10:39 pm EST/ 5:39 am EET
—Mom, respond to me as soon as you wake up!
—What is going on over there????
—They say the war has started… I am so terrified!!!!!
—I beg you to answer me. I am reading a chat on the TV channel. They are talking about explosions.
—Call me! I am not sleeping!
—Is there a war in Ukraine? [cry emoji]
Yes, these were my very first messages to mom on the late evening of February 23rd, which was the early morning of February 24th in Kyiv.
Two years ago, the war in Ukraine started.
I am writing this post to commemorate two years of Ukrainian resilience and remind anyone who will come across and read it that the unjust and cruel war of russia against Ukraine and Ukrainians is STILL going on.
As a Ukrainian whose life changed 730 days ago, I cannot stay silent today.
I look at my people back home and see how fast they have aged, how many more deep wrinkles have appeared on their once carefree faces, and how unpredictable their lives are now.
War transforms people. Forever.
It affects mental and physical health if you are lucky to survive, or, much worse, it takes people’s lives without mercy.
🫂Sometimes people I meet in the US show surprise or compassion; sometimes they could not care less about Ukraine and its future.
I am used to any reaction at this point.
The only thing I cannot make peace with is pre-election populism (do not believe when you hear someone delusional saying they will stop the russian-Ukrainian war in 24 hours—it’s a big fat lie🃏).
The truth is, there are no simple answers to complicated questions.
Nevertheless, the prevailing majority of Ukrainians (73%, to be exact) has no doubts that the war must not be frozen under any false pretenses.
🛑No “ceasefire” negotiations between the terrorist state and Ukraine are acceptable until ALL our borders are restored. By “all the borders”, I mean the Ukrainian borders of 1991 (with Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions).
💪🏻No matter how unbearable we feel every day, how many tears we shed reading news, how many dreams or plans we bury for good, my people will not surrender.
🪖And so we keep on fighting, keep on hoping for our western partners to stop delaying so much needed military aid, keep on donating to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and support one another.
🇺🇦If you want to support Ukraine and Ukrainians in our fight for our existence as a nation and our freedom from the aggressor, please consider donating to United24–an official government organization of Ukraine.
💵You can donate to five main areas:
• Our defense,
• Humanitarian demining of our land,
• Medical aid,
• Ukrainian rebuild project or
• Our education and science.
🤝Where there is unity, there is always victory!
#24Feb2022, #standwithukraine, #supportukraine, #warinukraine, #russiaisaterroriststate
Ukrainian in Philly 