author of The Flood
“Unfortunately, in the international media, the narrative very quickly shifted to ‘well, somehow it exploded, an accident, probably detonated the bombs that the Russians had planted earlier, they did not do this explosion’. Well, I think you followed it the same way. So [the goal was] to show how it really happened, to give a voice to those people who were directly involved in these events and, ultimately, to try to portray the land that survived all this.”
Yevhen Lyr, the author of The Flood
Details
Author: Yevhen Lyr
Editorial board: Tetyana Denford (editor), Viktoria Boretska (proofreader)
Language: English
Year of publication: 2025
Number of pages: 240
Weight: 400 g
Dimensions: 145х200×25 mm
ISBN: 978-617-8216-16-0
The Flood has an official website with archival photographs and sound recordings. There you can also learn more about the team that worked on the collection of materials and preparation of the book.
