In Uruguay, thousands of kilometers from the war waged by her country of nationality on her country of birth, Ukrainian-born Russian diplomat Ekaterina Germanovich saw her life changed irrevocably by the conflict.
Renouncing her job as economic counselor at the Russian embassy in Montevideo in protest at Moscow's invasion, she carved out a new path: finding solace in baking and winning a national competition.
In an interview with AFP after becoming a celebrity in the small South American country, Germanovich described the war as "a pain that will never go away."
"The war has polarized people. It is a rupture that will take decades to repair... Families were broken, separated," she said at her home in Montevideo.
Born 40 years ago in Zaporizhzhia, then part of the Soviet Union but now in Ukraine, she settled as a child with her parents and siblings in Moscow.
She has only Russian citizenship.
Germanovich spent her childhood holidays in Ukraine and has family in both countries.
But many of those ties have now been broken.
"In Ukraine, any contact with people in Russia is seen as treason, and it's the same on the Russian side," she told AFP.
"Some of our relatives in Ukraine stopped talking to us for being Russian."
- From depression to dessert -
Outraged by the war that Russian leader Vladimir Putin described as a "special military invasion," Germanovich said she resigned her post in Montevideo in March 2022 -- days after the invasion.
"I had a very promising career. But I found it impossible to continue representing a government that is bombing my country of origin."
Germanovich, who speaks seven languages, said she struggled to find other work after ending a 10-year diplomatic career and entered "a depression."
Then, encouraged by a friend, she signed up for "Bake Off Uruguay," a televised competition with prizes worth 600,000 pesos (nearly $16,000).
On July 12, she was proclaimed the victor from among 14 competitors.
Her baking, she said, is largely inspired by traditional recipes from her Ukrainian maternal grandmother, who passed away during the competition.
She will soon open a dessert kitchen at a friend's sushi restaurant, and hopes to one day have her own tea house.
Germanovich, who is pregnant with her third child, said she was not scared to speak out, but had no plans to return to Russia "in the coming years."
She does not want to risk the future of her two sons, especially the oldest, 16, by taking them to a country where military service is mandatory for all nationals from the age of 18.
"I don't know what will happen if I travel to Russia," she said.
"Some people tell me: 'It's no big deal, nothing will happen to you.' But I spoke out publicly against the war."
ad/mlr/acb/mlm
