At home and abroad, Ukrainians have been marshalling their forces and uniting to help their homeland and ancestral homeland during this critical time.
Just over a year ago Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Crimea and thus violated every post-World War II international agreement that had established the world’s security structure and international boundaries, and had ensured peace. Then, he invaded Ukraine’s east – all part of his plan to create a “Novorossiya” carved out of Ukraine’s territory. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s treasury had been plundered by Viktor Yanukovych and company, and its military capabilities decimated. Ukraine’s troops and the volunteer battalions that sprang up lacked essentials at a time when the country was at war, fighting for its very existence.
All across Ukraine, citizens reacted by collecting funds and supplies for those defending their country against a much larger and well-financed aggressor. A recent story in Stars and Stripes (a news outlet that serves the U.S. military community) spoke of the sad reality: “…the collection boxes at churches and museums and even on the streets asking for support for troops have been essential. Frequently, troops are asked to outfit themselves on their way to battle, and families with enough to spare often will outfit a husband or son and several other members of his unit.”
There are countless other initiatives. According to Svoboda, for months, members of Plast in Lviv have been making bulletproof vests, ammunition bandoliers and winter camouflage netting; volunteers of all ages joined this effort begun by the Chornomortsi fraternity and the Chornomorski Khvyli sorority. The citizens’ group Ukrayinska Halytska Asambleya (Ukrainian Assembly of Halychyna), as noted on Facebook, is raising funds for the purchase of a drone for one of the volunteer brigades. The New York Times reported that teams of women come together in Dnipropetrovsk to make dried borsch in Ziploc bags – call them Ukrainian MREs – for soldiers on the front. Meanwhile, others in that city pack various products: underwear, night-vision scopes, sleeping bags, socks.
The Ukrainian diaspora around the globe also sprang into action.
There have been countless collections of money for funds established by numerous organizations, such as the War Victims Fund of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America or the fund drive organized by Razom. Other noteworthy efforts: the Adopt a Wounded Ukrainian Soldier program of the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee; the Patriot Defence Program, functioning under the aegis of the Ukrainian World Congress, that provides Combat Lifesaver Training and Improved First Aid Kits (IFAKs) to Ukraine’s soldiers; a toy drive for children of fallen heroes organized by the Self-Reliance School of Ukrainian Studies in New York; and concerts performed by artists who have donated their services.
Many of our communities in the U.S. have collected supplies to help soldiers and volunteer battalions. For example, a “Socks for Ukrainian Soldiers” drive was held at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School in Passaic, N.J. To help some of the 1 million refugees from the war zone in Ukraine, there was a clothes drive in our neighborhood, at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey. The contributions of goods from the local community, including a non-Ukrainian parish, overwhelmed organizers – so much so that the estimated costs for shipment of the humanitarian aid increased fourfold (thankfully, community members chipped in to cover expenses).
These and so many other endeavors surely are deserving of our admiration, and our support. Let’s all do what we can to help Ukraine and its people at this time of need.