Interview with Michelle Karas

Monika: Today my guest is Michelle Karas, a Ukrainian transactivist and social media influencer. Hello Michelle! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Michelle: Hello! I was very pleased to receive an invitation for an interview. I hope I will be able to answer all the questions thoroughly and well. Thank you for the invitation!

Monika: All the eyes of the free world are set on the war raging in Ukraine. Are you safe now?

Michelle: While there is a war in Ukraine, and every day there are air raid alarms and explosions in one or another region, I cannot say that I or other Ukrainians are safe. Now we are choosing the right to freedom, we are fighting for the existence of our country. Of course, no one in Ukraine will be safe until we win the war. People die every day, and this is a horror that has become a reality in the center of Europe in the 21st century.

On behalf of all Ukrainians, I want to sincerely thank the democratic countries for their great support, without you we would not have survived, your help is very much needed even now. Together we will defeat the autocracy.

Interview with Katerina

Monika: Today I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Katerina, a Ukrainian social media influencer, linguist, and transgender woman living in Kyiv, Ukraine that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Katerina!

Katerina: Hello Monika! Thank you for the offer to participate in your project. You're doing a great job!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Katerina: I started my transition about 10 years ago. Then, after graduating from the university, I started working as an escort. What an irony to go into such a profession with a master's degree! However, for transgender people, this is often the only chance to make money for the transition, at least in Russia. I underwent hormone therapy, had several plastic surgeries, officially changed my documents to female, and moved from Moscow to Kyiv (Ukraine), where no one knew me.

Interview with Maria Tymoshenko

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Maria Tymoshenko, a Ukrainian composer and piano player that documents her transition in front of thousands on YouTube. Hello Maria!

Maria: Hello, Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Maria: I am a composer and sound designer. I like contemporary art and sometimes participate in different art projects as a musician and as a model. As a hobby, I like roofing. My last clip was shot on the highest bridge in Ukraine. I climbed to it without safety gear. Last year I participated in LGBTQ and human rights activism actions. 

Monika: Why did you decide to share your transition details on YouTube?

Maria: When I launched my YouTube channel, I never wrote that I am transgender. Even record labels and movie producers with which I worked did not know about this part of my life. I did not hide, but no one asked me and I did not say.

Interview with Anastasia-Eva Kristel Domani

Anastasia-Eva Kristel Domani is one of Ukraine’s most visible and outspoken transgender women, an activist, journalist, model, blogger, and entrepreneur whose life blends elegance with fearless advocacy. Born in Kyiv and a graduate of Kyiv National Economic University, she first entered the public eye through modeling before turning a childhood fascination with hosiery into The World of Tights and Stockings from Lady Anastasia-Eva, Ukraine’s first online portal dedicated to hosiery fashion and trends. She is the Founder and President of the "All of Us – Women!" Foundation and leader of the T-Woman – Ukraine initiative group since 2016, organizing social gatherings, cultural events, and safe spaces for transgender people across the country. In a nation with no organization devoted solely to transgender rights, her work is both pioneering and personal, challenging prejudice while advocating for bold projects such as a trans-inclusive fashion studio in Kyiv and a museum dedicated to transgender stories.

 

Anastasia-Eva’s style is a statement in itself, from tailored office wear to vintage-inspired lingerie, merging professionalism with unapologetic femininity. Inspired by icons like Dita Von Teese, she has even designed her own line of tights and stockings, produced in Italy and Poland, worn by European politicians and artists. Politically engaged, she took part in both the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity, supporting democratic, pro-European reforms, and envisions a future where transgender women can serve openly in all spheres of public life. For her, activism is inseparable from personal fulfillment. She dreams of marriage, walking down the aisle in a white wedding dress and stockings, seeing love as the ultimate counterpart to equality. In this interview, Anastasia-Eva shares her story with candor, from her first steps into public life to her vision for the transgender movement in Ukraine, offering a portrait of a woman determined to live beautifully, bravely, and without compromise.