The chef putting his country's cuisine back on the map

In a war, there are many different fronts and forms of resistance Ievgen Klopotenko, a Ukrainian chef, is fighting with soup.

- Charlotte Higgins

In defiance of the Russian cruise missile and drone attacks that have hit Kyiv recently, Klopotenko, 35, was presiding over his bustling city centre restaurant. On the menu were dishes such as beetroot and herring salad with smoked pear from the Odesa region, venison from the Carpathians, and a dessert named "Kherson is Ukraine".

Alongside a citrus semifreddo, the pudding included watermelon he had bought last season in Kherson and fermented. The region, which Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed in September but is now the site of fierce fighting, is famous for the fruit.

And, of course, Klopotenko was serving borscht. He insists it is a Ukrainian dish, not a Russian one.

Like many aspects of Ukrainian culture, it was absorbed and appropriated by the Soviet Union during the 20th century, he argued.

Not everyone agrees. In 2019, a Russian government account tweeted that the beetroot-based soup was "one of Russia's most famous & beloved dishes". In retaliation, Klopotenko tried to persuade Unesco to inscribe Ukrainian borscht on its list of intangible world heritage assets. In July, it was fast-tracked on to the Unesco list. "It's my frontline and I think I won," said Klopotenko.