Let Your Characters Draw Themselves!

I will also join my fellow Ukrainians in sharing how 24th of February 2022 went for us.

I didn't go to sleep that night. The day before I had a check-in call regarding my uni project. All of my group mates did. I don't remember what I was doing so late at night but the fact is - I didn't sleep. My partner was already in bed but still scrolling her phone. Suddenly she sits up and says that russians on social media are saying that "we all will be fucked", and that Ukrainians are commenting on hearing loud bangs in their cities. We sit in silence shocked for a couple of minutes. Then we hear it as well. A loud bang. The kind that shakes the ground. We hear car sirens. A moment passes before we hear another one. I started packing my backpack with my documents and money. My dad says it won't be necessary, that they are just attacking the strategic military buildings. I don't remember how the rest of the night/early morning went. I don't remember if I've slept. In the morning the president had announced that the war has started.

Two weeks later I would leave for Belgium with my partner to not sit on my family's shoulders, to not be a burden. Everything is going relatively well for me: I found a job, I have a place to live, I am not struggling with food. Of course I had to sacrifice my degree for the lack of language and my hobbies for the lack of free time. That is why I don't draw much anymore. I just hope that in the future I will be able to do it again.

Two years passed and I feel like people abroad got used to the war. I am not fully aware of the whole situation but from my side it feels like people are forgetting about us. Like we are receiving less support. Like we are starting to loose. I just hope that it's not true and that it just feels that way.

Though Internet has been really hostile to Ukrainian voices lately. And there is so much misinformation. My partner met a woman near the station who pretended to be Ukrainian to beg for money. She didn't speak any Ukrainian or, for that matter, russian, just English. She didn't expect someone to talk back to her in Ukrainian.

I just hope that we will win the war and it will happen soon. My whole being hurts when I read the news about russian war crimes and the tragedies that just keep happening to my people.

If you have anything to spare, consider donating to the Ukrainian army. Reach out to your government, show up to protests. I'm tired of seeing only Ukrainians doing it. We can't do this alone, we will need everything that we can get.

https://u24.gov.ua/

Слава Україні! Героям слава!

І мирного неба!

From now on instead of answering stupid questions like "What did russian language did to you, it's only a language" I will share this poem.

"Ravenous Russia (A Bestiary)" by Yuriy Tarnawsky

Full: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/44584

"why don't we hate israelis as much as we hated russians when they invaded ukraine" - first of all, who is "we". It was (primarily) Eastern Europeans who carried the russophobia on their backs, I'm not letting you appropriate their contribution. And second of all, when were you stabbing russian immigrants abroad for the sin of being russian and vandalising their neighbourhoods with swasticas? Because all I remember is russian men harrassing & beating up ukrainian refugee women and children, and setting their houses on fire, while westerners were observing this with "omg brotherly nation forced into war by politicians. make peace not war #deep"

Russian culture is ecocide

We have a question for animal rights activists: the guys at our positions have a small moose, its mother was hit by a mine… And here is the question: what to do with this calf? Could you please tweet us the news? If you can help in any way, please write to me in DM.

We have found people who will save the calf. Everything ends well. Here is another photo of the kiddo who also suffered from the fucking russians…

The calf is fine, we are waiting for people from the Wild Animals Rescue Center to arrive. There were problems with their access to the place. We will solve the issue.

The filnal update:

Phew, it was difficult😥 The calf was finally taken away.

Animal's whimpers of grief will haunt me in my dreams but for russians it's nothing.

I love 'em

💘

Люблю їх

I’d appreciate if you read and remember this:

Images source:

З різдвом!

One year ago russia blew up the Nova Kakhovka dam.

I'm remembering how desperate we all felt. We were screaming about it, sharing news. This is an act of terrorism and ecocide, huge flooded areas, unimaginable consequences for people and environment. But the world didn't care. Still doesn't.

This is my homecity, Kyiv, on the 2nd of January after russia attacked Ukraine with Shahed drones, 16 Tu-95MC bombers, "Kinzhal" and "Kaliber" missiles during the night.

(Overall russia launched 99 missiles of various types and 35 attack drones over Ukraine during the night and morning).

As for now, 49 people are injured, 43 out of them were hospitalized. 2 people died.

I cannot express the pain I feel seeing the beautiful and strong city where I was raised being so viciously destroyed in the front of the whole world. And I certainly cannot imagine the pain of those, who suffered during the attack today and who lost their loved ones, one of them being Lyudmyla Shevtsova, doctor of biological sciences, professor, teacher of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

DON'T LOOK AWAY.

DON'T FORGET THE FACE OF THE TERROR.

SUPPORT ARMING UKRAINE SO WE CAN DEFEND OURSELVES, OUR LIVES, OUR CULTURE FROM BEING DESTROYED.