People across the globe against Russian aggression in Ukraine
Russians are intentionally attacking kindergartens, orphanages and maternity hospitals, thus making war crimes and violating the Rome Statute. 16 innocent children have already lost their lives.
The Chornobyl Nuclear Plant was seized by Russian invaders and now they are threatening to blow up the station. An oil depot in Vasylkiv (near Kyiv) exploded after a missile attack by Russia causing a potential ecological and technogene catastrophe.
The world’s largest plane “Mriya”, a symbol of hope in the darkest hours of COVID which carried vast quantities of life-saving vaccines and PPE around the globe now lies in ashes, destroyed by Russians on an airfield near Kyiv.
This is a nightmare and devastating tragedy that is very difficult to describe in words.
The world is waking up, finally
It is horrible to understand that it had to end this way for the leaders of the Western world to realize just how insane and cruel Putin really is. His sick imperialistic ambitions goes far beyond the union state with Belarus as he sleeps and dreams of reincarnation of the Great Russian Empire and the new world order, where Russia is an equal player to the United States and China.
Today, the leaders of the free world are finally uniting their efforts and showing great support to Ukraine. Soon Russian banks will be disconnected from SWIFT, Russian airlines will be banned from flying to all the EU countries and Canada, and the assets of the Central Bank of Russia will be frozen, putting the Russian economy into chaos.
But how regular people, communities and celebrities in the world are reacting to the ongoing biggest armed conflict in Europe since WWII?
The global community supports Ukraine
During the past 3 days many manifestations took place all around the world — The UK, Israel, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, France, the USA, the list goes on and on.
Israel
The Vice President Of Business Development of JSCapital and CEO at Global Israeli Initiative – Alyona Novgorodskaya shared pictures from Tel-Aviv, where the largest demonstration of support for Ukraine in Israel with over 20,000 Israelis took place.
This is a true reflection of the attitude of Israelis toward Ukrainians
Hungary
Alexandra Govorukha, the Head of International PR at Sigma Software Group visited the demonstration in Budapest, where she spoke to the participants. Julia from Germany thinks that now it’s crucial to show that people are standing in solidarity and not letting this happen. David Váradi, a Budapest’ local, came to express his solidarity with Ukraine under Russian aggression:
“Even if something tragic occurs somewhere in the world, you express empathy and think about these people. And Ukraine is a neighboring country and very close to us.”
This demonstration was organized by Victoria Petrovska, Chairman of the Ukrainian Association called “Unity”:
“Our organization deals with cultural issues, but at this time we can not stay away from what is happening in Ukraine. There is a war and we cannot remain silent.”
Belgium
At the protest in Brussels, there were several thousand people from different countries, a lot of locals but also flags from Latvia, Crimean Tatars, Belarusians, Poles, Georgians, and Ukraine.
We demanded the sky over Ukraine be closed.
Many, many Belgians, French, Spaniards, Italians and post-Soviet countries.
Lots of TV, interviewed, I was with a Russian acquaintance and with a French acquaintance who are against the war. We had a TV channel interviewed. All foreigners gave interviews and said that this should not be allowed and should not be silent, this is the moment when silence kills Ukrainian people.
Victoria Yakusha, FAINA design (Now lives in Brussel)
Tallin, Berlin, Prugue and Melbourne
In Estonia, more than 30,000 people gathered together in one of the country’s biggest manifestations in history.
Huge demonstrations are taking place in Berlin, Prague, Melbourne and other cities.
New York
For three days in a row, Ukrainians of New York protested a large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Protests take place on Times Square, in front of the UN building, Russian Embassy, and across the streets of West Village. Hundreds of Ukrainians joined by an international crowd gathered in an attempt to call western leaders to take more action in support of Ukraine.
Ross Sokolovski from MOM DESIGN NYC, a creative studio with locations in New York and Lviv, Ukraine.
Miami
“I’ve joined the protests in both Miami and New York on the 24th and the 25th of February respectively. The vibe was different. While on the first day when the war started lots of people were lost, crying and asking for peace, on the second day the protesters were claiming support for Ukraine, strongly believing that it’s going to win in this war and supporting the brave Ukrainian army.”
Iryna Volnytska, 33, Roosh, originally from northern Ukraine
Dozens of protesters also gathered in Sunny Isles Beach last Friday and on Monday, Miami’s skyline lit up in blue and yellow in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
For the people of Ukraine. For their safety and freedom. For their will to fight for democracy and the nation they love — tonight, Miami-Dade proudly lights up in Blue and Yellow. May they soon see peace
Daniella Levine Cava, First Madam Mayor of Miami-Dade County
Switzerland
A large protest was also held on Saturday in Bern, with 20,000 people gathering for peace in Ukraine. “Peace for Ukraine and all of Europe” was the slogan of this demonstration.
“Let’s welcome with open arms all people in search of protection“, said Julia Küng, co-president of the Young Greens. “It is important not to talk about geopolitics and power blocs, but to talk about people“, underlined journalist Anna Jikhareva. “We must put their perspective in the center and do everything we can to help them.“
In Geneva people do not remain silent either. There were more than a thousand of them on the Place des Nations last Saturday chanting slogans, waving placards, and waving flags in support of Ukraine. And among the demonstrators, many Ukrainian nationals living in Switzerland: “I came to draw attention to the situation in my country. We are very worried about our families in Ukraine, we want to stop this war” explains Olga, a Ukrainian protester.
It’s the protest for Ukraine in Geneva this morning. I was touched to see so many friends who have nothing to do with ukraine but said they needed to come because of how shocked they are by what happens. I also met so many people from Russia expressing their shame and love for ukraine.
Niels Ackermann, Geneva based documentary photographer
UK
Hundreds of people also gathered in Downing Street and outside Russia’s embassy demanding Putin to stop the war and withdraw the forces.
Anna Gradil, 33, ex-Google, currently at Depop, originally from the northern Ukraine said:
My hometown Sumy has been under attack unstoppable for 3 days. My family is there, my city is getting destroyed, it’s devastating and very scary. As a person working in tech I’m doing everything I can to help – approaching my tech colleagues around the world to donate the money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and ban Russian propaganda online.
Turkey
There were about 300 people at the protest in Taxim near the Russian embassy on February 25. The main revendications were to:
- Block the Bosphorus for Russian ships. The issue is still under discussion. President Zelensky thanked Erdogan for blocking the Bosphorus, but Turkish media have denied this information so far. We are waiting for official information from the board.
- Increase media presence, inform the local and international community about real events in Ukraine. Result: coverage in worlds media (CNN, BBC) as well as in local (all top media channels)
“The Ukrainian diaspora in Turkey has not slept and has been following the news for 3 days. I personally endure this tragedy and take part in financial and media support. The situation is tense, but I am confident in the victory of Sovereign Ukraine, it could not be otherwise! We will do everything to close the Bosphorus. We will do everything to make Ukraine feel our support! For the Turkish people, the main idea is to stop the war at all costs and reach a peace in Ukraine. The main idea for us (Ukraine citizens) is to stop the war with the victory of Ukraine and nothing else.”
Oksana Romanenko, marketing BP.
A second protest was held with the same goals as the one on the 25th, where there were about 3000 people – Turkish, Ukrainian diaspora, Crimean Tatars, Azerbaijanis and many other nationalities.
Ukrainian blockchain activists created a charity project called Unchain to raise and quickly distribute money for humanitarian needs. So far more than $9.9 million in cryptocurrency has been donated to Ukrainian groups since the start of the war. Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have formed to support Ukrainians. NFTs have been sold to raise money for the Ukrainian people and military. The country’s official Twitter account has said it accepts Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether.
Luxembourg
Ukraine, my home country, is at war against russian occupation.I would like to encourage every expat to do whatever is possible to support and protect our country: share donation pages with your colleagues, raise awareness and participate in protests.To the Europeans reading this, we need you to force the EU, NATO, UN and every single government of the European country to act faster and stricter, every minute of stalling costs human lives.
Vladyslav Tkachuk,COO and Co-founder, Haslle
Moien ! – as we say here in Luxembourg. When I came here, there was almost no Ukrainian community here, we had only private relations between Ukrainians. But 2014 changed everything, when we finally united and held many events in support of Ukraine for European society. Since then, I should have had the poster ‘Put-in, Put-out fire in Ukraine’.
In general, in Luxembourg, when meeting new people the first phrase is always where are you from? – because more than half of the country’s population are foreigners.
The protest impressed me with the big number of people from different countries. The questions “where are you from” were answered as follows: Luxembourg, Poland, Belarus, Georgia, Lithuania, France, Italy, Belgium, USA and others.
I am grateful to the international community for their support and I hope to meet soon for completely different reasons!
Iryna Nikitina, Vodafone Roaming Services
Today for each Ukrainian all over the world there is one and only one goal is to act in all possible ways to stop the Russian invasion.And for this, we need to do multiple tasks:
- who can fight, should fight;
- who can donate as much as possible for Ukrainian Army;
- explain to EU and US citizens that Putin doesn’t understand words, but actions;
- help our refugees in all possible ways;
There is no time for rest. All Ukrainians who are living in Europe should take vacations and help their motherland 24/7 until total victory.All IT specialists should join our IT forces! Information is power!Glory to Ukraine! United we stand!
Anton Antonenko, Docler Holding
Сelebrities speak out in support of Ukraine
Many famous world-known actors and actresses, singers, artists, sport stars are making publications in order to support Ukraine calling Putin to stop this war. Among them are Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Marina Abramovic, Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Douglas, Miley Cyrus, David Beckham, and many many others.
Both Ukraine internationals, Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko appeared on the verge of tears as they witnessed the demonstration of support by British football fans before the match in Liverpool.
Our Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov approached Elon Musk and asked him to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations. Elon agreed and said that “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.”
Mike Butcher, Editor-in-Large at TechCrunch created a WhatsApp group of Ukraine’s Techfugees (refugees of tech industry) to connect people for practical action.
Volunteers are helping Ukrainians at the borders
Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and Moldova citizens meet Ukrainians at the borders, drive them to the nearest towns, bus and train stations, give them accommodation and food.
On a border with Romania in Solotvino our colleague from Sigma Software Nataly Zheltukhina crossed with 2 sons 14 and 16 y o. Romanians gave them local SIM cards, some snacks and lifted them by car to the nearest town.
What can we do together to stop Putin
It’s safe to say that the world might be on the edge of the new nuclear close call as Putin puts Russia’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert. Since the end of WWII we have on numerous occasions been driven to the brink of nuclear conflict, one of the most infamous doomsday scenarios. Perhaps this will be on the agenda again.
While the whole world is still watching this rapidly developing drama there’s still a window of hope. But Ukrainians need concrete active actions from the West. We count upon the proper reaction by the international community. We urge you to use all your power and network to deliver these messages to the political and business leaders of the free world. This could be:
- the introduction of a full-flagged trade embargo on Russia including in the gas and oil sector;
- providing Ukraine with financial support:
- restrictions by Visa and Mastercard by blocking their services on all cards issued within the Russian Federation;
- the full SWIFT cut-off;
- no-fly zone in Ukraine
The NBU has opened a current account for the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine for humanitarian purposes.
The account is meant for charity contributions from Ukraine and from abroad. The Ministry of Social Policy will channel the raised funds to support Ukraine’s citizens severely affected by the war.
To support, please go here
NBU Opens Special Account to Raise Funds for Ukraine’s Armed Forces
The National Bank of Ukraine has decided to open a special fundraising account to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The central bank’s decision comes after the Ukrainian government imposed martial law throughout Ukraine in response to armed aggression by Russia and the renewed threat to Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity.
NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko announced the opening of this special account in his 24 February video address.
To support, please go here
Big thanks for huge support Laura Calmore, Andriana Zgardan and Paul Stefanut!
#StandWithUkraine
